Birmingham Festival Choral Society sings a wide variety of top quality choral music from the 16th to the 21st century.
We perform three main concerts a year, usually in churches or concert halls in central Birmingham. Out of town concerts in recent years have taken place in The Philharmonic Hall Liverpool, St Mary’s Church, Warwick, Lichfield Cathedral and Pershore Abbey.
In addition to this, we usually do a Christmas concert, raising money for charities nominated by our members.
BFCS also commissions new works, the most recent being Bob Chilcott, Circle Song (2004) and Patrick Larley, The Birmingham Spirituals (2014).
Click to read more about recent commissioned works
Our Registered Charity number is 510847.
MUSIC DIRECTOR
David Wynne became our Music Director in January 2017. He combines a passion for many styles of choral music with a great sense of humour and love for life.
Further information will be found in this link: David Wynne
ACCOMPANIST – Piano and organ
Our accompanist and organist extraordinaire is Kevin Gill.
More information on Kevin Gill.
TOURS AND WORKSHOPS
The choir regularly tours abroad. Past tours have included Bulgaria, Poland, Germany, Belgium & Holland, Slovenia, Estonia, Slovakia, Ireland, France and Romania. In May 2023 the choir travelled to the Rhineland of Germany, giving concerts in Mainz, Koblenz and Bingen.
More information on our Tours.
To improve vocal technique, and for the social rewards, from time to time we also organise choral workshop weekends.
HISTORY
Our name, Birmingham Festival Choral Society, comes from our origins as the chorus for the famous Birmingham Triennial Festivals. Our choir is the longest established choral society in Birmingham, and has sung under the baton of a number of illustrious conductors.
More information on our History.
THE BIRMINGHAM FESTIVAL CHORAL SOCIETY ORATORIO COMPETITION AT THE ROYAL BIRMINGHAM CONSERVATOIRE.
The first BFCS Oratorio competition for vocal students at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire took place in October 2022. The prize, which was won by Jia Huang, includes a financial prize and solo engagement at a forthcoming BFCS concert. The next competition will take place on 30th October 2023.