Latest news with #choir
BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Warrington choir ends on emotional high note after 192 years
A choir which has been running for 192 years has staged an "emotional" final Musical Society was set up in 1833, but said it was folding due to financial difficulties and declining Dave Perfect, from Warrington, Cheshire, said it had never recovered from losing members during the Covid-19 pandemic and had just 18 members said the farewell concert at Christ Church Padgate was one of their best yet, with about 75 attending to hear the choir's favourite choral works from over the years. "We are singing as well as we have done and it was good to end on a high," he said. The 64-year-old said the majority of the remaining members had been with the choir, which is one of the oldest continuing music societies in the country, for about 25 said the society had 90 members in the 1960s and 1970s."It was emotional," Mr Perfect said. "One member has been with us for 30 years. It was sad when it has some much history."We decided last year to end, though, as we were running out of money and have been unable to attract new members." Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Brecon choir festival brings community singers and choral scholars together
The men of Welsh valleys community choirs from Treorchy or Tylorstown do not often stand shoulder to shoulder to sing with choral scholars from Cambridge University – but every July, late into the night, that's now what happens at the Clarence Inn in Brecon. Set up by a team of volunteers in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic as a way to bring people back together, the Brecon choir festival, now in its fourth year, has built on the Welsh tradition of communal singing to create a unique and ambitious celebration of song and choral music. This year, group hikes in the surrounding Bannau Brycheiniog national park, talks and professional workshops rounded out an eclectic musical programme ranging from the medieval repertoire of the ethereal Hildegard Singers to the passion of the internationally renowned Pendyrus Male Choir and the high drama of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, performed by the BBC National Chorus of Wales. For 2025, the festival's founders decided on a theme celebrating the poet RS Thomas, including a performance of a recently found work – Seven Poems, set to music by the Welsh composer William Mathias – and the premiere of another Thomas poem, Song, set for the BBC chorus by Lucy Walker, one of the UK's foremost emerging composers. Georgina, a festivalgoer from Gloucestershire making a return visit after attending in 2023, said: 'It's so nice to see such a vibrant mix in the programme and the performances, there's a lot of energy. It feels very youthful and fresh. 'I'm not an expert in choral music by any means, but I know what I like when I hear it and I think [the festival] is very special.' The festival opened on Thursday with a performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah by the Brecon Singers, the local choir set up in 1966 to augment the choristers at the town's 13th-century cathedral. 'We loved every minute … To see the audience's reaction to the big moments and hear their applause ring round the cathedral was reward indeed. The Singers were buzzing as they made their way home,' said choir member Ros Reed. Approximately 350 people attended the festival's debut in 2022; King Charles and Queen Camilla came the next year, and a Zulu choir the year after that. This July, more than 2,200 people visited, and local schools got involved with singing workshops. The Brecon festival's founders, Joshua Games and Punch Maughan, have ambitious plans to raise its national and international profile in the near future. A key part of the ethos is going beyond a performer-audience dynamic to create a 'truly interactive and inclusive experience,' said Games, who also serves as artistic director. 'I think that's what makes this a much more powerful and resonant experience for festivalgoers. For example, last year we built a Men's Shed shanty chorus out of local men at risk of loneliness who had never sung before. They went on to perform in front of hundreds on our choir trail, and have since gathered real steam doing regular concert appearances,' he said.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Opera House to audition young voices for Gala choir
An opera house in Jersey has announced it is looking for young voices to audition for its Gala Opera House (JOH) said the new youth choir was being formed to perform a selection of songs in production as part of the re-opening of the Gala. Auditions are open to all young people in full-time education from school years three to 13, the opera house said."Don't miss the chance to be part of this historic moment and sing on the Opera House stage," it added. "Choir members must be available to perform on 3, 4, and 5 October 2025, as well as attend all key rehearsals."Parents or guardians who wish to register a young person can email gala@ stating their preferred time slot.
CBS News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Leo High School boys' choir celebrated at Chicago City Council meeting after "America's Got Talent" performance
It's not the biggest crowd they've stood before, but on Wednesday the Leo High School boys' choir received a well-deserved shoutout from the Chicago City Council. Ald. David Moore (17th) brought the choir to Wednesday's meeting to honor them after the group was featured last month on "America's Got Talent." "They touched our hearts. They stole our hearts. They made us cry," Moore said. "They made Chicago proud. They made the South Side proud. They made all of us proud." The choir's rise to fame began after a video of them singing was posted to social media by CBS News Chicago's Audrina Sinclair last February. That video caught the attention of the producers at "America's Got Talent," and the choir later flew to Los Angeles for an audition, later appearing on the show last month with a rendition of "Born For This" by The Score. The choir is headed back to "America's Got Talent" for the quarterfinals. Recently, they also have performed at a mass for Pope Leo XIV at Rate Field and at a Juneteenth celebration at Wrigley Field.
BBC News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Five US children's choirs to perform at Rochester Cathedral
Five children's choirs from across the United States are to perform together at Rochester performance on Wednesday will be the finale of Vox Anima London's International Children's Choir Ev'ry Voice and Sing will feature about 100 singers from New Jersey, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Georgia and joint choirs are to perform a programme featuring music by Bob Chilcott, Elaine Hagenberg, Amy Hughley, Henry Purcell and John Rutter. The performance will mark the "culmination of a week of music making in London, Canterbury and Rochester" for the visiting children's choirs, organisers said."The young singers will have spent the week rehearsing and performing under the inspirational and transatlantic leadership of Joshua Pedde and Amy Hughley from the Indianapolis Children's Choir," they International Children's Choir Festival has seen the creation of musical experiences for young singers in venues across Kent and London for almost 30 years.
