CULTURAL ties between Durham and one of its European twin cities have been strengthened with the recent visit of a local choir to a prestigious concert series.

The Durham Singers visited Tübingen, in Germany, where they took part in a long-running concert series at the city’s main church, singing to an appreciative audience of over 500 people.

The Tübinger-Motette concerts at the city’s Stiftskirche have been running continuously since 1945 and the concert by the Durham Singers was the 2,930th in the series.

The concert organisers and the city’s culture office chose the particular weekend for the choir’s visit so that Durham would be included alongside the annual Umbrian-Provençal market that fills the streets and squares of the city centre in a culinary celebration of Tübingen’s other partner-cities in Italy and France.

Tübingen is hosting a major festival of the music of JS Bach later this year, so as part of the lead up to this festival the Durham Singers were asked to include some of Bach’s music in their concert.

The result was a programme with the title O Sing, which combined settings by British and German composers of the O Sing unto the Lord psalm texts, from Byrd and Purcell through to the contemporary composer James Macmillan, and concluding with Bach’s double-choir motet Singet dem Herrn.

A review of the concert in the local paper, the Schwäbisiche Tagblatt said “the numerous choral colours were skillfully handled” and that the concert ended in “a festive fortissimo”.

The following day, the Durham Singers returned to the Stiftskirche to sing in a Sunday morning service, with their assistant musical director and sub-organist of Durham Cathedral, Francesca Massey, playing music by Purcell and Bach before.

The choir then travelled to a beautiful baroque palace, Schloss Solitude, near Stuttgart, to give a second concert in the palace chapel.

A number of those travelling from Durham were welcomed into the homes of local singers – members of Chor Semiseria and the Tübingen Bachchor.

Chor Semiseria visited Durham last year for a concert in the cathedral, and during their visit they spent time with the Durham Singers and other local choirs.

The Durham Singers were delighted to be invited to Semiseria’s rehearsal, where they found themselves lending a hand with the music of English composers Rutter and Britten.

It was followed by a dinner hosted by Tübingen City Council, with both choirs enjoying renewing the friendships that began last year in Durham and they hope to build on these links in the future.

The Durham Singers have thanked Durham County Council for their financial and logistical support of the tour, as well as the teams at Tübingen Stiftskirche and the local culture office who invited them.

Jane Shuttleworth of the choir said “We all felt very much welcomed and well-looked after during our time in Tübingen.

“We enjoyed having this opportunity of getting to know a very pretty city that has a lot in common with Durham, and being there during the Umbrian-Provençal market made us feel part of a network of friends from across Europe.”

Durham Singers and a period cnsemble, in assocation with Samling, will perform JS Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at Durham Cathedral at 7pm on January 5. For further information visit https://www.durham-singers.org.