Cadenza.org.uk
Title
Cadenza - Edinburgh's leading amateur choir
Description
Cadenza's first major triumph came in 1996 when it won the Scotland & North England Heat of the Sainsbury's Choir of the Year competition - a success which the choir then repeated two years later, at the 1998 competition. On the second occasion Cadenza's programme included the first performance of Daring To..., written by leading contemporary Scottish composer, Eddie McGuire. This was the first movement of Three Chorales of Struggle, a suite of three Scottish songs commissioned by Cadenza with the support of the Scottish Arts Council and Making Music. The world premiere of the full suite took place in Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh in May 1998, shortly after the Choir of the Year competition, both a capella and accompanied by McGuire's folk ensemble, The Whistlebinkies.
By this time Cadenza's reputation was spreading across Scotland, with performances in Glasgow, Linlithgow, Peebles, Dingwall and Perth as well as frequent concerts in Edinburgh. In 1999, the choir was invited to participate in a star-studded concert at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in aid of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.
2000 was a year of major change for Cadenza. In February, the choir ventured south of the border for the first time, to the North Yorkshire market town of Northallerton, for a very successful concert in aid of the NSPCC. A few months later, Cadenza released its first CD, Choral Contrasts, which was recorded at St Michael's Parish Church in Linlithgow. The CD features a variety of classical, folk and popular music, including the McGuire commission.
