World Music Youth Choir

This was the first time all 350 performers have come together to rehearse Chris Long’s composition. It was fantastic to hear all the different musical traditions combine into one piece. Equinox is shaping up to be a very exciting experience!
Buy your tickets and spread the word! EQUINOX

Equinox website: here.

The composition has two movements and uses voice and percussion to combine together the musical cultures of all the groups taking part.  It will be exciting to see what Chris has created in the coming weeks!

City Choir members started rehearsing the piece tonight – we are going to enjoy learning it.

Keep up to date with progress here.

Committed singing is exciting!

Join the City of Birmingham Choir at our next OPEN REHEARSAL.

Enjoy two hours of superb choral training with our charismatic conductor, Adrian Lucas.
All music will be provided – just bring yourself! A chance to meet choir members in an informal setting. Refreshments will be available.

A warm welcome awaits you.

Date: Tuesday 10th January 2012
Time: 6.30pm – 8.30pm Registration from 6pm
Place: The Priory Rooms Meeting and Conference Centre, Bull Street, Birmingham, B4 6AF.

LEAFLET TO DOWNLOAD 2012-01_OpenRehearsal.

So come along to

CHRISTMAS TREATS.
Sunday 18th December,

2.30 pm, Town Hall.

Take a break from your Christmas preparations and treat yourself to an afternoon of uplifting festive music. We will perform festive favourites and there will even be an opportunity for you to join in, if you wish!

Town Hall is in the centre of the Frankfurt Christmas Market so you can make an occasion of it, get those last minute presents and enjoy a glass of Glühwein afterwards. Bring the whole family, young and old, and get into the Christmas spirit.

Went to outstanding performance of Handel’s Messiah at Symphony Hall tonight… a good night out.

The feedback from one member of the audience on Friday night at Symphony Hall.

You have another chance to join us, the CBSO and a brilliant team of soloists at Town Hall on Tuesday night (13th Dec.) at 7 pm. Handel’s Messiah – Classic FM Magazine top choice concert. We are giving out free programmes and you also can download a free, full-colour programme online.

Why not also enjoy the festive spirit and seasonal joy at our Christmas Treats concert, also in Town Hall, on Sunday 18th December at 2.30.

This year we have teamed up with Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra for a fabulous musical programme. Then you can continue your enjoyment with a warming mug of Glühwein at the German Christmas Market outside.

Classic FM have made us their “Top Choice” Messiah for the festive season and, if that is not enough persuasion, we will be giving away free programmes (and you can pop to the amazing German Christmas Market nearby for a warming mug of Glühwein).

Christmas Treats

While you’re about it, book for our wonderful Christmas Treats concert on Sunday afternoon, 18th December.

Deputy Lady Mayoress cuts the birthday cake.

After a pre-concert talk involving Christopher Robinson, with a goodwill message from Sir David Willcocks, as well as a short performance from Bournville Young Singers, our concert included spectacular Janacek – the Galgolitic Mass. Congratulations to conductor Adrian Lucas and all the performers for a splendid evening.

Look at our Facebook site for more photos (see link).

Free Programmes for Messiah!

This year we are trialling a new initiative to give audiences free programmes for our Messiah concerts. A short, free programme with the words and other basic information will be given out at the concert itself. A more detailed full-colour programme is available online to read at your leisure, before or after the concert.

www.citychoir.org.uk/programmes

Just hours to go to our  90th birthday concert in Symphony Hall -  Saturday 5th November at 7.30 pm.

Read the article in the Birmingham Post, here.

Stunning soloists – Judith Howarth,Catherine King, Adrian Thompson and Keel Watson – the CBSO, choir – and amazing music!  Don’t miss a marvellous evening’s entertainment.

Watch an extract of the thrilling Glagolitic Mass from this year’s BBC Proms:

We will be having a Late Bar in the Symphony Hall foyer after the concert , where you can socialise with choir members and friends and help us celebrate our birthday.

Included in your concert ticket is a free pre-concert talk with former conductor Christopher Robinson, our associate choir, Bournville Young Singers, a message from Sir David Willcocks.

Don’t wait – book tickets for yourself and your friends now!

We would love to see you at our 90th birthday concert in Symphony Hall -  Saturday 5th November at 7.30 pm.

Watch an extract of the thrilling Glagolitic Mass from this year’s BBC Proms:

We will be having a Late Bar in the Symphony Hall foyer after the concert , where you can socialise with choir members and friends and help us celebrate our birthday.

Included in your concert ticket is a free pre-concert talk with former conductor Christopher Robinson, our associate choir, Bournville Young Singers, a message from Sir David Willcocks.

Don’t wait – book tickets for yourself and your friends now!

We will be having a Late Bar after the concert in the Symphony Hall foyer, where you can socialise with choir members and friends and help us celebrate our birthday.

Included in your concert ticket is a fascinating free pre-concert talk involving former choir conductor Christopher Robinson, our Voice Factory associate choir, Bournville Young Singers, a message from former choir conductor Sir David Willcocks, and more about the choir and the works being performed.

Don’t wait – book tickets for yourself and your friends now!

Tickets are now on sale – click here.

For our 5th November concert, quote “Early10″ for 10% off up to 4 tickets over £16 before 24th September!

Please remember to book your Messiah tickets, too! (9th or 13th December – you choose.)

For full details of our concerts and how to book, go to the concerts page.

Following on from our Carmina Burana “extracts” performance at Adrian Boult Hall, our EQUINOX- Cultures in Harmony project participants enjoyed working together with composer Chris Long and conductor Colin Baines at CBSO Centre.

You could come to our OPEN REHEARSAL on Tuesday 13th September at 6.30 pm. DOWNLOAD leaflet here.

