MUSICIANS in the Haslemere and Farnham areas are in the process of producing a CD that will highlight both their composing and performance talents.

The renowned Excelsis Choir and their conductor Rob Lewis, travelled to the glorious Victorian Gothic church of St John the Evangelist in Upper Norwood, London, last Saturday (September 29), along with composer Clive Osgood, in order to fulfil their long held ambition to produce a CD of Clive’s beautiful choral music.

Clive is currently director of music and organist at St Bartholomew’s Church in Haslemere. He has written a variety of music for choirs, orchestras and chamber groups and has completed many commissions. Choral music forms a large part of his output and he has a particular interest in church music.

Excelsis Choir sings with international soloists and professional orchestras and has performed at the Royal Albert Hall and Westminster Cathedral as well as in Surrey. Co-founded in 2007 by Grayshott Concerts and Rob Lewis, who is director of music at Farnham’s St Thomas-on-The Bourne Church, the choir’s performances have also been featured on BBC Radio 3.

The recording will be completed on October 13, when the choir will record Dixit Dominus and Beatus Vir to the accompaniment of acclaimed orchestra the London Mozart Players.

Works on the CD will also include Clive’s finalist entry for the BBC 2017 Christmas Carol Competition Alleluia – A New Work Has Come on Hand and the beautiful Peace of God which featured at the Flower Festival Evensong at St Christopher’s Church last month.

The CD will be released next year by Convivium Records. Convivium, under Adrian Green, are a London based record company who are committed to working with exceptional artists and composers to record and share their music.

Excelsis and Clive have been raising funds for this project for over a year and they have been overwhelmed by the generosity of donors and delighted with attendances at various fund-raising concerts and events.

They have also received a generous grant from the Community Foundation for Surrey. Fund raising continues for the launch concert which will be held in May 2019.

For full details of how you can help them raise funds go to the choir’s website http://excelsis-choir.co.uk. Progress of the recording can also be followed on the choir’s facebook page.