Kingston Choral Society | |
---|---|
Choir | |
Origin | Kingston upon Thames, England, United Kingdom |
Founded | December 1949 |
Genre | Classical |
Music director | John Wilkinson (1949–1980) Robin Page (1980–2008) Graham Ross (2008–2010) Andrew Griffiths (2011– present) |
Website | www |
Kingston Choral Society is a large mixed-voice choir based in Kingston upon Thames in the UK. Originating in 1949, the choir in 2016 had around 140 auditioned members. It stages four concerts each year with professional musicians and soloists. Most of these concerts are held at All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames, at St Andrew's Church, Surbiton, or at Cadogan Hall in central London. [1]
The history of Kingston Choral Society began in December 1949 when the Mayor of Surbiton gathered local church choirs to sing Handel's Messiah in March 1950. [2] A nucleus of these singers stayed together and became Surbiton Oratorio Society. By 1985 the Society had become more closely involved with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and adopted its current name. [3] [4]
In 1980 the choir was in the middle of rehearsals for a concert of Fanshawe's African Sanctus when John Wilkinson, its conductor of 30 years, left suddenly. Robin Page stepped into the breach to conduct that concert [5] and stayed on as the choir's musical director for 27 years. [2] During that time the choir performed with many professional soloists, including a young Sarah Connolly (now a Dame) in 1992. [6] Towards the end of the century the choir commissioned a new work from Nicholas O'Neill, The Clocks of Cassiodorus, and performed it in 1999. [5] In 2003 Kingston Choral Society joined with 46 other choirs to commission The Kestrel Road from Peter Maxwell Davies, under the auspices of Making Music, [7] in celebration of his 70th birthday. The choir gave a concert performance of the work in 2005. [5]
The choir occasionally performed abroad, notably in Delft (which was at that time twinned with Kingston upon Thames) in 1990, in Venice in 2004 and in New York City and Connecticut in 2007. [2] Robin Page was also principal conductor of three orchestras and taught at the Royal Military School of Music. [8]
In 2008 the young composer [9] [10] and conductor Graham Ross took over the musical direction of the choir. In 2010 Ross conducted Handel's Messiah for the choir's 60th anniversary concert. [2] He left Kingston Choral Society in 2010 to take on the post of Music Director at Clare College, Cambridge, [11] [12] which had been previously held by his colleague and supporter John Rutter. [13] [14]
Andrew Griffiths, a graduate of The Royal Opera's Jette Parker scheme for singers and conductors, [15] became the choir's musical director in 2010. The choir participated several times in the Kingston Festival of the Voice [16] organised by Kingston Arts. In 2013 the choir performed a new work, And Since to Look at things in Bloom, which they had commissioned from their former conductor Graham Ross. [5] In July 2015 and again in July 2018 the choir hosted their namesakes, the Kingston Choral Society of Ontario, as well as the North Lakeshore Chorus, also from Canada, to give joint concerts in remembrance of the Canadian contributions made in World War I. [17] [18]
Kingston Choral Society is a member of Making Music, the National Federation of Music Societies. [19]
Kingston Choral Society is a Registered Charity in England and Wales. Its charitable objects are "the study and practice of choral music in order to educate the public in its arts and sciences, by the presentation of concerts and other activities."
Kingston upon Thames is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as the ancient market town in which Saxon kings were crowned and today is the administrative centre of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.
The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden, Surbiton and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs in England. The others are the London boroughs of Greenwich and Kensington and Chelsea and Windsor and Maidenhead, the site of Windsor Castle. The local authority is Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council.
Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, 11 miles (18 km) southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has been in Greater London. Surbiton comprises four of the RBK's wards: Alexandra, Berrylands, St. Mark's, and Surbiton Hill.
Sir Stephen John Cleobury was an English organist and music director. He worked with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, where he served as music director from 1982 to 2019, and with the BBC Singers.
