Join us at St George’s Church Edgbaston on 11th July for an uplifting evening of spirituals, rhythmic and soulful. We’re really looking forward to singing with the mezzo soprano Lufuno Ndou and musicians playing bass guitar, drums, piano and saxophone!
The main item in our concert will be John Rutter’s arrangements of a variety of spirituals in his work ‘Feel the Spirit‘.
Other items include:
Hogan – Battle of Jericho
Hogan – My soul’s been anchored
Hogan – Elijah Rock
Washburn – Balm in Gilead
Bartholomew – Little Innocent Lamb
Bartholomew – De animals a-comin’
Chilcott – Didn’t it rain
Chilcott – Every Time I feel the spirit
Chilcott – All my trials
FEEL THE SPIRIT
Saturday 11th July 2026 19.30
St George’s Church, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 3DQ
Birmingham Festival Choral Society
David Wynne – conductor Lufuno Ndou – Mezzo soprano
Kevin Gill – piano Jim Griffiths – bass guitar Julian Powell – drums Nicky Fox – saxophone
St John’s and St Peter’s Church, Birmingham, B16 8TF
 Sunday 8th December 2024, 4.30pm
Come to our concert of Christmas music, carols and Christmas refreshments. We are also expecting a visit from a certain Christmas gentleman!
Birmingham Festival Choral Society will be joined by the choir of Bournville Village Primary School, directed by Rachael Stidwell. Kevin Gill will be accompanying from both the piano and organ, and David Wynne is the Music Director.
A collection will be taken for St Basils, the charity helping young people find and keep a home. This charity was chosen by the Bournville Village Primary School choir.
The competition for the second Birmingham Festival Choral Society Oratorio Prize, is to be held on Monday 30th October at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. The competition will take place between 7 and 8.45pm in the Recital Hall. You are invited to be in the audience to support the singers and enjoy this special event in the BFCS calendar!
Talented singers from the Conservatoire will compete for the prize which includes a trophy, a financial prize and a future engagement to sing the solo part at a Birmingham Festival Society Concert.
The winner of the 2022 Oratorio Prize was Baritone Jia Huang, and an account of that competition can be found here.
Directions to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire can be found here.
Christmas is coming! The Birmingham Festival Choral Society Christmas concert will be held on Sunday 4th December at St Anne’s Church, Park Hill, Moseley. Take note of the 4.30pm start time
Our main work is Wassail! Carols of Comfort and Joy by Alexander L’Estrange – a lovely medley of Christmas carols written for adult and children’s choirs, accompanied by a jazz/folk band.
Listen to the composer introducing the work:
Adult choir: Birmingham Festival Choral Society
Children’s Choir: Eversfield Preparatory School
Band:
Andy Derrick: Double Bass Bethany Toulson: Recorder Julian Powell: Percussion Karen Street: Accordion Kevin Gill: Piano and organ
There will also be carols for the audience to sing, Christmas music from the performers – and a visit from FATHER CHRISTMAS!
After a break of nearly two years, Birmingham Festival Choral Society is delighted to invite you to a live concert! On 30th October 2021 we will be performing Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle – the concert we were about to perform when everything was stopped by the pandemic.
Our venue is the Ruddock Performing Arts Centre at Kings Edward’s School, Edgbaston. The Centre is following Covid-19 protocols to provide a safe environment. Tickets will be online only, so that the spacing of the seating can be controlled.
The Petite Messe Solennelle was written for performance at one of the very popular weekly musical salons held by Rossini and his wife at their Paris home. As such, it was originally scored for a small choir, accompanied by two pianos, with harmonium or accordion. We are looking forward to singing with piano and accordion accompaniment.
Rossini achieved superstar status early in life, having written over 40 operas by the age of 37. The William Tell Overture is one of the pieces for which he is best known in popular culture today. There followed a period of 25 years of ill health, during which he didn’t compose any new music.
In 1855 Rossini ‘returned to life’ on moving to Paris with his second wife, and their musical salons became internationally famous. These salons included music by many composers, and they inspired Rossini to write over 150 small works for performance by different soloists and ensembles.
The Petite Messe Solennelle was Rossini’s last major work , written in 1863. The opera composer’s beautiful melodies , colour and drama make this one of the most popular works in the choral repertoire. We love singing it, and we’re sure that you will enjoy listening to it too!
We’re very sorry to announce that our ‘Petite Messe Solennelle’ concert has been cancelled, due to the current coronavirus situation.
Our singers have loved learning Rossini’s beautiful work, and we hope to reschedule the concert at a later date.
This concert was to have involved seven freelance musicians, all of whom are facing an uncertain financial future as this, and other concerts are cancelled. We would like to invite those who have bought concert tickets to consider this as a donation, to enable us to make the musicians a reasonable settlement. If, however, you would like a refund, please contact us to make arrangements.
