If you are interested in joining the Choir, see
Joining the Choir.
Next
Performance
The choir's next performance will be Mendelssohn's Paulus, to be held at
Snape
on Saturday 1st May 2010.
Click here for further details.
Background
The University of Essex Choir was founded in
1977 and numbers about 150 singers. Its membership is drawn from staff
and students of the University and from the local community. The
University is an international community with a relatively high
proportion of overseas students and many of the students in the choir
are from overseas.
Since 1981 the Conductor has been
Richard Cooke. Under his inspirational
leadership the choir has sung many of the major classical works,
including in recent years :
Mendelssohn's Elijah (in the original
German)
Bach B minor Mass
Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony
Beethoven Missa Solemnis
Britten Spring Symphony and St
Nicolas
Rachmaninov The Bells
Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem
Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky
Most of the choir's "summer" concerts are given in the world- famous
Snape Maltings Concert Hall, near Aldeburgh. The choir also performs
frequently in the Charter Hall, Colchester, where it gave the Inaugural
Concert, including Mozart's Requiem, to mark the opening of the
hall in December 1991.
Following its performance of The Apostles
at Norwich Cathedral, the choir was invited to perform Elgar's Dream
of Gerontius, on May 18 1996, as part of the Cathedral's 900th
Anniversary celebrations. The choir has also
performed in St Edmundsbury Cathedral and in Chelmsford Cathedral.
In performance the choir is joined by excellent
professional musicians, both orchestra and soloists. The latter are
often singers in their early career, and many have gone on to become
well-known nationally and internationally. The concerts attract
audiences of up to 700, and are generally recognised as some of the best
choral concerts in the area, winning well deserved critical acclaim.
In some recent performances the choir has been
joined by members of the Royal Choral Society and Canterbury Choral
Society, both of which are conducted by Richard Cooke. Members of the
University of Essex Choir have also had the opportunity to sing with the
Royal Choral Society in the Royal Albert Hall and elsewhere. In 1997
all three choirs combined to give performances of Mahler's Eighth
Symphony in Canterbury Cathedral, the Royal Albert Hall and the
Palais de Congrès Concert Hall in Lille, France.
You can listen online to two short excerpts from
recent performances by the Choir:
Tui Nati Vulnerati from Dvorak's Stabat Mater and
Dies Irae from Verdi's Requiem.
The Choir is a Registered
Charity: No 285079
