THERE MAY BE A PANDEMIC, BUT WE ARE STILL SINGING!
Welcome to the home page for Stroud Choral Society. We’re one of the oldest amateur choirs in the country and have been performing in front of audiences in Stroud and beyond since 1934.
With around 140 members, in ‘normal times’ we aim to present at least four concerts a year, and rehearse in the music block at Marling School on Monday evenings. We’re friendly, welcoming, and love our social events almost as much as our singing!
Of course, right now, because of COVID-19, everything is different.
We can’t rehearse or perform as we have done for decades but we are doing what we can to keep the choir running, albeit in a very different way.
We use the brilliant Zoom meetings tool to hold rehearsals each week, one section at a time. This means that each section gets half an hour with our fantastic musical director Simon Bell. You can read more about Simon here.
Of course, this isn’t a perfect solution, as we recognise that that not all our members have access to, or are confident with the technology needed to take part in Zoom rehearsals, or to record their voice parts for the works we are recording and sharing. But we know that for a lot of our members, our Zoom rehearsals provide a way of staying connected and encourages them to keep singing!
We are exploring other ways of keeping everyone singing into 2021 – in line of course, with all the latest government guidelines and scientific advice – and will share any plans here.
In the meantime:
- If you are already a member, please continue to join us in our Zoom rehearsals if you can.
- If you are a member and you haven’t tried Zoom yet, please do – it really isn’t too tricky. If you are holding back because you are concerned about your voice being exposed – don’t worry, you can be seen but not heard!
- Not a member, but would like to be, then do please get in touch with us here and we can fill you in with all the details you need.
“Singing is good for the body, mind and soul. We know that Zoom rehearsals aren’t quite the same but they are great at bringing us together and giving us the chance to sing, to learn and to enjoy.” Simon Bell, MD
EASTER CONCERT - MOZART’S REQUIEM
We are very excited that our latest efforts to make music with Zoom will be unveiled on Monday, March 29th.
You will be able to view and hear our performance of Mozart’s Requiem on YouTube on Monday evening. We have same fabulous soloists and we would love to share this wonderful work with you.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss out!
Here is a little information about our fantastic soloists for the Mozart Requiem
Amy Porter, soprano, is a former pupil at Dean Close School in Cheltenham, and recently graduated from Durham University.
Ben Sawyer, taking on the countertenor role, is a well-known local conductor based in Gloucestershire. A colleague of SCS conductor and musical director Simon Bell at Dean Close School, he sings in Tewkesbury Abbey’s Schola Cantorum.
Our tenor is Tomasz Holownia, known to everyone as Tom. Tom was a choral scholar at Dean Close School / Tewkesbury Abbey last year. He returned to Australia at the start of the pandemic to be with his family, where he has been living ever since!
And finally, we have our bass soloist in the shape of Alan Fairs - who is Stroud Choral Society’s president.
There hasn’t been much in the way of opportunity for our soloists to perform during the last 12 months or so, thanks to Covid and various lockdowns. Being able to have them sing for and ‘with’ us for our Easter concert is therefore doubly special.
Youth choirs show us how it should be done!
Watch our talented youngsters performing a variety of songs all recorded in their own homes and blended into a fantastic concert!
Songs for Springtime comprises a variety of pieces sung by 26 of our two youth choirs and will be available to view on YouTube from the evening of Saturday, March 27th. This 30 minute concert is sure to lift your heart and soul!
The children have all worked so hard to produce this concert and normally this would be our main fundraiser of the year with people paying £10 a ticket to watch. If you feel you are able to make a donation to secure the future of the choir we would be very grateful. Thank you.
Tour July 2019 - France
Some members of the choir took our repetoire across the channel in July. The tour was a great sucess, attracting good audiences, visiting some beautiful places and venues.
Here is a glimpse of SCS on tour:
Stroud Choral Society
Stroud Choral Society was founded in 1834 and therefore is one of the oldest choral societies in Britain. However, we are always moving with the times and in recent years have formed a childrens choir - The Minpins - and a youth choir. Both groups sing with us occasionally and also have their own concert programme.
Typically we perform four major concerts throughout the year, singing in venues such as Tewkesbury Abbey, Cirencester Parish Church of St John Baptist and Minchinhampton Church.
Our repertoire in recent years has included Beethoven's Mass in C, Dvorak requiem, Bach's St John Passion The German Requiem by Brahms and The Chichester Psalms by Leonard Berstein.
Want to know more or possibly sing with us? Please visit the Contact Details page.
The Next Generation
Stroud Choral Society are proud to have under their umberella The Minpins - our childrens choir and the Stroud Choral Youth Choir.
The Minpins sing with the main choir at our Christmas concert and the Youth Choir with us at our summer concert. Meanwhile, they have many concerts in their own right locally during the rest of the year.
Rehearsals are on a Tuesday evening in Nailsworth. If you would like more information, take a look at their dedicated page or follow the link below.