The Bearsden Choir (previously known as Bearsden Burgh Choir) is an amateur choir of some 120 mixed adult voices based in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1968 and performs both sacred and secular classical choral works. The singer Jamie MacDougall is its Honorary President. [1] The choir has members of all ages and welcomes new singers. Auditions are held for applicants.
The Herald described it as one of Scotland's leading choirs. [2]
The choir was founded in 1968 by Harry MacGill, at the time organist of New Kilpatrick Church, [3] with the initial objective giving a Christmas performance of Handel's Messiah. This was so successful that it was decided to keep the choir going on a permanent basis. Over the years, it expanded its programming and has become known for its "imaginative repertoire" and "high standards of performance". [4] [5] It has twice reached the finals of BBC2's Sainsbury's Choir of the year competition, won the four top awards for mixed choirs at the 1983 Blackpool Music Festival and in 2001 won the Glasgow Orpheus Choir Trophy at the Glasgow Music Festival. [6] [7]
The choir now performs two or three concerts each year with a professional accompaniment and soloists. It has been featured on television and radio, notably with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra performing three contrasting versions of the Te Deum by Berlioz, Bruckner and Dvořák. The choir has done several Songs of Praise recordings, [5] including the live broadcast at Glamis for the service of remembrance of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. [8] The choir has also recently made two sets of recordings for the BBC (see below)
As part of its Silver jubilee celebrations, the late Lord Menuhin conducted the choir in the first performance of Handel's Messiah in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. [9]
In April 2000 the choir gave an unabridged account of St Matthew Passion in Glasgow Cathedral to mark the 250th anniversary of Bach's death. [5] In 2003 the Choir presented a number of major concerts in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in aid of the Kelvingrove Refurbishment Appeal. It also played a leading role in the Gallery's opening concert in 2006. [2] Earlier that year the Berlioz Te Deum, performed by the Bearsden and Paisley Abbey choirs, provided a test of the restored acoustics in the Glasgow City Halls with the venue's first choral concert since its renovation. [10]
On 16 December 2018, the Bearsden Choir celebrated its 50th anniversary with a performance of Handel's Messiah at the Glasgow City Halls, Scotland and this was followed by a performance of the Bach B minor Mass in May 2019. [11]
The choir has commissioned a variety of new choral works from contemporary composers. These have included The Lamb by Edward Harper, Harmony of Angels by Jennifer Margaret Barker, Ballade Pour Prier Nostre Dame by Martin Dalby and There was a lad by Glyn Bragg. In 2008, its 40th anniversary year, the choir commissioned a new work by Oliver Iredale Searle. [12] The piece, 23.VII.32, was performed in both its forms, once with full orchestra and once with the reduced setting of piano, organ and percussion. The choir has also performed David Fanshawe's African Sanctus , Herbert Howells's Hymnus Paradisi , and Elgar's Dream of Gerontius , the only performance of the work in Scotland in 2012. [13]
The choir commissioned and performed a new work by George Swann, 'Love Lies Beyond the Tomb' which was performed in May 2023 at the Glasgow City Halls. This earned a four star review in the Glasgow Herald Mr Swann is a member of the choir and to perform his piece and receive such an accolade was a great privilege.
The Bearsden Choir has been a registered charity since 1980 and receives grants from the East Dunbartonshire Arts Council. [14] [15] Its principal staff have included:
The musical director is Andrew Nunn, under whom the choir has expanded its size, repertoire and reputation. [16]
Christopher Nickol (Nickol is also Director of Music at New Kilpatrick Church, Bearsden [17] )
Jamie MacDougall (Scottish tenor and TV personality) [1]
The pandemic affected the choir as it did so many others so rehearsals moved to a virtual platform and throughout 2020 continued to meet every week for practice, chats and presentations. The latter included the composer John Rutter, the conductor Christopher Bell and many others. The choir also produced 'virtual' performances of two movements from Mendelssohn's Elijah, 'He That Shall Endure to the End' and 'He Watching Over Israel', in December 2020. This was mainly because the choir had been due to perform the entire work in May 2020, but the performance was of course cancelled.
In 2021 the choir restarted limited rehearsals under full covid precautions at Maryhill Burgh Hall. Space was limited, so in order to ensure proper social distancing only half the choir could rehearse at any one time. The pandemic continued to be challenging, and so in May 2021 the choir produced a longer 'virtual' work, Vivaldi's 'Gloria'. This was accompanied by the McOpera Orchestra who performed the accompaniment, with soloists, at the Trades' Hall , Glasgow with the choir singing individually and recording from home. The performance was released at the end of May 2021.
