Celebration of our Conductor

We are very excited to be celebrating Chris's 80th Birthday with a performance of The Messiah. The last time we sang this magnificent oratorio is about 25 years ago when one of the soloists was Edward Gardener, now an internationally renowned conductor! Chris has been our very special Musical Director for many years, and none of us can believe that he is coming up to such a milestone. His energy and enthusiasm whenever he conducts inspires us all, and his wonderful musicianship communicates itself to our audiences. We are lucky to sing under his baton!

Although we have all become accustomed to The Messiah being performed by large Choirs and Orchestras, Handel himself fielded 32 voices and a Chamber Orchestra at the first performance to take place in London 280 years ago. We will be mirroring these numbers! 

Catherine May, Laura Margaret Smith, Richard Symons and Owain Browne are the four talented soloists who will join us on this occasion. The Chamber Orchestra, selected for this concert, will be led by Phillipa Barton.