Stroud Choral Society is singing again!
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 1834.
With around 100 members, 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! If you are interested in joining us, please contact us, we are currently looking for members in all voice parts.
After many months of rehearsals on zoom, we are delighted that rehearsals started fully on Monday 27th September. The choir meets on Mondays at 7.30pm at Marling School in Stroud, and we are working towards a performance of Haydn’s oratorio, The Creation, at 7pm on Saturday 20 November at Tewkesbury Abbey.
This season, we will be also performing a concert of Christmas favourites at St Laurence’s Church, Stroud, on Friday 17 December, with our children’s choir The Minpins also taking part. The Lent term’s project is Handel’s wonderful oratorio Judas Maccabeaus, which we will be performing at Cirencester Parish Church on Saturday 26 March 2022, and a summer concert will take place on Saturday 18 June at Minchinhampton.
Listen to one of our recordings of the lovely
Cantique de Jean Racine by Fauré
Our next concert - Handel's Judas Maccabaeus
Saturday 26th March at 7pm
We are delighted to be returning to the Parish Church of St John the Baptist in the heart of Cirencester for our next concert.
Stroud Choral Society will be performing Handel's wonderful Oratorio Judas Maccabaeus accompanied by the Bristol Ensemble.
If you are not familiar with the work, it includes the smash hits of 1746 - ’See the Conquering Hero Comes’ and ’Sound an Alarm!'.
Our return to live performance with Haydn's The Creation
In November, we held our first ‘in-person’ concert since the lockdown started. We were delighted to be back doing what we enjoy most, singing great music together.
The concert was held in the wonderful Tewkesbury Abbey. The choice of Haydn's Creation by our new Musical Director, Simon Bell was deliberate. After so long away from performing live music, Haydn's joyous music was just what both performers and audience needed. It was a night to celebrate!
This was our first concert conducted by Simon Bell. He showed superb leadership and musicianship during both rehearsals and the performance, so we are assured a successful future with him.
We were delighted to perform alongside our soloists Emma Brain-Gabbott, Sam Dressel and Phil Tebb, and the orchestra, The Bristol Ensemble. The Vicar of Tewkesbury, Paul Williams, and everyone at Tewkesbury Abbey made us very welcome. We are also very grateful to our front of house volunteers and many others without whom we could not make our concerts happen.
Youth choirs show us how it should be done!
Watch our talented youngsters performing a variety of songs in their summer concert recorded earlier this year on YouTube. 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 to Normandy - July 2019
In the past, we have had some very successful tours. Some members of the choir took our repertoire across the channel in July 2019. The tour was a great success, 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.