If you dreamed of summering in Paris or floating down the canals of Venice this year, but can’t afford the airfare, don’t despair. The Bermuda Chamber Choir is offering a taste of high culture this month with a special concert called Summer in Europe.

This musical tour features Vivaldi’s Gloria, Schubert’s Mass in G, Elgar’s Pomp & Circumstance — March No 1 in D and Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 1.

“Summer in Europe will be a glorious celebration of European music through the ages,” said director Kate Ross. Our concert is one of two halves — the first choral and the second orchestral, culminating in the magnificent Piano Concerto No 1 by Chopin, featuring our very own Oliver Grant.”

This first published work by Chopin, written when he was just 20 years old at the Warsaw Conservatory, was praised by critics as one of music’s sublime works.

“This often technically demanding piano writing is governed by an intense poetic feeling,” said Mrs Ross.

Other works will include Gloria by Vivaldi. Mrs Ross said this would conjure up the majesty of Venice in the Baroque era.

“This is a wonderfully joyous setting of the traditional Gloria from the Latin Mass which is uplifting to both the performers and listeners alike,” Mrs Ross said.

Also featured will be a classical work from Vienna, Austria, Mass in G Major by Schubert.

“This mass is one of exquisite melodic beauty and superlative lyricism,” said the Director. “It is the gentlest of masses which astonishingly was composed in just six­ days by the 18-year-­old Schubert.”

The concert will also feature the impressive orchestral performance of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 in D, evoking, according to Mrs Ross, “English nationalism at its finest!”

The Bermuda Chamber Choir, under the auspices of the Bermuda School of Music, is a community choir. Choir members attend sessions each Monday evening and learn the best of choral music from great composers, while helping to keep the fine art of choral singing alive in Bermuda. Mrs Ross studied music at University of York and gained her teaching qualification at the University of Cambridge. She began teaching music for the Menuhin Foundation in Bermuda in 1983 and since then she has become a well-­known figure in local musical and theatrical circles. She is currently the director of both the Daylesford Singers and the Bermuda Chamber Choir and has worked with the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society and many others. She began working at the Bermuda High School (BHS) as Director of Music in 1986 and since 2000 she has been the Coordinator of the International Baccalaureate at BHS.

Accomplished piano soloist, Oliver Grant, was born in the United Kingdom but at the age of eight moved to Spain with his family where he spent his formative years. He studied piano at the Katarina Gurska Academy in Madrid. He also attended Bath Spa University where he completed a Fellowship in Performance and Northern College of Music where he completed a postgraduate Diploma in Performance. Mr Grant has played with the Bermuda Chamber Choir for the past seven years. He has also performed in numerous Bermuda Festival and Bermuda School of Music events. He currently teaches piano and solfeggio at the Bermuda School of Music. He is also organist at Christ Church Warwick, as well as a member of the rock band Working Title.

Summer in Europe will be held on June 21 at 7.30pm and June 22 at 4pm at the Earl Cameron Theatre, City Hall, Hamilton. Sponsors tickets are $55, adult tickets $35, students $20 available from: www.ptix.bm and t he Bermuda Bookstore on Queen Street in Hamilton, through choir members and at the door.