The evening opens with Eric Whitacre’s playful Animal Crackers. We then change pace to perform Amy Beach’s Three Choral Responses, Morten Lauridsen’s Nocturnes – moving meditations on night, love and light – and Randall Thompson’s poignant Alleluia. This first half of the programme will be punctuated by Oliver Lallemant performing a set of solo piano jazz works, and concludes with Bernstein’s Make Our Garden Grow, the radiant finale of his operetta Candide.

The concert then turns to the Great American Songbook. Expect Broadway classics, Gershwin swing and show-stopping numbers from Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Fats Waller and more. From Blue Moon to Over the Rainbow, these timeless gems capture the spirit of a golden musical age. The audience will also take part in selecting a song on which Olly will improvise.

Join Petros Singers for a glass of Pimm’s and a generous helping of musical sunshine on this special day which celebrates 250 years of American Independence.

Petros Singers is a leading West London chamber choir, performing a wide variety of music – from baroque to contemporary, from large-scale works to exquisite miniatures – placing particular emphasis on vibrant and communicative singing.

Oliver Lallemant is Director of Music at St Stephen’s in Dulwich and runs several choirs, including Sloane Square Choral Society and South Dulwich Chorus. He also leads Europa Voices on singing holidays to the Continent. As a young chorister at Llandaff Cathedral, he sang Walking in the Air in Welsh on national television, and later won an organ scholarship to Trinity College Cambridge. An accomplished jazz pianist, Olly performs at weddings and parties, and was until recently a resident pianist at the Ritz.

Concert programme
Animal Crackers, Eric Whitacre
Three Choral Responses, Amy Beach
Nocturnes, Morten Lauridsen
Alleluia, Randall Thompson
Make Our Garden Grow, Leonard Bernstein
I Got Rhythm, George Gerswhin
Let’s Do It, Cole Porter
Over the Rainbow, Harold Arlen
Ain’t Misbehavin’, Fats Waller and Harry Brooks
The Bare Necessities, Terry Gilkyson
Miss Otis Regrets, Cole Porter
Blue Moon, Richard Rodgers
I’m Beginning to See the Light, Duke Ellington