Pinsuti

Pinsuti is a group of about 20 singers, some of whom are semi-professional and trained singers. We take our name from the little-known Victorian composer Ciro Pinsuti.

Sacred and secular unaccompanied music forms the core of our performances, which are individually tailored to each venue and audience.

We perform 4 - 5 concerts each year in the Wharfedale - Airedale area. We also enjoy singing at weddings and other events.

Vacancies

Pinsuti currently has vacancies for singers in our bass, tenor and soprano voice parts who have some singing experience and who can manage some simple sight reading

We are a friendly choir who enjoy singing together and our concerts are hugely enjoyed by both audiences and singers.

We rehearse in The Friends Meeting House on Queens Road Ilkley LS29 9QJ on Wednesday evenings between 7.30 and 9.30.

There is free street parking along Queens Road.

If you are interested, come along to 2 or 3 rehearsals to see if you enjoy singing with us, and then we'll ask you to take an informal audition. To arrange this, please contact info@pinsuti.org.uk One of our committee members will reply within a few days.

Concert Dates

Alleluia, 6th July 2024, Christ Church, Skipton BD23 2AH

Handel - Zadok the Priest

Stanford - Three Motets

Taverner - Song for Athene

Whitacre - Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine

Whitacre - Alleluia

Handel - Hallelujah Chorus

A joyful concert of music featuring settings of "Alleluia" from the last 450 years, accompanied by brass ensemble and organ.

Concert Review

PINSUTI

CHRIST CHURCH SKIPTON

FRIDAY 25 MARCH 2022

Choir in triumphant return to Christ Church

A large and enthusiastic audience welcomed the return of Pinsuti, directed by Robert Webb, to Christ Church on Friday night after a gap of two years. This chamber choir, which is undoubtedly one of the best in the area, has never been shy of attempting challenging repertoire. This concert was a case in point, starting with the Allegri Miserere and continuing with complex polyphonic settings of the Tenebrae responsaries and the Lamentations of Jeremiah by Tomas Luis da Victoria. These were interspersed with modern settings of Latin texts, the whole programme ideally fitted to the spacious acoustic of this church.

The Allegri Miserere has achieved legendary status and is now fairly often performed, although it continues to present challenges to any group of singers with its two choirs and mixture of plainsong and chorus work. Here the two choirs were separated, the ethereal top Cs in the semichorus verses, beautifully sung, floated over the audience as if from nowhere. Pinsuti sing polyphony very well, the blend of the individual parts is good as is the overall balance, all of which allows the individual lines to come across clearly. The pieces by Victoria also brought excellent work from the choir members who tackled the solo sections. In such a demanding programme, it was not surprising that there was the occasional hesitant entry.

However the choir really excelled in the modern repertoire, particularly in the Górecki setting of Totus tuus with its vast range of dynamics and Eric Whitacre’s Sainte-Chapelle, in which Whitacre’s typical close harmonies were delivered with precision. Robert Webb led from within the choir, giving the whole a collaborative feel. His excellent training and the choir’s performance was greeted with very warm applause and the evening was rounded of by a committed performance of the choir’s signature encore, Robert Webb’s own setting of Tennyson’s valedictory Crossing the bar.

Chris Skidmore

Recent Concert Programmes

Byrd & Bard November 2023

The Road Home July 2023

Shine Silent Flower April 2023

Lux de lumine December 2022

My Spirit Sang All Day November 2022

Fiesta Musica July 2022

Allegri Miserere March 2022

Heavens Moving Light December 2021

There is Sweet Music November 2021

Repertoire

You'll see some of our repertoire from the recent concert programmes above.

We sing music from 16th century composers to current works, mainly from Europe and America, and usually sing unaccompanied. The list below includes some, but not all, of the composers whose works we have sung in the past.

Allegri, Bach, Bairstow, Barber, Bednall, Blow, Boyce, Brahms, Britten, Bruckner, Byrd, Copland, Duruflé, Dvořák, Elgar, Ešenvalds, Fauré, Finzi, Gibbons, Górecki, Grieg, Guastavino, Handel, Harris, Howells, Kirbye, Jackson, Lauridsen, Leighton, Lotti, Macfarren, Mäntyjärvi, Mealor, Mendelssohn, Padilla, Palestrina, Parry, Parsons, Pärt, Paulus, Pearsall, Philips, Poulenc, Purcell, Quartel, Rachmaninov, Ramirez, Ravel, Rheinberger, Rogers, Rossini, Rutter, Sandström, Stanford, Striggio, Sullivan, Sweelinck, Tallis, Tavener, Tchaikovsky, Telemann, Tomkins, Victoria, Vaughan Willliams, Walton, Webb, Weelkes, Whitacre.

Our list keeps growing!

Concert from March 2022

Musical Director

Robert Webb is a conductor and teacher from Leeds. After reading Music at Merton College, Oxford, where he was a choral scholar under Peter Philips (Tallis Scholars) and Ben Nicholas (Reed Rubin Director of Music), Robert moved back to Leeds to train as a Music teacher.

Robert has conducted numerous choirs around West Yorkshire, and as well as being Musical Director of Pinsuti, is also Music Director of Skipton Choral Society, most recently directing a performance of John Rutter's Magnificat. He holds instrumental teaching posts at Horsforth and Roundhay schools in Leeds, and was recently appointed Trumpet and Singing teacher at the Grammar School at Leeds.

Robert works part-time in order to look after his son, Arthur, who doesn't really have a choice about being musical. In any spare time, Robert enjoys playing and watching American Football, and has even managed to convince his wife to start playing too!

Contact Us

If you'd like some more information about us or would like to talk to us about singing at your event, please get in touch with us at info@pinsuti.org.uk One of our committee members will reply within a few days.