Con Anima is a

chamber choir A chamber choir is a small or medium-sized choir of roughly 8 to 40 singers (occasionally called 'chamber singers'), typically singing classical or religious music in a concert setting. (This is distinct from e.g. a church choir, which sings in rel ...

based in Aberdeen, conducted by Professor

Paul Mealor Paul Mealor OStJ CLJ OSS FRSA (born 25 November 1975) is a Welsh composer. A large proportion of his output is for chorus, both a cappella and accompanied. He came to wider notice when his motet ''Ubi Caritas et Amor'' was performed at the w ...

History

Con Anima was founded in 1995, and between that date and 1999 gave a number of concerts, mostly a
St Mary’s Chapel, Blairs
Aberdeen. In late 2001 Con Anima re-formed, and met informally for several months, before asking local pianist Robert Howie to direct them in a public concert. They have performed several times a year ever since. Con Anima regularly perform concerts in St Andrew's Cathedral, Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen and

St Machar's Cathedral St Machar's Cathedral usually called Old Machar (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-eaglais Naomh Machar), (or, more formally, the Cathedral Church of St Machar) is a Church of Scotland church in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is located to the north of the c ...

as well as travelling further afield. Among the high points of their performing history are a concert featuring Lux Aeterna and other works by renowned American composer

Morten Lauridsen Morten Johannes Lauridsen (born February 27, 1943) is an American composer. A National Medal of Arts recipient (2007), he was composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1994 to 2001, and is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus of ...

in the composer's presence as part of the 2007 Sound festival of contemporary music; and a concert of twentieth-century French music with the distinguished French organist

Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin Sophie-Véronique Colette Claude Cauchefer-Choplin (née Cauchefer, born 28 December 1959) is a French organist.Paul Mealor Paul Mealor OStJ CLJ OSS FRSA (born 25 November 1975) is a Welsh composer. A large proportion of his output is for chorus, both a cappella and accompanied. He came to wider notice when his motet ''Ubi Caritas et Amor'' was performed at the w ...

, Senior Lecturer in Music and Concerts Coordinator at the University of Aberdeen, as its principal conductor. However, they continue to work also with guest conductors including professor

Andrew Morrisson Andrew Morrisson is a British classical organist and Master of the Choristers at St Andrew's Cathedral, Aberdeen, and Associate Head of the School of Pharmacy & Life Sciences at the Robert Gordon University. Biography Morrisson was educated a ...

, Organist and Master of Choristers at St Andrew's Cathedral, Aberdeen, and Dr

Roger Williams (organist) Roger Bevan Williams, MBE (born 1943) is a Welsh organist and musicologist. In 2010, he retired as Master of Ceremonial Music and Organist to the University of Aberdeen, a music department in which he had been a member for over 30 years. Biogr ...

, Master of Chapel & Ceremonial Music and Organist to the University of Aberdeen.

Repertoire

Con Anima's repertoire spans sacred and secular music from the 16th to the 21st centuries and performances have included world premieres by

and Kyle McCallum.

Recordings

Con Anima's first CD, ''Paul Mealor: Stabat Mater'', was released in October 2009. It includes several previously un-recorded works by

. In August 2008 members of the choir took part in '' Phil Cunningham's Grace Notes''Review of Phil Cunningham's Grace Notes
- Scotsman Newspaper (accessed 29 March 2009) - a television programme on Scottish church music, filmed i
Monymusk Parish Church
Aberdeenshire and broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

(Scotland) on 21 February 2009.

References

External links

*
Con Anima page on Facebook
{{Authority control Scottish choirs Musical groups established in 1995