Latest News
COMING SOON….…
Our summer concert of gorgeous French music including Fauré: Requiem
…. a perfect way to spend a summer evening. Let us transport you across the English Channel with no transport hassles for an evening of lovely French music in the heart of the English countryside!
(Paul Spicer)
Click here for details & tickets
WHAT A DANCE!
Our concert of Bach’s Mass in B Minor was quite a dance and hugely appreciated by audience and reviewers
On a glorious spring day we celebrated the genius of Bach with superb singing from our soloists: Sophie Bevan, Ruairi Bowen, Simon Ponsford & Roderick Williams, accompanied by the brilliance of the Musical & Amicable Society Baroque-style orchestra.
So many thanks to all who came and helped to make it such a superb evening.
Snaps taken during the rehearsal (orchestra, choir, Martyn Rawles, organ, & soloist Roderick Williams) & photos of choir, Paul Spicer and Sophie Bevan by Dave Freak
Read the reviews:
"(this) performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor, conducted by Paul Spicer, was committed, profoundly moving and expertly crafted. I was engrossed from the thrilling opening chords of the Kyrie to the sublime ending of the Dona Nobis Pacem."
(Prof David Saint. Click here to read David's full review)
"This was a Birmingham Bach Choir performance at its best... Bach’s B Minor Mass is a tour de force …. conductor Paul Spicer’s reading of the work in Lichfield Cathedral brought the work to life with a dancing touch that enabled all that complexity to shine through with the light and precise singing of the choir.”
(Keith Horsfall. Click here to read Keith’s full review)
"The quartet of excellent soloists, sizable musicians performing on period-instruments plus this excellent choir gave a performance that was truly memorable.”
(Martyn Parfect. Click here to read Martyn's full review)
We’re recruiting new singers
We’re keen to hear from singers who’d might like to join us for our new season after Easter .
We’re especially interested in hearing from basses and 1st sopranos
Click here for more details and to see our exciting season’s programme
Meet our most recent intake: Janet Chow with Max Chiu, Delia Stokes and James Adams
1 x soprano, 1 x alto, 1 x baritone, and hurrah another tenor !
To read all about them click here.
A Right Royal Sing!
Come & Sing: Handel’s Coronation Anthems
Thank you to all who came and sang their hearts out with us on Saturday 1 February, and to those who came to listen.
Huge thanks to Paul (Spicer) for inspiring us all, Paul (Carr) for his brilliant accompaniment, and Heather, for organising the whole event.
As well as the music-making it was a lovely social afternoon.
OUR NEXT COME & SING is planned for Saturday 31 JANUARY
Mendelssohn's Lobgesang
Informal pics of the registration, raffle, and workshop in action.
A LOOK BACK AT PAST CONCERTS
A concert to challenge everyone!
A programme of 20th century English music based on the theme of nature in St Paul’s Church, Birmingham
Programme:
Britten: Flower Songs
John Ireland: Immortality & The Hills
Richard Rodney Bennett: The Glory and the Dream
solo organ pieces: ‘The Trees unfold’ by Judith Weir & ‘Where the birds sing’ by Grace-Evangeline Mason.
Read the reviews……..
"Overall, the programme was intriguing and brave... a committed and stylistic performance of these challenging works, for which the whole team should be congratulated” (David Barton)
Read his complete review click here
“ The Choir continues to emulate the qualities of a professional choir” (Rosemary Philips)
Click here to read Rosemary's full review
Ireland songs “ This is the choir at its absolute best.” ( Keith Horsfall)
Click here to read Keith’s full review
LAST SUMMER’S CONCERTS
We had two wonderful Summer concerts with soloists: Ciara Preston-Myakicheff (soprano) & Isaac Boulter (tenor) plus soloists from the choir
Percussionist: Iris van den Bos & Harpist: Stein de Neef Organist: Callum Alger
Paul Spicer in action in St Mary’s Warwick
Thank you to everyone who came and helped make both these performances so successful
The programme :
Bednall - The Dear Bargain
Bernstein - Chichester Psalms
Elgar - Give unto the Lord
Spicer - Sound the Invisible Trumps
“ a glorious evening of music, bathed in the setting sun, and delivered to the choir’s ever-professional high standards"
David Barton .
Read his full review here
"Birmingham Bach Choir…at its best. ...a lovely sound and excellent balance between the parts throughout the concert."
Keith Horsham.
Read his full review here
Pictures from the rehearsal and performance of our Summer concert in St Mary’s Warwick.
Many thanks to photographer: Frank Wood
St Matthew Passion
Our St Matthew Passion in Lichfield Cathedral
Conductor Adrian Lucas, Choir and Orchestra turn to applaud Paul Spicer at the end of the performance
So many thanks to all who came and packed the Cathedral for this memorable performance.
Adrian Lucas stepped up magnificently yet calmly to conduct for Paul Spicer who was unwell.
As Prof David Saint commented...
"Adrian Lucas stepped in at two day’s notice and deserves the highest compliments for making it all work so wonderfully"
"I heard that powerful story told through the medium of Bach’s sublime music as though for the first time, so engrossing and compelling was the performance”
Prof David Saint.
To read all the review click here
“..delivered with a sincerity and confidence befitting of any professional ensemble. The whole delivery was well-paced with slick transitions between movements. The chorus sections were delivered with almost faultless German pronunciation, and an exemplary attention to detail. The choir achieved huge variety, from the quietest pianissimo, to a passionately dramatic fortissimo” *****
David Barton
To read all the review click here
"Bach wows the Midlands…..a stately, respectful reading of the work...Crucial to this was the Evangelist of Thomas Hobbs, who told the story without affectation but with a great deal of drama... all the tenderness and anguish of the Passion, forming an ideal partnership with Henry Waddington’s noble, dignified Christus”. ****
Melanie Eskenazi
To read all the review click here
“ a superlative performance by Birmingham Bach Choir, the entire concert ... distinguished in every way. Every one of these intelligent, thoughtful supporting forces contributed outstandingly to the result. Here was the kind of performance one dreams of. I wouldn't have missed it for anything.*****
Roderic Dunnett
To read all the review click here
Photos from the performance and rehearsal (Photos: Phil Barnes)
Soloists: Thomas Hobbs, Henry Waddington, Sophie Bevan, Lawrence Zazzo & Stephan Loges
Orchestra: Musical & Amicable Society
Choristers: The Ripieno Choir
Choir: Birmingham Bach Choir
Choir Soloists: Philip Bellshaw, Barbara Hathaway, Corinna Gregory, Clement Schoefer, Jonathan Spencer & Graham Stroud
Our sincere thanks to ....
The Grimmitt Trust, The Saintbury Trust, The S&D Lloyd Trust, The John Feeney Charitable Trust, The Roughley Trust and the W.E. Dunn Trust who have all supported us recently.
We are very grateful to Broughton Pianos for their collaboration & support
We also acknowledge with thanks the work of professional photographers Adrian Burrows, Frank Wood, Rob Gillespie and Phil Barnes whose photographs appear on this website.
SAVE THE DATES
Saturday 5 July 7pm
Summer Concert - La Belle France
programme includes Fauré’s Requiem
Great Malvern Priory, Malvern
Saturday 22 November 6pm
Rutter & Kodaly
programme includes Rutter’s Requiem
St Francis Church, Bournville
Sunday 14 December 3.30 pm
Service of Nine Lessons and Carols
St Alban’s Church, Highgate, Birmingham B12
St Mary’s Church, Warwick
&
Saturday 6 July 7pm
St Alban’s Church, Birmingham
Keep in contact
Registered Charity Number: 1194569