In June 1988, Anthony Ray Hinton was convicted by an Alabama court of two murders he did not commit, in one of the most shockingly cynical miscarriages of justice in US history. He spent the next 28 years on Death Row, before all charges were dropped and he was released. The Sun Does Shine is a powerful new musical work by Harvey Brough, with words by Justin Butcher, inspired by the autobiography Hinton wrote about his long fight to prove his innocence. It is both a journey into the heart of darkness and an astonishing story of friendship, resilience and hope. After two sold-out preview performances, it arrives at Hackney Empire with the approval of Hinton himself, who now campaigns for others betrayed by the criminal justice system.
This remarkable story has urgent relevance to us in the UK today. It confronts racism and the inbuilt injustices that keep prisoners locked up for years, while making a powerful case for compassion, a sense of humour, and the possibility of redemption.
Presented by Vox Holloway and Arts Council England.
£10 – £35 (plus £1.20 per ticket online, £1.40 per ticket over the phone)
Age guidance10+
Running time2 hours 15 minutes, including a 20 minute interval
Part 1 -Vox Holloway salutes The Special AKA– In The Studio
This concert is a continuation of a Vox Holloway tradition – we have done many concerts where we highlight the work of the great songwriters and album makers. We have performed arrangements of entire albums The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper, The Kinks’ The Village Green Preservation Society and have performed albums by Clara Sanabras and Monica Vasconcelos with them as lead soloists and their musicians as our band.
Our salute this time is to The Special AKA – the Specials third album, a superb collection of sophisticated pop songs primarily written by Jerry Dammers, covering topics such as freedom – Free Nelson Mandela, conflict – War Crimes, racism – If you have a Racist Friend, loneliness and urban tension – The Bright Lights/The Lonely Crowd.
These serious themes are leavened by the upbeat nature of the music (with ska, reggae and lounge influences) and the humour of a song like What I like most about you is your girlfriend.
Our band and soloist include some of the UK’s finest jazz and reggae artists – Julian Siegel (sax), Harry Brown (trombone), Byron Wallen (trumpet) and Liam Dunachie (piano) with Wills Morgan (solo voice).
Harvey Brough (who was at school with Jerry Dammers and has worked with him over the years) is writing new arrangements for the mighty Vox Holloway and we promise an uplifting and uproarious evening.
Concert Saturday 17th February St. Luke’s Holloway
Doors open at 6.45pm for a 7.30pm start. Bar open before the concert and at the interval.
In June 1988, Anthony Ray Hinton was convicted by an Alabama court of two murders he did not commit, in one of the most shockingly cynical miscarriages of justice in US history. He spent the next 28 years on Death Row, before all charges were dropped and he was released. The Sun Does Shine is a powerful new musical work by Harvey Brough, with words by Justin Butcher, inspired by the autobiography Hinton wrote about his long fight to prove his innocence. It is both a journey into the heart of darkness and an astonishing story of friendship, resilience and hope. After two sold-out preview performances, it arrives at Hackney Empire with the approval of Hinton himself, who now campaigns for others betrayed by the criminal justice system.
This remarkable story has urgent relevance to us in the UK today. It confronts racism and the inbuilt injustices that keep prisoners locked up for years, while making a powerful case for compassion, a sense of humour, and the possibility of redemption.
Presented by Vox Holloway and Arts Council England.
THE BELLS OF PARADISE Last thing for me for this term – I am putting on the Christmas concert (Sunday December 10th) not as an official Vox event, but as my own promotion. The chamber choir are singing with an excellent band and soloists (some of whom sang last night). We are performing some of the material you will know if you did the Sing Christmas programme – but also some gorgeous Christmas songs – renaissance and medieval carols as well as some exquisite Poulenc.
Do let people know about it and do come along yourself – it will be a bit of a social with a bar all night. I hope it will be interesting to you to hear what we do from the audience – and there will be a chance to join in on some carols. A joyful occasion which I hope you will share.
I need a team of 6 people to come to St Luke’s at 6 pm to help set up chairs – and then to clear up at the end. Paul Cairns is helping me to organise that, would you email me direct (harveybrough@mac.com) if you can help. You will then see the concert without needing to buy a ticket.
