Atherstone Choral Society

This year we are very excited to be performing an evening of music by Ralph Vaughan Williams. There will be some very well known pieces of music like the great and much loved ‘Old Hundredth’ and ‘Oh Clap Your Hands’ as well as, among other pieces, Vaughan Williams’ ‘5 Mystical Songs’, ‘Towards an Unknown Region’ and ‘Valiant for Truth’.

We are very pleased to be able to feature the very impressive ‘3 Preludes on Welsh Hymn Tunes’ which will be played by our guest organist Toby Barnard.

We are also delighted to welcome our soloist Matthew Nuttall who sings with us for the first time but, within his extensive performance portfolio, he sings regularly with Glyndebourne, the renowned opera house in east Sussex which hosts the world famous summer festival. Matt will be singing the solo parts in the ‘5 Mystical Songs’, ‘Songs of Travel’ and ‘Silent Noon’.

We are also very excited to have been awarded a grant from the Vaughan Williams Foundation to support us.

This promises to be a lovely evening and we look forward to seeing you at St ‘Nics’ on the 8th November.

Concert Secretary: Liz Powell, concert.sec@atherstonechoralsociety.uk

Tickets, priced at £15 for adults and free for accompanied children 12 years and under, can be ordered by clicking on this link

A celebration of Christmas music with Atherstone Choral Society and Bedworth Brass

As has become a very popular tradition we bring you another afternoon of Christmas music to listen to and join in with.

Well known and much loved Christmas Carols to sing along to, exciting music for Brass band and lovely Christmas Choral pieces some of which you will know very well but we like to include one or two surprises as well. All within the lovely setting of St Nicolas Church which is such a beautiful and appropriate setting.

Remember this concert is very popular so make sure you reserve your tickets early. We’d hate you to miss out on this concert, which for the choir, band, and we hope, you the audience, signals the start of Christmas.

Concert Secretary: Liz Powell, concert.sec@atherstonechoralsociety.uk

We are delighted to be welcoming Bridgford Brass who join us to perform the Gloria by John Rutter as well as a selection of pieces for Brass group including the Fanfare from the Monteverdi Vespers.  The choir will also sing a selection from the Coronation Anthems including the very famous ‘Zadok the Priest’ by George Frederick Handel.

The Gloria is a musical setting of parts of the Latin Gloria. Rutter composed it in 1974 on a commission from Mel Olsen, (December 24, 1930 – December 15, 2001) an American choral conductor who introduced the compositions of John Rutter to the United States. Rutter structured the text in three movements and scored it for choir, brass, percussion and organ. It is this setting which we will be performing. The work has been recorded several times and has enjoyed much success over the years. It is a firm favourite in the repertoire of both professional and amateur choirs and is described as “exalted, devotional and jubilant”.

Concert Secretary: Liz Powell, concert.sec@atherstonechoralsociety.uk