Birmingham Festival Choral Society’s performance of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle on 30th October has an impressive line up of first class performers taking part! We hope that you will be able to come to hear them.

Of special note is that one of the two instruments providing the accompaniment is an accordion – not an instrument usually seen in choral society concerts. Rossini wrote the work for performance at his musical salons, accompanied by either piano and accordion, or piano and harmonium.

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Ben de Souza – Accordion

Our accordion player at the concert will be Ben de Souza, one of Britain’s top young accordion players who is at the forefront of promoting the instrument in this country. Ben is a regular recitalist and has performed extensively throughout England. He is also an active chamber musician, notably with violinist Chloë Meade.

Away from performing Ben works as an accordion teacher, an accordion repairer for ZZ Music and is the leader of the Cumberland Ceilidh Band.

In addition to his work as an accordionist Ben is choir director at Clare Hall, Cambridge and also works with choirs at Finchley Children’s Music Group and the John Lewis Partnership. He holds a Masters degree in Choral Studies from Cambridge University.

Kevin Gill – Piano

Kevin Gill is a freelance musician and teacher of Piano, Organ and Music Theory in Birmingham.

Kevin has been the regular rehearsal accompanist for the Birmingham Festival Choral Society since 1998. He has accompanied concert performances for BFCS and various other choral societies in many British venues, and on BFCS tours in Europe.

Over the years, Kevin has worked with many prestigious groups, including the the CBSO, its adult and youth choruses, Birmingham Opera Company, and the BBC. He has frequently given organ recitals and Piano duet recitals in and around Birmingham.

Kevin was appointed Musical Director of Atherstone Choral Society since 2008, and regularly deputises at BFCS rehearsals when the Music Director is away. He was the conductor for the BFCS tour to Slovakia in 2010.

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Mimi Doulton – Soprano

British-Pakistani soprano Mimi Doulton is fast developing a reputation as an acclaimed interpreter of contemporary opera and song. Recent engagements include her professional debut at Wigmore Hall, and creating a work by Rakhi Singh in the Royal Opera House’s digital project 8-bit. She made her professional stage debut in 2018, in Birmingham Opera Company’s world premiere of Wake directed by the late Sir Graham Vick.

Alongside her performing work, Mimi is a passionate advocate for the rights of every child to access the arts as part of their education, and is proud to be connected to the charities Action for Children’s Arts, Songbound, Eye Music Trust and Voices of London Festival.

Ed Harrisson – Tenor

Ed Harrisson has performed a varied repertoire of oratorio and full roles with opera companies and choral societies, as well as professional choral singing. His recent oratorio work includes performances of Bach’s Mass in B minor, Verdi’s Requiem and the Evangelist in Bach’s St John Passion. He has worked with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Midland Opera Company, Birmingham Opera, Ex Cathedra, British Youth Opera and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Ed’s musical talents include conducting a local choir and orchestra, acting as music director for an amateur dramatic production, teaching double bass and music composition. He has composed choral works for Paul Spicer’s Conservatoire Chamber Choir, the Crescent Theatre and a fanfare for use at Birmingham University’s Graduation ceremonies.

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Rachel Gilmore – Mezzo soprano.

Rachel Gilmore sings with English Voices and Kantos, and is a clerk at the Manchester Oratory. She has sung many roles in Britain and abroad.  Rachel’s solo oratorio performances have included Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Festival Ensemble Berlin; the premiere of Kleiberg’s Requiem in Leipzig’s Nikolaikirche; Haydn’s Creation with the BBC Philharmonic, Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and Jenkin’s Mass for Peace in Mumbai, India. She also has a passion for performing contemporary works.

Rachel teaches singing to pupils of all ages and abilities in the Manchester area.

Joseph Kennedy – Bass

A prize winning graduate of Birmingham Conservatoire and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Joseph Kennedy has performed in many concerts and operas over his career.

Performance highlights include; Footman in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier (CBSO-Symphony Hall); a live broadcast on BBC Radio 3 ‘In Tune’ singing operatic excerpts; Haydn Creation (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra). Most recently, Joseph performed in the World Premiere of Brendan Ashe’s Magnificat

Bringing the whole concert together will be David Wynne.

David has been the Music Director of Birmingham Festival Choral Society since 2017. During that time he has directed a wide range of music, from Baroque works to larger-scale
twentieth-century choral works and even to jazz. David is also the Music Director of the Warwick and Kenilworth Choral Society

As a visiting lecturer at the Royal Birmingham Junior Conservatoire, David works as choral director of the Senior Chorus and the Vocal Ensemble. He is head of choral conducting, teaches singing and musicianship, and is also vocal coordinator for the department.

Until recently David was a bass lay-clerk at St Chad’s Cathedral, and is still a regular deputy. He still runs the cathedral’s junior choir and choral outreach programme. He has worked with some of the country’s leading music education organisations, including Opera North, Welsh National Opera, the Armonico Consort, and Leicester and Leeds Cathedral’s education departments.

David is a busy freelance baritone soloist, as well as an occasional performer as a musician of the Royal Shakespeare Company.