Kefi: Choral & Chamber Works by Lydia Kakabadse Choir of Royal Holloway, Rupert Gough, Cecily Beer, Mary Bull, Tom Wagner, The Rossetti Ensemble, Leon Bosch, Dimitri Gionis

• Lydia Kakabadse (b. 1955): Feast of Herod:
• 1 Kakabadse: Feast of Herod: I. The Veiled Dancer 01:51
• 2 Kakabadse: Feast of Herod: II. Dance of the Harem 02:04
• Nomadic Dances:
• 3 Kakabadse: Nomadic Dances: I. Ceremonial Gathering 02:21
• 4 Kakabadse: Nomadic Dances: II. Herding 03:06
• 5 Kakabadse: Nomadic Dances: III. Trekking 02:40
• Kefi:
• 6 Kakabadse: Kefi 02:08
• Original Theme by Anton Diabelli:
• 7 Kakabadse: Original Theme by Anton Diabelli 00:58
• Variation on a Theme by Anton Diabelli:
• 8 Kakabadse: Variation on a Theme by Anton Diabelli: Thirty Steps: 01:23
• 30 Steps:
• 9 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 1, — 02:15
• 10 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 2, — 01:13
• 11 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 3, — 01:36
• 12 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 4, — 03:01
• 13 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 5, — 01:05
• 14 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 6, — 02:06
• 15 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 7, — 02:17
• 16 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 8, — 01:30
• 17 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 9, — 01:29
• 18 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 10, — 01:36
• 19 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 11, — 01:33
• 20 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 12, — 00:47
• 21 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 13, — 01:29
• 22 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 14, — 01:21
• 23 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 15, — 01:44
• 24 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 16, — 01:19
• 25 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 17, — 01:52
• 26 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 18, — 01:03
• 27 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 19, — 01:02
• 28 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 20, — 01:57
• 29 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 21, — 01:21
• 30 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 22, — 01:17
• 31 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 23, — 01:26
• 32 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 24, — 01:38
• 33 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 25, — 02:11
• 34 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 26, — 01:02
• 35 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 27, — 01:12
• 36 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 28, — 01:32
• 37 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 29, — 01:08
• 38 Kakabadse: 30 Steps: No. 30, — 02:19
• Total Runtime 01:03:52

Info for Kefi: Choral & Chamber Works by Lydia Kakabadse

British-born composer Lydia Kakabadse celebrates her multicultural heritage (Greek/Austrian mother and Georgian/Russian father) through her diverse musical output. Recorded in London, her latest album showcases an even broader range of music compared to her previous works, integrating ethnic instruments into Western music. Featuring the innovative ‘alternative string quartet’ (violin, viola, cello, and double bass), the title track "Kefi" introduces the Greek Bouzouki and ‘Greek oud’ or politiko laout. While exploring a wide array of textures and styles, the music is unified by the use of the double harmonic scale.

Among the chamber works featured on the album, the highlight is the choral piece "Thirty Steps," commissioned by the Hellenic Institute at Royal Holloway. The institute’s choir, recognized as one of Britain's premier mixed-voice choirs, delivers a captivating performance of the work. Accompanying them are experienced and esteemed performers from various musical backgrounds.

Lydia Kakabadse is renowned for her eclectic compositions, spanning choral, chamber, and vocal genres. Influenced by her multicultural upbringing and Greek and Russian Orthodox traditions, she draws inspiration from diverse sources such as Orthodox Church music, medieval melodies, and Greek and Middle Eastern dance. Trained in piano and double bass since childhood, she pursued music studies at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Her compositions, which include string quartets, choral pieces, and concert requiems, have received critical acclaim and have been featured on recordings by prestigious labels like Naxos and Divine Art. Notable commissions include “I Remember” for Forest Preparatory School and “Odyssey” for The Hellenic Institute. Her works have been performed at international festivals and by esteemed ensembles, with her string quartet “Russian Tableaux” being broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Currently pursuing a PhD in ethnomusicology, Lydia continues to enrich the musical landscape with her vibrant and distinctive creations, showcasing the richness of her multicultural heritage.

Cecily Beer, harp
Mary Bull, flute
Tom Wagner, percussion
Leon Bosch, double bass
Dimitris Gionis, bouzouki
The Rossetti Ensemble
The Choir of Royal Holloway
Rupert Gough, conductor

The Choir of Royal Holloway
is considered to be one of the finest university choirs in Britain. The choir was created at the time of the foundation of Royal Holloway College in 1886, and was originally only for women’s voices. The group, comprised of 24 choral scholars and 2 organ scholars, is directed by Rupert Gough and undertakes a busy schedule of weekly services and concerts, international tours, recordings and live broadcasts. Royal Holloway is the only university that maintains a tradition of singing daily morning services, and is home to the only choir in the country performing weekly live streamed concerts.