For the 2021-22 season the choir had a change of rehearsal venue, meeting at the Kingsborough Sanctuary Hyndland (formerly Hyndland Parish Church). This was large enough to let the whole choir rehearse together although masking and distancing was carefully maintained. This enabled us to produce five carols for Christmas 2021 which were recorded by the choir and published on YouTube, one a day with the last being on Christmas Day.
2022 and the subsequent easing of pandemic precautions meant that at last the choir could return to giving live performances. The first concert was in May 2022. Subsequent concerts have been at the Glasgow City Halls and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall New Auditorium.
Since September 2022 the choir has been rehearsing every Wednesday night at 7:30pm in the Wellington Church, opposite Glasgow University. The choir is preparing for its summer concert, to be held on Sunday May 19th 2024 at 4pm at the City Halls Glasgow. Works will be Arvo Pärt 'Salve Regina', George Swann 'Love Lies Beyond the Tomb' and Puccini 'Messe di Gloria', accompanied by the McOpera orchestra.
'Glasgow's amateur Bearsden Choir rose magnificently to the challenge of his angular lines'.
The BBC Symphony Chorus is a British amateur chorus based in London. It is the dedicated chorus for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, though it performs with other national and international orchestras.
The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir is a Canadian large vocal ensemble based in Toronto, Ontario. It was co-founded in 1894 by Augustus S. Vogt and W. H. Hewlett to celebrate the opening of the Massey Hall. The ensemble was originally an extension of the choir of Jarvis St. Baptist Church in Toronto which Vogt directed and Hewlett accompanied. It is named after the German composer, Felix Mendelssohn.
A Scratch Messiah, People's Messiah, Come Sing Messiah, Sing-it-yourself Messiah, Do-it-yourself Messiah, or Sing along Messiah is an informal performance of Handel's Messiah in which the audience serves as the unrehearsed chorus, often supported by a carefully prepared core group. Orchestra and soloists are usually professionals, though their services are often donated for charity benefits. The "scratch" name derives from the idea of cooking or building from scratch.
The Singapore Symphony Chorus (SSC) is the performing choir of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO). The SSC performs solely with the SSO, presenting an average of three programmes a year.
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is Australia’s largest choral organisation. It presents its own annual concert series in the Sydney Opera House the City Recital Hall, and other venues in New South Wales, as well as serving as chorus for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Grex Vocalis is a Norwegian chamber choir, formed in 1971 by Carl Høgset. The repertoire spans from the renaissance to music by contemporary composers. The choir has been awarded the Norwegian Spellemannprisen prize for three of its thirteen albums and has won first prizes in national and international contests. In 1999 Grex Vocalis was awarded Il Gran Premio Città di Arezzo as the overall best choir in that year's contest. Grex Vocalis is primarily an a cappella choir, comprising ca. 35 singers, but performs on occasion also with soloists and orchestras. They have toured extensively in Europe, and also given a series of concerts in Japan and Cuba.
Eugene Concert Choir is a choral masterworks organization in Eugene, Oregon, that consists of three performing ensembles: the 100-voice Eugene Concert Choir (ECC), the 36-voice chamber choir Eugene Vocal Arts (EVA), and the associated professional chamber orchestra Eugene Concert Orchestra.
The Te Deum by Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) was completed in 1849. Like the earlier and more famous Grande Messe des Morts, it is one of the works referred to by Berlioz in his Memoirs as "the enormous compositions which some critics have called architectural or monumental music." While the orchestral forces required for the Te Deum are not as titanic as those of the Requiem, the work calls for an organ that can compete on equal terms with the rest of the orchestra. It lasts approximately fifty minutes and derives its text from the traditional Latin Te Deum, although Berlioz changed the word order for dramatic purposes.
Saint Peter's Singers (SPS) is a chamber choir associated with Leeds Minster, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England that celebrated during the Season 2017/2018 the fortieth anniversary of the choir's formation by Harry Fearnley in 1977. An anniversary concert took place at Leeds Minster on Sunday 25 June 2017 with the National Festival Orchestra and soloists Kristina James, Joanna Gamble, Paul Dutton and Quentin Brown. Further anniversary year events included Bach Cantatas and Music for Christmas at Fulneck Church in August and December respectively, Handel Coronation Anthems at Holy Trinity, Boar Lane as part of the Leeds Handel Festival in September and a tour of East Anglia in October. In November at Leeds Town Hall, the Singers participated in Herbert Howells's masterpiece Hymnus Paradisi with Leeds Philharmonic Chorus and Leeds College of Music Chorale under the direction of Dr David Hill with the Orchestra of Opera North. 2018 began with a concert of Sacred Choral Masterworks at Leeds Town Hall in February and Bach's Mass in B minor at Leeds Minster on Good Friday 2018 in memory of long-serving member Jan Holdstock. The final concert of the current season takes place at Leeds Minster on Sunday 24 June at Leeds Minster at 5.30. At this event will be presented the first performance of a new work from composer Philip Moore commissioned for the Singers' 40th anniversary – the motet Tu es Petrus – along with music by E W Naylor, Arvo Part, Sir Hubert Parry, Judith Bingham and Maurice Durufle.