Concert tickets on sale

We are working on our 90th Birthday Concert on Saturday 5th November.  Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass is spectactular, and is matched with his Taras Bulba and Dvorak’s tuneful Te Deum.

Tickets are now on sale – click here.

For our 5th November concert, quote “Early10″ for 10% off up to 4 tickets over £16 before 24th September!

Please remember to book your Messiah tickets, too! (9th or 13th December – you choose.)

Come and meet us at ARTSFEST this weekend. We are really friendly and would love to see you.

You can hear us free of charge at ARTSFEST on Sunday 11th September at 1.30 pm in Adrian Boult Hall, and visit our stall on New Street on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th for more information about our music-making.

Our exciting EQUINOX- Cultures in Harmony project is launched at a free workshop at the CBSO Centre on Sunday at 3 pm. Chris Long, our composer, will be present.

You could come to our OPEN REHEARSAL on Tuesday 13th September at 6.30 pm. DOWNLOAD leaflet here.

Concert tickets on sale

We have a fantastic season lined up, with our 90th Birthday Concert on Saturday 5th November.  Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass is spectactular, and is matched with his Taras Bulba and the tuneful Dvorak Te Deum.

Tickets are now on sale – click here.

For our 5th November concert, quote “Early10″ for 10% off up to 4 tickets over £16 before 24th September!

Please remember to book your Messiah tickets, too! (9th or 13th December – you choose.)

Find out more about the Glagolitic Mass in a BBC Discovering Music programme.

Tickets are now on sale – click here.

For our 5th November concert, quote “Early10″ for 10% off up to 4 tickets over £16 before 24th September!

Please remember to book your Messiah tickets, too! (9th or 13th December – you choose.)

You can hear us free of charge at ARTSFEST on Sunday 11th September at 1.30 pm in Adrian Boult Hall, and visit our stall on New Street on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th.

You could come to our OPEN REHEARSAL on Tuesday 13th September at 6.30 pm.

We had a tremendous concert to round off the 2010-11 season on 21st May.  Read REVIEW.

It’s our summer break now, but we look forward to September and the start of our 90th Birthday Season.

You can meet us at ARTSFEST on 10th and 11th September – watch for details!  You could come to our OPEN REHEARSAL on Tuesday 13th September at 6.30 pm.

We have a fantastic season lined up, with our 90th Birthday Concert on Saturday 5th November.  Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass is spectactular.  Find out more about it in a BBC Discovering Music programme.

Feedback from the May concert (from a member of the audience)…

My name is Peter and I just wanted to send you a quick note to say how much I enjoyed the performance the City of Birmingham Choir gave with the BSSO orchestra in Symphony Hall. The orchestral standard was fantastically high, and you could see the enthusiasm on the faces of the young players. The end-result for us in the audience was wonderful, and it was especially great to see music-making spanning the generations. One final comment: please thank the Phoenix Group for providing such excellent free programmes for the concert. This was the real icing on the cake for us on a truly memorable evening.

The Pines of Rome was superb – well done BSSO.  Then Carmina Burana…here’s Jan’s opinion:

What can one say apart from  “WOW”  That was some concert !!  It was by far the best rendition of Carmina I have ever heard.  The sopranos excelled themselves – their top notes were superb.  As for the soloists, what can one say, they were just stupendous, and the orchestra was just beyond belief.

Thanks to Mike Seal for conducting and everyone who took part in the concert.

City Choir men in action

Children's Chorale

BSSO

Michael Seal

Under the baton of Mike Seal, rehearsal of Carmina Burana is well under way.  Birmingham Schools’ Symphony Orchestra have been making fantastic progress with the work, and City of Birmingham Choir members are sharpening up their medieval Latin and German pronunciation ready to give you an exhilarating performance in Symphony Hall on 21st May.  The specially-formed Birmingham Music Service Children’s Chorale have also been meeting and learning their part (the “ragazzi”).

This is a wonderful collaboration between City of Birmingham Choir and Birmingham Music Service – don’t miss it!

More information HERE.

© Nigel Groom

Surrounding our Bach: Mass in B Minor performance in Worcester Cathedral on 30th April at 7.30 pm, we have arranged a two-part art exhibition by painter and former City of Birmingham Choir member, Nigel Groom. You can view the paintings free of charge in the Dean’s Chapel. We hope this will inspire you to come to our concert.

12th – 22nd April, a series of 14 large and striking paintings, The Stations of the Cross, were displayed up to the end of Good Friday.

Now, from 23rd April – 2nd May, there follows 12 further paintings, The Stations of the Resurrection, as well as a13th, Seek Him.

Read more and PREVIEW the paintings >>

Nigel Groom writes,

“To complement the Choir’s performance of Bach’s great choral work I was delighted to be invited to exhibit my two series of paintings, The Stations of the Cross and The Stations of the Resurrection in the Dean‘s Chapel.”    

©Nigel Groom

Surrounding our Bach: Mass in B Minor performance in Worcester Cathedral on 30th April, we have arranged a two-part art exhibition by painter and former City of Birmingham Choir member, Nigel Groom. You can view the paintings in the Dean’s Chapel.

12th – 22nd April, a series of 14 large and striking paintings The Stations of the Cross, displayed up to the end of Good Friday.

23rd April – 2nd May, then follows 12 further paintings, The Stations of the Resurrection, as well as a13th, Seek Him.

Read more and PREVIEW the paintings >>

Nigel Groom writes,

“To complement the Choir’s performance of Bach’s great choral work I was delighted to be invited to exhibit my two series of paintings, The Stations of the Cross and The Stations of the Resurrection in the Dean‘s Chapel.”