Birmingham Festival Choral Society regularly tours abroad, and tours have visited Bulgaria, Poland, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Slovenia, Estonia, Slovakia and Ireland. Our next tour is to Romania, in May 2019.

Our most recent tour, in July 2016, was to the Yonne area of Burgundy, France. The choir was based in Auxerre in northern Burgundy and sang to large, enthusiastic audiences in St Julien du Sault, in the cathedral in Sens, in the celebrated Romanesque Basilica in Vézelay, and in St Pierre Church in Auxerre itself. We also enjoyed a day trip to Guedelon, where we saw the 30 year project to build a medieval castle using 13th century building methods. Tours are a great way of bringing the choir together, through new friendships, and shared choral experiences in beautiful places.

For an introductory video about the Burgundy tour click here

A diary of our tour can be found in the following links:

Wonderful reception in St Julien du Sault.

Songs in Sens

Vezelay works its magic.

Auxerre – the final concert.

St Julien du Sault

Rehearsal in St Ju

Singing in St Ju

Singers relaxing in Sens.

Sarah-Ann Cromwell’s solo in Sens Cathedral.

Concert in the Church of St Pierre, Auxerre.

PAST TOURS

Eating out in Tallinn, Estonia.

Estonian folk dancers in Rapla.

Singing on the escalators in a Tallinn shopping centre.

Quaffing Quartet, Guinness Storehouse.

Hallelujah Chorus at the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin.

Ireland with Sally and Fred – photo Laura Grange

Howth, Ireland.

Concert in Trencin, Slovakia.

SINGING WORKSHOPS

Birmingham Festival Choral Society has a training fund to subsidise singing workshops. Weekend Vocal Training events are held every two or three years, recently at Swanwick conference Centre, Derbyshire in 2013 and 2015.