Sutton Coldfield Festival of Arts

• Venue: Holy Trinity (C of E)

Leading choral group Ensemble 1685 give a Festival performance at Holy Trinity (C of E) Parish Church on Sunday July 13 - with a guest turn from Wylde Green opera singer Richard Lloyd Owen.

1685 was the year both Bach and Handel were born, and Sutton-born Richard Jeffcoat has adopted this resonant date as a brand-name for his musical endeavours.

Ensemble 1685 was formed in 2005 from singers associated with Coventry Cathedral. With more than 200 public performances, the ensemble has gained a reputation for inspirational music-making in Coventry, Warwickshire and further afield, with tours to Scotland, France, Portugal and Ireland.

Ensemble 1685 performs all kinds of vocal music, from Renaissance masters to music of the present day, including large-scale works by Bach, Handel and Brahms, and lighter music suitable for weddings and celebrations.

Ensemble 1685 is proud of its commitment to socially inclusive music-making, performing in churches without a choral tradition, and in closed communities, such as prisons and care homes.
To book the group call 024 7659 4916. Visit www.ensemble1685.org.uk

Richard has recently been performing all over the country in Golden Moments From Opera, with top UK opera company Hatstand.

The international tenor played a variety of parts in the production, which entertained audiences in castles, churches, gardens and theatres alike with its ‘hilarious scenes and heart-rending arias’ from the world’s favourite operas.

Hatstand Opera prides itself on its ‘go-anywhere’ policy and has previously performed in front of 7,000 people for the National Trust, sung under 17th century Dutch masters at the National Gallery, broadcast live on Classic FM and even shared the bill with Julio Iglesias at a vineyard in Western Australia.

Welsh-born Richard has previously taken lead roles in major operas and has sung as guest soloist for choirs. He studied Fine Art and worked as a residential social worker in Birmingham before his passion for music and singing took him to the Birmingham Conservatoire of Music and post-graduate studies at Trinity College in London.

Now participating in over 90 concerts each year, he has featured at the Milan Festival of Music in Italy and in such venues as the Birmingham Symphony Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and many venues across Sweden and Germany.

Tickets for this eagerly-awaited 7pm concert, preceded by a service of Summer Praise at 5.30pm, are available on 0121 321 1144 or via s_thebridge@yahoo.com
Admission is £5 (£3 children).