A film by Ed Owles and Steph Beeston Produced by Vox Holloway Community Choir
With support from Arts Council England and UK Prison Reform Trust
Between the Bars traces the journey of North London choir, Vox Holloway, as its members tackle a new oratorio, The Sun Does Shine, by Harvey Brough with libretto by Justin Butcher. Essentially the film is about an ordinary choir creating extraordinary music – music that is powerful, disconcerting and uplifting. It is based on the true story of Anthony Ray Hinton, an innocent man, who spent 30 years on Death Row in Alabama before his release in 2015, and it is possibly the most challenging and inspiring project that the choir has undertaken. How to convey, through words and music, Anthony Ray’s ordeal of brutal injustice in a context far removed from our own experience? How to sing about the horrors of a deeply embedded racist system, as well as the redemptive power of love and forgiveness, with conviction and integrity? How to make that story relevant to a UK audience, such that it might challenge our own attitudes and assumptions? The film explores how the choir met these challenges, including by reaching out to prisoners themselves. For two years, as the project evolved, choir members wrote to prisoners in the UK, many of whom spoke about the role music plays in helping them cope with long-term and, in some cases, indeterminate sentences. The insights will be of interest to artists and choirs involved in similar creative work. But the film also touches on wider questions posed when art tackles complex social issues such as capital punishment, racism, and long-term imprisonment, and speaks to the role of the arts in raising awareness and helping to make change happen. The film was made in collaboration with the UK Prison Reform Trust and Arts Council England. Promo video clip (2 mins):
Again we have lent an ear to those in the choir who have asked to do some classical choral repertoire. So we are performing the wonderful, timeless Fauré Requiem – a piece many of you know well. If you don’t know it, you have an absolute treat in store. We will also sing his beautiful Cantique de Jean Racine.
A Vox concert wouldn’t be Vox without something new and different however, so we will juxtapose the Fauré with a piece of mine that very few of you will know – The Prophet. We did it 10 years ago, it’s a thrilling text from the well known book by Khalil Gibran and some of the most appealing music I’ve written – spiritual, uplifting and insightful, with wonderful soloists and an excellent band.
The venue will be St James’s Piccadilly, following our EXCELLENT concert there last Easter. A wonderful acoustic and a magnificent setting for this programme. As last time, we need to work very hard to get a good audience, it’s a very special place to perform and we should be proud to return with another very Vox Holloway mix of old and new.
We will be without Christina this term, she is busy with other projects (see her message below). We will miss her, but look forward to seeing her and working with her in the future. I’m happy to say that Rick will be with us to play and to take sectionals – I’m planning to do sectionals every week at the start of term.
We will be working hard this term on choral sound and projection of the words – the Fauré is not difficult in terms of notes, but partly because it’s so well known, it’s important that we really work on blend within each part and as a choir. Many performances of the piece are a little humdrum, we need to find the magic anew in this wonderful music. Last term, we were a little light on sopranos – do ask your soprano friends if they would like to join us for this programme. They can write to me on my personal email (harveybrough@mac.com) for more information so I can make sure we get a good balance.
We are unlikely to be able to fit any more altos in for reasons of space.
Tenors and basses have become really strong over the last year (I think of this as being our tacit tribute to Matt Evan Smith, who is much missed but still inspires us). We can consider taking a few more – again, ask friends who you think would love what we do, to write to me.
Term starts on Tuesday September 5th, the committee and I look forward to seeing you there – do come early so we can do all the admin before a 7 30 start.
We will also start the Chamber Choir again on Tuesday September 12th. We will do a separate programme and concert this term, do write to me if you would like to be part of it. It’s open to all members of Vox, we rehearse from 6.30 – 7.15pm before the main Vox rehearsal. There will be a seperate sub for this.
Vox Holloway Autumn Programme
Sunday November 26th St James’s Piccadilly
Vox Holloway Vox Holloway Players
Directed by Harvey Brough
Gabriel Fauré – Requiem in D minor Cantique de Jean Racine
Harvey Brough – The Prophet Incantation of Eden Vox Holloway return to St James’s Piccadilly after their highly successful Easter 2023 appearance. They perform a programme which again mixes old and new – the Fauré Requiem, perhaps the most beloved choral piece ever, juxtaposed with Harvey Brough’s setting of The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.
This remarkable book is one of the best selling books of all time, translated into over 100 languages. The Prophet is in the city of Orphalese, awaiting a ship to take him home. As he waits he is asked a series of questions by the inhabitants – on Love, on Marriage, on Children, on Death. His replies form a series of 9 movements or counsels, before he vanishes into the mist.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Vox Holloway 