We are a friendly, non-auditioned choir that generally performs 4 concerts to a high standard each year in Royston and the surrounding villages. Our musical director is Andrew O'Brien and he is assisted by Jonathan Lilley.
Formed in 1973 we celebrated our first 50 years a couple of seasons ago and are now enjoying our next 50 years of music making in the area. The choir numbers nearly 100 singers.
We engage fine professional soloists for our major concerts and are able to call on an excellent pool of orchestral players.
Our 2025-26 season will be Andrew's 11th season season as our musical director, so will include a mixture of works we have done with Andrew before and new ones.
In November we will be performing Britten's cantata St Nicolas. We are fortunate that, given Andrew's position at St Edmunds, we have instant access to a childrens' chorus and a trio of 'pickled boys' to join us for this. Also in the concert will be Celia McDowall's Ave maris stella.
We will be holding our customary Christmas concert on December 13th with the usual mix of carols for choir and audience, the festive atmosphere enhanced by the presence of St John's magnificent Christmas tree.
In March we will be performing Brahms' sublime Ein Deutsches Requiem, with Stanford's Songs of the Sea.
Our summer concert in June will include Elgar's Sea Pictures and anthem The Spirit of the Lord, Parry's Blest pair of sirens and works by Howells and Ireland.
We enjoyed excellent audiences in the last couple of seasons with many of our concerts being sold out. We hope to continue that pattern and so early purchase of tickets is advised!
There are some videos of parts of some of our recent concerts available by following this link.
For more information about the society please contact the chair - Huw Jenkins (email: [email protected] or tel: 07855 311192)
Charity Registration number: 1090459