Join us for an evening concert celebrating journeys, home and the natural world, with Tristram Cooke (counter-tenor), Graham Thorpe at the piano, and invited singers.
Tristram Cooke is a lay vicar at Westminster Abbey. After graduating from Kings College London, he was awarded a scholarship to the two-year MA in Performance at the Royal Academy of Music, from where he graduated with Distinction in 2016. Solo work includes both Bach Passions, Christmas Oratorio, Cantatas BWV 170 “Vergnügte Ruh” and 82 “Ich habe genug”, and the Mass in B Minor, Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus, Handel’s Athalia, and Israel in Egypt, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, and Scarlatti’s Totus amore languens, as well as the role of ‘Matto’ in the rarely performed opera Lo Spedale by an anonymous C17 Italian composer for Musica Antica Rotherhithe.
He sings regularly with the Tallis Scholars and the choir of the Age of Enlightenment, and has also sung with the Gabrieli Consort, Oxford Voices, De Profundis, Siglo de Oro, the Sixteen, Le Concert d’Astrée and Arcangelo, with whom he is due to sing in this year’s Prom season.
Graham Thorpe is a native of the north, growing up in Co. Durham. He learnt the piano and trombone from a young age, and was drawn to the organ at school. He spent his sixth form at Chetham’s School of Music before moving to London where he studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music.
He held organ scholarships at Guildford Cathedral, King’s College, London, and the Brompton Oratory, and was the Assistant Organist at St. Michael’s, Cornhill. Graham enjoyed working as a freelance accompanist and repetiteur in the south east. In 2019, Graham took up the post of Assistant Director of Music at Bradford Cathedral. Here he is responsible for accompanying the cathedral’s services and assisting with the running of the choir. He also manages the weekly recital series.
He and Tristram met at King’s College in 2013 and have since maintained contact, performing together at venues across London and northern England
Ticket options:
Virtual ticket: Experience the concert from the comfort of your own home. You will be provided with a zoom link before the event and can join the livestream of the performance from wherever you are in the world.
In person ticket for attendance at St Mary’s: If you’d rather see the performance in person and visit us at the beautiful St Mary’s Parish church in Barnard Castle, then this is for you. Unfortunately, with the uncertainty of Covid-19, we are only able to release a small number of tickets. If government guidance changes and restrictions are put back in place preventing us from having an audience in the church, your ticket will be refunded (this applies only to in-person tickets – virtual tickets are non-refundable)
Keeping you safe: In response to Covid-19, we are following public health guidance and may have additional measures in place, which are carefully designed to keep you, our staff, and the artists safe and healthy. This means that you will have to wear a mask during the concert and while you are inside the church, unless you are medically exempt.