World premiere for Coventry Cathedral's Gloria

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A NEW piece of music to mark the 50th anniversary of Coventry Cathedral will get its world premiere on Saturday, June 23.

James MacMillan’s Gloria will be premiered at a special concert which will also feature War in Heaven written by Neil Cox for the cathedral's silver jubilee and Britten’s St Nicolas Cantata.

They will be performed by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Saint Michael’s Singers, organist Kerry Beaumont and tenor soloist Ian Bostridge.

Joining them will be pupils from Ravensdale Primary School Choir, Stivichall Primary School Choir, Cannon Park Primary School and Stratford-upon-Avon Grammar School for Girls Chamber Choir.

Neil Cox and James MacMillan will attend the concert with the latter conducting his new work.

The concert forms part of the London 2012 festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide lottery and Arts Council-funded celebration running from June 21 until September 9.

It will bring together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK.

Coventry's concert will be a particularly prestigious event with guests from the Olympic organising committee expecting to attend.

"It is an honour to follow in the footsteps of our predecessors and continue to commission new music that reflects the generation and time it was written for," said Paul Leddington Wright, the cathedral's associate director of music.

"Britten’s War Requiem was a defining piece of music for the 20th century and I hope the world premiere of the Gloria is a defining moment for the new century."

Tickets for the concert, which starts at 7.30pm, cost from £12 to £32 online at www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/50 or from the visitor centre or 024 7652 1210.

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