Sir David Valentine Willcocks, was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, which he directed from 1957 to 1974, making frequent broadcasts and recordings. Several of the descants and carol arrangements he wrote for the annual service of Nine Lessons and Carols were published in the series of books Carols for Choirs which he edited along with Reginald Jacques and John Rutter. He was also director of the Royal College of Music in London.
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 Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory. Elgar disapproved of the use of the term "oratorio" for the work, though his wishes are not always followed. The piece is widely regarded as Elgar's finest choral work, and some consider it his masterpiece.
Kingston and Surbiton is a constituency in Greater London created in 1997 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Ed Davey, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats. Davey previously held the seat from 1997 until losing reelection in 2015 to Conservative James Berry.
The Hallé Choir is a large symphonic chorus of around 170 singers based in Manchester, England. It was founded as Manchester Choral Society alongside the Hallé Orchestra in 1858 by Sir Charles Hallé. The choir gives around ten concerts a year with The Hallé at The Bridgewater Hall and other venues across the UK. Appearing with international conductors and soloists in concert and recordings, the choir performs a repertoire of major choral and operatic works ranging from mainstream pieces to more esoteric pieces and commissions.
Gervase Henry Cary-Elwes, DL, better known as Gervase Elwes, was an English tenor of great distinction, who exercised a powerful influence over the development of English music from the early 1900s up until his death in 1921 due to a railroad accident in Boston at the height of his career.
Christopher Herrick is an English concert organist best known for his interpretation of J.S. Bach’s organ music and for his many recordings on the finest pipe organs from around the world.
John Coates was a leading English tenor, who sang in opera and oratorio and on the concert platform. His repertoire ranged from Bach and Purcell to contemporary works, and embraced the major heldentenor roles in Richard Wagner's operas. For more than 40 years, with only a four-year interruption for military service during World War I, he overcame the limitations of a voice that was not naturally large by impressing listeners with his intense artistic expression, lively diction, musical versatility and memorable stage presence.
City Choir Dunedin is an auditioned mixed-voice choir in Dunedin, New Zealand. It accepts singers of all age groups from the wider Dunedin community and performs large-scale classical choral works. The choir's membership grew from an initial 45 to around 120 as of 2012. The Choir is a member of the New Zealand Choral Federation, which was formed in 1985 to promote high quality choral singing in New Zealand.
Andrew Mark Nethsingha, FRCO, ARCM is an English choral conductor and organist, the son of the late Lucian Nethsingha, also a cathedral organist. He was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey in London in 2023, having previous held similar positions at St John's College, Cambridge, Gloucester Cathedral and Truro Cathedral.
Derby Choral Union is one of the UK’s longest standing choral societies having been formed in 1866. The choir was established to perform choral music of the highest quality, a tradition it strives to maintain to this day. The repertoire includes traditional choral works as well as music by 20th-century and more contemporary composers. Derby Choral Union is a registered charity and an independent choral society. It promotes concerts in Derby, England, and the surrounding district, and has over 100 active members.
The London Philharmonic Choir (LPC) is one of the leading independent British choirs in the United Kingdom based in London. The patron is Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy and Sir Mark Elder is president. The choir, comprising more than 200 members, holds charitable status and is governed by a committee of 6 elected directors. As a charity, its aims are to promote, improve, develop and maintain education in the appreciation of the art and science of music by the presentation of public concerts.
James Burton is a British conductor and composer. He is currently the Boston Symphony Orchestra Choral Director and Conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. He also holds the position of Director of Orchestral Activities and Master Lecturer in Music at Boston University.
Brighton Festival Chorus is a large choir of over 150 amateur singers based in Brighton, UK. One of the country's leading symphony choruses.., and considered "one of the jewels in the city's musical crown", BFC performs in major concert halls throughout Britain and Europe, particularly in Brighton and London.
Graham Ross is a British conductor and composer. Since 2010 he has been the director of Choir of Clare College, Cambridge.
Twickenham Choral Society is a large, auditioned, mixed-voice, amateur choir based in Twickenham and is a UK registered charity. Twickenham Choral is best known for the excellence and frequency of its performances, which it has been delivering to local community and international audiences for over 100 years.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)