Fordingbridge Choral Society
|
Fordingbridge Choral Society
President : Rev. Charles Rolfe |
Fordingbridge Choral Society is based in the town of Fordingbridge in Hampshire, with around 50 members drawn from Fordingbridge and the surrounding area. Our repertoire ranges from madrigals and part songs to the great choral masterpieces. The works of Bach, Brahms, Handel, Bernstein, Purcell and Haydn have all featured in our concerts.
Our main performance venue is St. Mary's Church in Fordingbridge, but we have also appeared in a wide variety of churches and halls throughout the area.
We rehearse on a Wednesday evening in term-time in Fordingbridge United Reformed Church, Salisbury Street, from 7 30 pm until 9pm.
Join us !
Membership of the Society is open to all who enjoy singing. If you would like to join us, please get in touch with the Secretary.
At the moment there are particular vacancies for first soprano and bass voices in the choir, and the conductor would welcome any reasonably skilled sight singers in this department. Come and give us a try!
Even if you are unable to sing with us, you can still support us by becoming an Associate member. Benefits include an occasional newsletter and discounted concert tickets. Contact the secretary for more details.
The Choral Society's Christmas concert which our conductor has entitled "Awake, Ye Drowsy Mortals All" will take place in St Mary's Church, Fordingbridge on Saturday 20th December 2008 at 7 30 pm. As well as Christmas carols old and new we will include Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols' and sing some music from the Mellstock Band's carol book. As usual, mulled wine and mince pies will be served during the interval, so we look forward to a large audience on this last Saturday before Christmas. Tickets cost £6 on the door, £5 in advance, £4 for concessions and are available from the Secretary.
When rehearsals recommence in January we shall be working hard on the all-Vivaldi programme planned for our spring concert on Saturday 28th March 2009 also in St Mary's Church, Fordingbridge. Three itemswill be performed; ''Gloria' , 'Magnificat' and 'The Four Seasons'.
The main concert this year was a performance of Brahms' Requiem (Sung in English) with Soprano : Charlotte Woods, Baritone : Sam Brassington and accompanied on the organ by Christopher Dowie
Our summer concert - a lighter weight presentation - was on 28 June in St Mary's Hall when we performed a selection of church music, “On Broadway” by Rogers and Hammerstein and “In Concert” by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The 2006 Christmas concerts were on Sunday December 10th at St. Mary's Church, Redlynch; Monday December 11th at 7:30 p.m. in Ringwood Methodist Church; and on Saturday December 16th at 7:30 p.m. in St. Mary's Church, Fordingbridge.
Our Spring Concert was on 10th March '07 at St Mary's Church Fordingbridge and includd Handel's "Zadok the Priest"; Faure's "Cantique de Jean Racine", an anthem attributed to Haydn called "Insanae et vanae curae", and the beautiful "Mass of the Children" by John Rutter. For most of these works we were augmernted by a choir of fifty trained childrens voices from Forres Sandle Manor School, and accompanied by a Chamber Orchestra and Organ (played by Beverley Manning).
In June we held our annual informal concert of madrigals, anthems and part songs.
The Society welcomed their new conductor Mr. John Soper, and performed their Christmas concert at Fordingbridge Parish Church on Saturday 17th December at 7.30 p.m. This year the principal work was somewhat more lighthearted than on previous occasions – namely Bob Chilcott's “The Twelve Days of Christmas” (the usual tune with some interesting alterations); and the choir also sang Holst's “Christmas Day”. There was a variety of other Christmas music, including some carols from Australia, and an opportunity for all to join in the singing of some familiar carols. The accompanists were Ruth Ramsden (piano) and Stephen Rothwell (organ).
The Easter concert was in St. Mary's Church, Fordingbridge on Saturday 1st of April, when the main work was Bach's motet 'Jesu Meine Freude'. Also in the programme were four Bruckner Motets, and the Allegri "Miserere'. On this occasion our own members sang the solo parts and we were accompanied on the organ by Mr.Christopher Dowie.
On Sunday 20th March 2005 we gave a performance of Handel's 'Messiah' in St. Mary's Church, Fordingbridge. The soloists were all drawn from the choir, and the orchestra was led by Ainta O'Brien. This performance marked the end of Beverley Manning's tenure as conductor of the society, a post he has held for nineteen years.
The Society is grateful to all those individuals and organisations who have provided support and sponsorship over the years. In particular, we would like to thank Fordingbridge Town Council, New Forest District Council, and Hampshire County Council for their support over the last few years.
We would be only too pleased to hear from any business or organisation who would like to consider sponsoring, or contributing to one of our concerts.
Become an Associate Member - contact the secretary.
We are listed on
 |
This society is affiliated to the National Federation of Music Societies which represents and supports amateur vocal, instrumental and promoting societies throughout the United Kingdom |
| This page is maintained by
Custom Internet Limited Copyright © 1998 - 2008 Fordingbridge Choral Society
|