Update May 2024
Bollington Festival Choir, founded at the time of the first Bollington Festival in 1964, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. The 2023-24 Season included all the usual events and culminated in a concert that included Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas and a spot on the outdoor stage at the Bollington Festival Diamond Jubilee Jamboree on Bank Holiday Monday.
The Choir now looks forward to an exciting new season with:
- December 1 2024 – Christmas Folk Masses. Two delightful Baroque works by Charpentier and Pascha inspired by their native French and Czech folk music, sung in Latin and English. The concert also includes a magical setting of Away in a Manger sung to a Basque folk melody; March of the Kings, a setting of French folk melodies by Bizet, the composer of Carmen; and a brand new work by Adrienne Spilsbury, one of our regular string players. With strings and recorders led by Nicola Bright, with Rosalind Hall, continuo.
- December 15 2024 – Nine Lessons and Carols at St Oswald’s with carols from the Choir and congregational hymns.
- December 17 2025 – Messiah for All. Proceeds will be shared with St Oswald’s Organ Repair Fund. Soloists from the Choir and chamber orchestra led by Nicola Bright.
- March 8 2025 – Public Singing Day to rehearse Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast and Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens
- April 6 2025: Caldara’s dark setting of Stabat Mater precedes all four of Handel’s magnificent Coronation Anthems of 1727, culminating in the blaze of glory that is Zadok the Priest. With orchestra led by Nicola Bright.
- Jume 8 2025: Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, Elgar’s Songs from the Bavarian Highlands and Blest Pair of Sirens, at home in the Arts Centre, with our accompanist Rosalind Hall.
Bollington Festival Choir was founded in 1964 by Dr John Coope MBE (1928-2005) who conducted it for 37 years before handing the baton to Donald Judge, a member since 1976.
Known for its friendly atmosphere, new members and audiences are assured of a warm welcome. Anyone can join without audition, and see how rehearsals go before proceeding.
Always renowned for its adventurous programming, the Choir’s repertoire blends well-loved composers and pieces with the less familiar and the contemporary. The Choir has an excellent accompanist, Rosalind Hall, and our concerts are greatly enhanced by orchestras led by Nicola Bright.
Forthcoming events feature on the Events page.
For all Choir events, the current season’s leaflet, and full information please visit the Choir’s website or call 01625 511881.
