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About Basingstoke Choral Society ...

 

BCS (Basingstoke Choral Society) was formed in 1947 and like other more famous British choruses, is a local choir, drawing its members from in and around the North Hampshire area.

Our aim is to bring local audiences the highest quality musical events, performing with some of the country's leading professionals. Our sell-out 50th anniversary concert with the Philharmonia in 1998 was a spectacular and highly acclaimed performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Bruckner's Te Deum. In recent years we have performed with the London Mozart Players and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and have sung with soloists including Lynn Dawson, Susan Gritton, Alice Coote, Sally Burgess, Bonaventura Bottone and Ekaterina Gubanova.

Under the direction of David Gibson, our Musical Director for more than 20 years, assisted by Mark Kinkaid, we have a wide repertoire. This includes Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, Fanshawe’s African Sanctus, Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi, and Berlioz' Grande Messe des Morts, as well as the more well known choral works by composers such as Bach, Handel, Mozart and Verdi. We were invited to sing at the opening of The Anvil, performing with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Richard Hickox. This concert was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

The end of 1999 saw our London debut, with performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Verdi's Requiem at the Barbican Concert Hall. In 2001 we performed in a live transmission for BBC Radio 2's "Friday Night is Music Night" at The Anvil with the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes.

In one of our most successful seasons ever in 2002/2003, we performed Messiah raising more than £7,000 for charity, Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky with extracts from Eisenstein’s film, and a Coronation Gala of English Music with Southampton Philharmonic Choir. All three concerts were critically acclaimed.

We are privileged to have Lady Portsmouth as our Honorary Patron. Lady Portsmouth is a well-known supporter of choral music.

We are around 130 strong, meet once a week on Wednesdays to rehearse and are always keen to welcome new members.

Listen to Basingstoke Choral Society singing Mozart Tantum Ergo recorded live at The Anvil, Basingstoke, UK on 10 April 2005

 

 
 
 

Basingstoke Choral Society is a registered charity.  Charity number 274009

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