As part of the choir’s 50+ concerts a year, they regularly collaborate with and perform alongside many famous ensembles. These have included the King’s Singers, the BBC Singers, Britten Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, Onyx Brass, Fretwork and the jazz-trio Acoustic Triangle, with whom they broadcast live on BBC radio. The group also celebrates the work of living composers, and have commissioned works from Sir James MacMillan, Gabriel Jackson, Richard Rodney Bennett, Cecilia McDowall and Paul Mealor. The choir’s diverse repertoire also includes larger-scale works including Vespers by Monteverdi, Rachmaninov and Rautavaara, Requiems by Mozart and Howells, and Gabriel Jackson’s Ave regina coelorum for choir and electric guitar which they also broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Festival engagements have included the Spitalfields Festival, the Three Choirs Festival, the Windsor and Swaledale festivals, the Cheltenham Festival (with alumna Dame Felicity Lott and the City of London Sinfonia), and numerous residencies at the Presteigne Festival.

International performances are also an integral part of the choir’s work. They have toured most European countries, and have been broadcast on national television and radio all over the world. A tour of all three Baltic states saw the choir performing in the Latvian Song Festival with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, in a concert (sung in Estonian) broadcast nationally on the Estonian Day of Independence. Further afield, the group has visited Beijing and had a number of successful tours to the US and Canada. The choir regularly sing at high-profile events which have included the Annual Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall (live on BBC television), an awards ceremony at Buckingham Palace, and for the Magna Carta 800 celebrations, in which they performed a new work by John Rutter in the presence of HM the Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury. More recently they sang at the wedding of Ellie Goulding and Caspar Jopling at York Minster.

The choir are much in demand for recording work with orchestras. A live concert recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Thomas Adès and the Britten Sinfonia is due for release from Signum Records. The choir has also recorded James Francis Browns The Heavens and the Heart with Orchestra Nova and Joanna Marsh’s cantata The Pearl of Freedom with the London Mozart Players, with whom they will be recording again in 2020. Future projects include a premiere recording of Dan Locklair’s Requiem with the Southern Sinfonia.

The choir has an extensive and highly acclaimed discography with Hyperion, Decca, Signum and Naxos amongst others, and has one of the busiest recording schedules of any collegiate choir. Recordings include music by 16th century composer Peter Philips with the English Cornett & Sackbut ensemble, contemporary American choral music by René Clausen and Stephen Paulus and madrigals from Victorian England. The choir is renowned for their performances of Nordic and Baltic music, and has recorded works by Vytautas Miškinis, Rihards Dubra, Bo Hansson, Tõnu Kõrvits (with the Britten Sinfonia) and Ola Gjeilo to great acclaim. The 2018 release Winter Songs with Gjeilo was No. 1 in the UK and US classical charts. Upcoming releases feature the music of Ben Parry and Joanna Marsh, a live concert recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphonywith Thomas Adès and the Britten Sinfonia, and a recently rediscovered work by Pierre Villette with alumna Sarah Fox. Future projects include works by George Arthur, as well as a second cantata by Carson Cooman, following on from the success of Revelations of Divine Love, commissioned and recorded by the choir in 2009 and premiered in Cadogan Hall.

Rupert Gough
has been Director of Choral Music and College Organist at Royal Holloway, University of London since 2005. He is also Organist and Director of Music at London's oldest surviving church, Great Saint Bartholomew, which maintains a professional choir. He previously spent 11 years as Assistant Organist at Wells Cathedral where he worked closely with the choir both as accompanist and choir trainer. During this time he featured on 19 recordings as either organist or conductor, including six discs for Hyperion Records.

His overall discography of nearly 50 commercial recordings encompasses work as a choir director, organist and harpsichordist, and includes the organ and choral works of Sir Percy Buck (Priory), the instrumental and choral works of Carson Cooman (Naxos and Albany), the complete works for violin and organ of Josef Rheinberger and choral works of Rihards Dubra, Vytautas Miškinis and Bo Hansson (Hyperion).

Born in 1971, Rupert was a chorister at the Chapels Royal, St. James's Palace, and won a scholarship to the Purcell School. He received (with distinction) a Masters degree in English Church Music from the University of East Anglia whilst Organ Scholar at Norwich Cathedral. In 2001 he won Third Prize at the St. Alban's International Organ Competition. He is particularly renowned for his work in combination with violin as a member of the Gough Duo. The Duo’s many American tours have taken them all over the USA from Florida to Alaska. Recently they performed to audiences of 1,800 in Moscow and 1,200 in Hong Kong.

As a conductor he has worked with a variety of professional choirs and orchestras including the Britten Sinfonia, the London Mozart Players, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and Florilegium. He has also been fortunate to work with many distinguished soloists including Julian Lloyd Webber, Antony Rolfe Johnson, Felicity Lott, Susan Bullock, Emma Kirkby, James Bowman and Wayne Marshall. This summer he will be working alongside the King’s Singers in their first UK Summer School.

Booklet for Kefi: Choral & Chamber Works by Lydia Kakabadse