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At last – a live BFCS concert!

September 27, 2021 christinewright55 Leave a comment

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.

Click here for tickets

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 performers:

Ben de Souza, Accordion. Kevin Gill, Piano

Mimi Doulton, Soprano. Rachel Gilmore, Mezzo-soprano

Edward Harrisson, Tenor. Joe Kennedy, Baritone

Birmingham Festival Choral Society,

David Wynne, Conductor

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!

choir, Choral, choral society, concert, Concerts in Warwick, Music, news

English music in an English market town.

July 9, 2019 christinewright55 Leave a comment

Our summer concert of English choral music was held in the historic Collegiate church of St Mary, Warwick last Saturday, 6th July. It was a special day out for our singers and supporters, and it also introduced the choir to a new audience in Warwickshire.

The rehearsal gave us the chance to get used to singing in that big, airy space, accompanied by the grand piano, or the magnificent organ. Our gentlemen stood in the church’s semicircular choir stalls, and the sopranos and altos filled in the semicircle in front of the stalls.

BFCS rehearsal, in front of the large stained glass window.

Our basses standing in the curved choir stalls

View from the back of the choir, towards the golden organ pipes.

Choir and conductor in informal clothes, singing ‘Blest Pair of Sirens’.

The break between rehearsal and concert gave some the chance to explore the medieval Beauchamp chapel, with the magnificent tombs of three Earls.

The concert showed the full range of English choral music, from the purity of Stanford’s Blue Bird and folk song arrangements with piano, to the grand sound of Parry and Elgar with full choir and organ.

We sang music written by Tallis in the 16th Century and Purcell in the 17th century, right through to Bob Chilcott’s 21st century pieces.

Elgar’s Songs from the Bavarian Highlands showed a lighter side to the composer we thought we knew so well. A holiday souvenir with a difference!

Solo verses in the folk songs were sung by Mitch Holland and David Wynne, and Kevin Gill treated us to an organ solo: Stanford’s Postlude in D minor.

Finally, we sang Chilcott’s Irish Blessing as an encore. Singing it from memory made it feel extra special – a fitting end to our 2018/19 BFCS season.