Our Next Event
Bristol Ensemble
Organist - Simon Bell
Soprano - Kirsty Hopkins
Mezzo-soprano - Rachael Cox
Tenor - Sam Dressel
Bass - Philip Tebb
Bach B Minor Mass
Saturday 14th March 7pm
Parish Church of St John Baptist, Cirencester
The final concert with Stroud Choral for our conductor, Huw Williams
Tickets : £20, under 18's Free
Available from:
Cirencester Visitor Information 01285 886353
Stroud Subscription Rooms 01453 796880 or TICKETS
Members of the choir and on the door (cash or cheque)
Thank You
Thanks to all your kind donations we were delighted to hand over £360.51 to Stroud Court Community Trust - our chosen charity for the retiring collection at our Christmas concert in December.
What a fantastic amount to help a very worthwhile charity that supports adults with autism.
Many thanks for your generosity.
New Musical Director
We are very pleased to announce that Simon Bell has been appointed our new musical director as from March 2020.
Simon has been part of the SCS family for several years as our rehearsal accompanist and assistant musical director and so it will be great to continue making music with him in his new capacity.
Huw Williams will conduct us for the final time in our March Concert in Cirencester after 10 terrific years with the choir.
(For more about Simon see his biography under the heading' people')
2019/2020 Programme
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:
What people say.....
From an audience member at our Christmas concert, December 2018:
What a wonderful concert! It was so cold that I was tempted to curl up by the fire, but SO glad I didn't. I am no music expert but it seemed to me that the voices just blended into one whole and it was easy to hear the words ( which I find is often a problem in church choirs).
Such a lovely balanced programme too with the sacred and secular songs and the readings were funny and just the right length. Loved watching your conductor and so enjoyed the accompanist. In short, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
From an audience member at our March concert - Beethoven Mass in C
Listening to yesterday evening's Stroud Choral Society concert in Cirencester Parish Church, featuring Mendelssohn's radiantly uplifting 'Lauda Sion' and Beethoven's Mass in C, I was spellbound and deeply moved by the sheer beauty of the music and the quality of the performances. It was very wonderful indeed to hear this great music unfolding and filling the vast interior of the building.
Although I was already familiar with Beethoven's Mass in C, hearing Mendelssohn's beautiful setting of 'Lauda Sion' was a wonderful revelation. The music is quite different from the composer's better known Protestant church music. What a pity it is only rarely performed !
Stroud Choral Society concerts just seem to get better and better. Last night the singers were in top form, the excellent soloists gave very fine performances - their voices blending perfectly together in the quartet sections, and the playing of the Regency Sinfonia Orchestra was superb. Many, many thanks to conductor Huw Williams, and to all the singers and players who took part in this most moving and enjoyable concert.
Thank you again,
William Morris
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.