April 12th 2025 was a night to remember! A choir of 194 singers and a full orchestra came together to perform Elgar’s choral masterpiece Dream of Gerontius, under the inspiring direction of David Wynne.

The planning for this project had begun long ago, when we started talking about what would be a suitable work to mark the 175th anniversary of the formation of the Birmingham Festival Choral Society. Joining with other choirs would be wonderful – but would we be able to find a venue big enough? In the end, Covid and lockdowns intervened, and it didn’t seem possible.

Fast forward to 2025, and here we were, celebrating BFCS’s 180th anniversary by singing Dream of Gerontius in All Saints Church Leamington Spa! Our fellow singers in the large chorus came from Coventry Philharmonic Choir (MD David Wynne) and the Athersone Choral Society (MD Kevin Gill). Singing such a major work with wonderful professional soloists and the Leamington Chamber Orchestra was a great experience.

The evening had started with a talk by David McLoughlin, Emeritus Fellow, Birmingham Newman University. He put John Henry Newman’s whole poem in context , from the thoughts and feelings of Gerontius before his death, to his journey in the afterlife before finally coming before the Almighty. Performing the work as a whole, rather than in sections for rehearsal, was very inspiring, whether one took it from the point of view of Christian faith, or from the point of view of seeing Elgar’s musical vision fulfilled.

Our vocal soloists had a huge part to play in the work. Tom Raskin (Tenor) sang the part of Gerontius:

Louise Crane (mezzo soprano) sang the part of the angel:

Matthew Nuttall (baritone) sang the part of the Priest…

… and the Angel of the Agony.

We were very fortunate that a singer of such quality as Matthew was able to come at relatively short notice, when Gwion Thomas, the baritone advertised on the posters, had to withdraw.

Kevin Gill also played a major part in bringing this piece to fruition. He prepared the Atherstone Choral Society for the concert, as well as accompanying the Birmingham Festival Choral Society’s rehearsals and playing the organ in the performance.

The Leamington Chamber Orchestra lifted the performance to greater heights!

David Wynne was the man who brought it all together, visualising the initial concept, spending many hours training his choirs to such a high standard, and finally bringing out the very best of the choirs and orchestra at the performance. Bravo!

The final important component of a wonderful concert is an appreciative audience! The tickets completely sold out and a handful of people had to sit in the half-price overflow seats behind the choir.

Here are a couple of examples of the feedback we received after the concert:

….What a wonderful evening and so beautifully and brilliantly performed. It was so moving. I totally loved the way the dynamics came across, given the large choir and orchestra, it was unbelievably beautiful and produced quite a stunning effect. I got quite emotional several times, especially during the second half…

FH former BFCS singer

I would just like to say how much I enjoyed the performance of ‘Dream of Gerontius’ on Saturday evening. The performance was stunning and the organisation of the event was also very professional, and for me the evening will leave a lasting impression. 

SM, The Elgar Society

We would like to thank Michael Whitefoot, the photographer who captured these photographs of a very special evening.