Faith, Longing and Love - a Concert By the Linden Singers

The Linden Singers choir will present its first 2026 concert under the continuing direction of Jane Pierard, an icon of the musical and theatre arts in Hawke’s Bay.

Jane’s many years both as an educator at the secondary school level, and as a theatre director, actor, musician, composer and choral director, her work has covered an enormous range of artistic disciplines in music and drama. Since she officially retired, Jane has transferred her skills to working with adult choirs, although she continues to work with secondary school staff in their annual musical productions, in the role of vocal/choral director. She has been Musical Director for the Linden Singers since 2021.

The concert in Saint Matthew's church in Hastings at 2 pm on Sunday, May 24th, will give audiences a moment of beauty and joy, something sorely needed in these somewhat stressful times.
Sacred motets by 16th-century composers Palestrina and di Lasso, and a later work by Maurice Durufle, will express the theme of faith. Songs about love are perennial favourites, so the words and melodies of My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose and We’ll Gather Lilacs will be very familiar to many in the audience. Longing and loss sometimes go hand in hand with love, and this emotion is beautifully expressed in several of the jazz-oriented songs on the program: For All We Know, This Nearly was Mine, and the poignant words of Jobim’s Meditation, for example. But life can also be full of fun, and we are sure that the French patter song Il Est Bel et Bon will bring a smile; written by Pierre Passereau (c. 1509–1547), it depicts hens and roosters singing the praises of their partners! These are just some of the songs on the concert programme, designed to lift the spirits and bring calm and happiness to both performers and audience.

Jane says, “Directing the Linden Singers choir is a source of continuing joy and, most importantly, constant learning for me. Long may this delightful learning curve continue! The choir is enjoying preparing this program of beautiful old favourites mixed with a fresh injection of ancient French fun and some old and modern romance. We also have some superb guest performers to add variety of sounds to the concert, and we're going to love sharing the concert with our audience”.

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