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 major 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 this fits the bill for you, read on – so much glorious music to enjoy!

What a year - we have just finished a fantastic season of choral music varying from the sublime to the hilarious! Bridgnorth in July brought a delicious jazzy programme of Shakespeare-inspired repertoire, ranging from Vaughan Williams’ exquisite trio of songs, to jazzy Shearing with bass and piano, and Swingle Bach, all under the watchful eye of Elizabeth 1 (aka Lesley Smith) who had many pithy observations to make and ‘knighted’ our musical director, Paul Spicer! What a contrast to the spring that was, with its programme of yearning Lenten polyphony - Gesualdo’s Tenebrae alongside the sonorous waves of Lottt’s Crucifixus and works by Phinot as well as English composers including Tallis and Byrd. 2025, in contrast, had ended with twentieth century Rutter and Kodaly, enjoyed by a capacity audience in Bournville. Earlier in the year we also sang Bach’s B minor mass in Lichfield, and in the summer Faure, Poulenc and Debussy in Malvern – variety or what?! Truly a fabulous feast of choral music… The new season will bring a very English autumn programme of Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G minor and Parry’s lovely Songs of Farewell, followed in spring by Mozart’s Mass in C in Lichfield Cathedral, and finally a return to the lovely English Part Song repertoire in the summer, which will also mark the centenary of John Joubert. Further ahead, we have Bach motets and Howells’ glorious Hymnus Paradisi….

If this sounds like your sort of choral singing, why not come and join us? We start rehearsals for our autumn programme on Wednesday 9th September, when we begin work on our Vaughan Williams and Parry programme, 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 for a week or two when rehearsals begin, to see what goes on: music will be provided! Seeing and hearing first hand is the best way to find out, after all…

Belonging to the choir isn’t just about singing, of course. Many friendships are made through our shared music, but also through the wider life of the choir, be it down the pub after a rehearsal, or helping with the many things which need doing for the choir and its concerts. There is much 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 after a few weeks (probably 30th September) – singers in all parts are welcome, and at present particularly altos and tenors.

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, ask 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".