Royal Melbourne Philharmonic (RMP) is a 120-voice choir and orchestra in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1853, and is reportedly Australia's oldest surviving cultural organisation. The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic is Australia's oldest musical organisation that has been continuously existing for over 150 years. Among its programmes, there have been large-scale concerts celebrating classical composers including Bach, Mendelssohn and Beethoven. The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic is managed under the direction of Andrew Wailes, the artistic director of the orchestra.
The Southampton Philharmonic Choir is a large choral society based in Southampton, England. It has around 170 members and also benefits from collaborating with the students of the Southampton University Philharmonic Choir. The choir regularly performs with a professional orchestra, the New London Sinfonia, and is directed by David Gibson.
Bath Bach Choir, formerly The City of Bath Bach Choir (CBBC), is based in Bath, Somerset, England, and is a registered charity. Founded in 1946 by Cuthbert Bates, who also became a founding father of the Bath Bach Festival in 1950, the choir's original aim was to promote the music of Johann Sebastian Bach via periodic music festivals. Bates – an amateur musician with a great love and understanding of this composer's works – was also the CBBC's principal conductor and continued in this role until his sudden death, in April 1980. This untimely exit pre-empted his planned retirement concert performance of J. S. Bach's Mass in B minor, scheduled for July of the same year, and effectively ended the first period of the choir's history.
Monmouth Civic Chorus is a community chorus in Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA. Monmouth Civic Chorus was established in 1949 and draws its members primarily from the Monmouth County community. Its performances encompass choral classics, premieres, rare and contemporary music, musical theater, opera, and operetta. Monmouth Civic Chorus has performed on tour in Europe and the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
The Edinburgh University Music Society (EUMS) is a student-run musical organisation based in Edinburgh. Since its founding in 1867, the EUMS has been based within the University of Edinburgh.
Bristol Choral Society is a large mixed-voiced choir based in Bristol, England, founded in 1889. Currently conducted by Hilary Campbell, it has around 140 auditioned members. The choir stages at least three concerts annually at the Bristol Beacon in Bristol with professional orchestras and soloists, and another annually at Bristol Cathedral in addition to other performances and broadcasts in Bristol and further afield.
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus, or RSNO Chorus for short, is a choir based in Scotland and founded in 1843. Its main role is to perform alongside the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The chorus holds open rehearsals for potential new members, rehearses on Wednesdays in Glasgow, and has also toured around the world. It is directed by Gregory Batsleer.
Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) is a music entertainment production company that stages concerts for individual performers and performing groups in music venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City, and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. Performance repertoire ranges from Handel’s Messiah to contemporary a cappella. DCINY was founded by Iris Derke and Jonathan Griffith in 2007 and is currently headquartered in New York City.
The Foundling Hospital Anthem, also known by its longer title "Blessed are they that considereth the poor" [sic], is a choral anthem composed by George Frideric Handel in 1749. It was written for the Foundling Hospital in London and was first performed in the chapel there. Handel wrote two versions, one for choir only and one for choir and soloists. Composed 10 years before his death, it was Handel's last piece of English church music.
St Albans Bach Choir is an amateur choir based in the English cathedral city of St Albans. Since its founding in 1924 it has performed a wide range of choral music including but by no means limited to the great Bach masterpieces. It strives for the highest possible standards of music making, employing soloists of the highest calibre and professional orchestras. Performances are normally held in St Albans Cathedral. Currently, the Musical Director is Andrew Lucas, Master of the Music at the Cathedral.
Jessie Margaret Soga, LRAM was a Xhosa/Scottish contralto singer, music teacher and suffragist. She was described as the only black/mixed race suffrage campaigner based in Scotland. Soga was a lead member of the Women's Freedom League in Glasgow and later joined the Women's Social and Political Union; but did not carry out militant activity, using her organisational skills and musical talent to raise funds.