The Bournemouth Symphony Chorus is proud to announce the world première of Pietà, a new work commissioned from the composer Richard Blackford. This is the third major work composed for the Chorus, following the critically successful Voices of Exile (2001) and Not in Our Time (2011). Pietà has been jointly commissioned by the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and St Alban’s Choral Society.

Pietà is a setting of the Stabat Mater, with additional poems by the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova and will feature internationally renowned soloists Jennifer Johnston and Stephen Gadd, as well as the brilliant young saxophonist Amy Dickson. The conductor will be Gavin Carr, to whom the work is dedicated.