We have an impressive line-up of talented artists for our ‘Petite Messe Solennelle’ concert at the Ruddock Centre, King Edward’s School, on 28th March. It promises to be a great concert!
The Petite Messe Solennelle was written by Rossini for performance at one of his popular ‘Musical Salons’ by a small choir, two pianos and harmonium. An interesting feature of our concert is that we will be accompanied by accordion and piano, an alternative accompaniment that was suggested by Rossini himself.
A significant part of the Petite Messe Solennelle is taken by our vocal soloists. We are very fortunate to have four soloists of such a high calibre. They have won an impressive number of prizes between them, and all have successful careers singing in opera and oratorio in Britain and overseas. Individual Biographies will be given in the programme at the concert, but links are also provided here, where available.
Come and hear BFCS sing Rossini’s lovely Petite Messe Solennelle on Saturday 28th March, at the Ruddock Performing Arts Centre, King Edward’s School.
The Petite Messe Solennelle was written for performance at one of the very popular weekly musical salons held by Rossini and his wife at their Paris home. As such, it was originally scored for a small choir, accompanied by two pianos, with harmonium or accordion. We are looking forward to singing with piano and accordion accompaniment.
Our soloists:
Caroline Modiba, soprano, Rachel Gilmore, mezzo soprano,
Joseph Kennedy, baritone, Richard Hansen, tenor.
Kevin Gill, piano, Ben De Souza, accordion
Rossini achieved superstar status early in life, having written over 40 operas by the age of 37. The William Tell Overture is one of the pieces for which he is best known in popular culture today. There followed a period of 25 years of ill health, during which he didn’t compose any new music.
In 1855 Rossini ‘returned to life’ on moving to Paris with his second wife, and their musical salons became internationally famous. These salons included music by many composers, and they inspired Rossini to write over 150 small works for performance by different soloists and ensembles.
The Petite Messe Solennelle was Rossini’s last major work , written in 1863. The opera composer’s beautiful melodies , colour and drama make this one of the most popular works in the choral repertoire. We love singing it, and we’re sure that you will enjoy listening to it!
We are delighted to to tell you about the top class soloists and baroque orchestra who will be performing ‘Messiah’ with us on 16th November! The concert will take place in the gothic church of St Alban the Martyr, Highgate, Birmingham, known for its beautiful acoustics.
THE BAROQUE ORCHESTRA
The Musical and Amicable Society society last performed with Birmingham Festival Choral Society in Bach’s St John Passion, in 2018. They are a collective of professional period-instrument specialists, performing in combinations ranging from small ensembles to full orchestra all over the country. Their presence will add a touch of Baroque magic to our performance!
Penelope Appleyard , Soprano.
Known for her clear and agile voice, Penelope Appleyard enjoys a busy freelance career as a soloist and ensemble singer, predominantly in the field of early music.
Penelope studied with Christine Cairns and Andrew King at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and in 2019 was awarded Honorary Membership of the Conservatoire for notable success since graduation. She has performed and recorded throughout the UK and internationally.
Xavier Hetherington, Tenor.
After graduating from St John’s College, Cambridge, and a brief period of study in Moscow, Xavier returned to the UK to study privately with Christine Cairns. He won a prestigious scholarshiop to the Royal College of Music, London, where he learns with Russell Smythe.
As a concert soloist Xavier has sung in Cathedrals and churches throughout England and in halls such as St John’s Smith Square and Wigmore Hall. He supported by Opera Prelude and has taken part in Operas in many places including the Royal College of Music, Dartington Festival and in the chorus at Glyndebourne.
Phillipa Thomas, Mezzo.
Phillipa Thomas began her studies at the University of York, where she was awarded the Concerto Prize, before continuing to further success, winning first place in the Birmingham Conservatoire Singing Prize. Since then, she has performed many operatic roles.
On the oratorio platform, Phillipa has been fortunate to work as a soloist with renowned choral societies and orchestras across the UK. Her extensive knowledge of and passion for sacred music has led to frequent performances of works from a variety of periods.
Phillipa has also recorded numerous oratorio solos as part of a project with the professional ensemble Blossom Street Singers. Phillipa is currently working at Oper Köln in their production of Brett Dean’s Hamlet and future projects include a follow-up album to the widely acclaimed Blossom Street recording, This Day.
James Willams, Baritone.
James Williams studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London, during which time he received training from eminent figures, such as Richard Bonynge, Simon Keenlyside and John Shirley-Quirk. Since graduating, he has enjoyed an active performing career throughout the UK, Europe and Asia.
The friendly Birmingham choir singing the world's best choral music.
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