The Chichester Singers

Name: Will Todd – <em>Mass in Blue</em>
Start: 2022-06-18T19:30:00+01:00
End: 2022-06-18T19:30:00+01:00
Location: Chichester Cathedral

One of the South's Leading Amateur Choirs

Covid-19 Update

The implications of the Covid-19 outbreak are under constant review by The Chichester Singers. We very much hope to resume full rehearsals in September, when we will welcome potential new members to the choir, and the first concert of our 2021 – 22 season in Chichester Cathedral will be Elgar – The Dream of Gerontius on 13 November 2021.

However, you can see and hear us still singing together even though we’re apart. Enjoy We’ll Meet Again, which has become such a symbol of hope over the past year, as well as our earlier ‘isolation performance’ of Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus

The Chichester Singers have been an established part of musical life in Chichester for over 60 years

The choir performs under the musical direction of Jonathan Willcocks, one of the UK’s foremost choral conductors and composers. We have around 140 singing members and our repertoire includes a broad range of music from the great choral classics to contemporary works, performed with first-class professional soloists and orchestras.

The choir’s accompanist is Sue Graham Smith and we currently work with the professional chamber orchestra Southern Pro Musica with most of our concerts in Chichester Cathedral.

What's Next...

Elgar – The Dream of Gerontius

13 November 2021
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius

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Handel – Messiah

15 January 2022
Handel: Messiah

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You can see the rest of our upcoming concerts right here.

The Critics Say...

The Chichester Singers performed with a lightness and agility that belied the choir’s size. Florid passagework (for example in For unto us a child is born) was performed with impressive ease, giving the clarity of a chamber-sized choir. They sang with assurance and musicality throughout.

The final, steadily quietening section of the Requiem was most moving and, in the end, we wondered – was that a concert or was it a religious service – do we applaud? The audience did applaud, loud and long; it was a memorable concert; one of the Chichester Singers’ best performances.

A packed audience in Chichester Cathedral were treated to a performance of the oratorio, given by the Chichester Singers, conducted by Jonathan Willcocks. Just as the first performance in The New Music Hall, Dublin, in 1742 was an unqualified success, so was this!

The Chichester Singers as the chorus were on top form, moving smoothly from the softer passages to the more boisterous with ease. At the end, the standing ovation and two applause recalls from a full house was testament to the success of this exciting and well executed concert.

The chorus and orchestra, under the baton of Jonathan Willcocks performed with admirable power and control, and especially singing the spirituals of a persecuted people. Let my people go was overwhelming and the final climax of shadow and light leading into Deep River will linger long in the memory.

The Singers themselves were on top form from opening to closing choruses. The cathedral acoustic demands that the voices project well over the orchestra in front of them and this they did very well.