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on tour in Estonia 2008

Bratislava Palace

Our next concert is in Bratislava, Slovakia. Next concert in new season is Brahms German Requiem on Sunday 28th November 2010
7.30pm in Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham. click here for map
View our latest Brochure (720kb, pdf - requires Adobe PDF Reader)

Read the biography of our Music Director Patrick Larley and our Accompanist Kevin Gill.

Birmingham Festival Choral Society is the earliest established Birmingham SATB chorus singing today, being formed in 1843 to supply the majority of the singers for the chorus of the Birmingham Triennial Musical Festivals.

Repertoire

We sing a wide selection of music featuring both well-loved and less known works, music from the Baroque era to exciting 21st century pieces. Our adventurous repertoire has gained us national recognition with Performing Right Society Enterprise Awards, West Midlands Arts Key Change Incentive Awards, and very welcome support from local businesses and industry.

We perform at least three major concerts a season, usually in November, March and June, in major Birmingham venues, plus a Christmas Carol Concert in aid of a local charity nominated by a choir member.

Rehearsals

Rehearsals are held on Wednesday evenings from 7.15 – 9.30pm during term time at The Octagon, Edgbaston High School for Girls , Westbourne Rd, B15 3TS

Conductors

Outstanding amongst the sixteen Birmingham Festival Choral Society Conductors/Music Directors are:
Sir Thomas Beecham 1918 - 1919
Sir Henry Wood 1919 - 1923
Sir Adrian Boult 1923 - 1930 (Sir Adrian became President of BFCS until his death in 1983).
The longest serving Conductors are William C Stockley (1855 - 1895) and Jeremy Patterson who was BFCS Music Director from 1969 to 2004.
Anthony Bradbury joined BFCS in 1990 as Assistant Conductor and became Associate Conductor in 1995. He was appointed as BFCS Music Director for the 2004/5 Concert Season on 7th July 2004.

Patrick Larley became Music Director of BFCS in September 2005.

Tours

The choir plans to tour abroad once every two or three years, in the recent past visiting Bulgaria, Poland, Czech Republic (Prague and Southern Bohemia), Leipzig & Thuringia, Belgium & Holland, Slovenia and Estonia(in July 2008). On some of these tours we took gifts and money to aid local hospitals and charities. BFCS also hosts reciprocal visits to Birmingham from European choirs... Tour Venues

BFCS is a Registered Charity and has educational objectives.

BFCS operates an Equal Opportunities Policy.