Join the choir

Looking to join a choir with a difference?

Birmingham Bach Choir is a large chamber choir singing a glorious variety of music, from large works with orchestra to intimate a cappella songs and motets, and everything in between, from the earliest to the most recent – do look at our repertoire lists. Click here to whet your appetite! We are an amateur choir which aspires to professional standards, with all that this demands for both rehearsals and concerts, and relish the challenges involved. If that fits the bill for you, come and start rehearsing with us when we start a new programme!

The year got off to a glorious start with a wonderful performance of Bach’s B minor Mass in Lichfield Cathedral, with soloists including Roddy Williams and Sophie Bevan – see the Latest News page for glowing reviews! Summer brings something completely different – we will visit Malvern Priory with a delicious programme of French music including Faure’s much-loved Requiem and music by Poulenc and Debussy, together with the first performance of a new work – Song of Flight - by Russell Hepplewhite, which is one of a set of ten pieces called Living Voices, all being premiered by different choirs this summer. In the autumn we will be nearer home singing Rutter’s popular Requiem and music by Kodaly, then start 2026 with a spring programme of early Lenten and seasonal music including works by Tallis, Gesualdo, Byrd, Gibbons and Lotti, sung in the atmospheric surroundings of St Chad’s Cathedral. The season is rounded off with a light-hearted summer feast of Shakespeare-related music including Shearing’s jazzy Songs and Sonnets, alongside much loved songs by Vaughan Williams and others.... a veritable cornucopia of choral delights!

If this is your sort of thing, come and start singing with us on Wednesday 30th April, when we begin rehearsals for the summer programme of French music, and will be welcoming new members. We rehearse from 7.15 – 9.30pm, in central Cotteridge, with onsite parking and easy access to trains and buses. If you’re not sure it’s for you, come along anyway at the beginning of our next programme for a week or two to see what goes on: no obligation at all! Seeing and hearing first hand is the best way to find out, after all…

There is plenty more information about being a member of the choir in our Essential Information sheet (see below) - important reading, if you’re thinking of joining. If you like what you see and hear, you can audition a few weeks later (probably 21st May) – basses are especially welcome, as are first sopranos. There’s some room for altos and tenors, too... Although the choir is not currently looking for second sopranos, anyone who would like to audition with a view to joining, when possible, is welcome to do so.

Belonging to the choir isn’t just about singing, of course. Friendships are made through our shared music, and there are also many other opportunities to be involved in the life of the choir, in ways great and small, out front and behind the scenes, and whether or not you’re an old hand or a newcomer, so new members can be sure of a warm welcome.

There is more information on auditions below, but please get in touch via info@birmingham.bachchoir.com if you have other questions about membership, and especially if you have any special needs or disability which might be relevant to singing with the choir.

So, if you’d like to sample a feast of choral music with us this summer, get in touch! Just email the Choir Secretary at info@birmingham.bachchoir.com to make arrangements, answer any questions, and make sure you have all the details you might need. Please make sure that mention your voice part (and whether first or second) and a little about your past choral experience – don’t delay!

We offer special subscription rates for full time students and singers aged 25 and under – see our Essential Information sheet for details. There are also plenty of other ways to contribute.
You can download our Essential Information sheet Here and our Audition Guidance Here

This is the feedback we received from one recent first-time visitor:

"I thought you might like to hear my reaction to the rehearsal I attended earlier this week. In a word, brilliant! It was so refreshing to see the whole choir listen and respond to the conductor throughout the rehearsal. I would like to apply for an audition".