Recent Concert Reviewed The choir performed as a team, drawing the audience in from the very start by singing the complex piece, Viva la music, with excellent diction and great enjoyment. Tenors and Bass sang My Evaline, which was performed very successfully creating a Barbershop style. In musical contrast, Eric Whitacre's Seal Lullaby followed, sung by just Soprano and Alto voices. It was beautiful with the vocal parts carefully balanced. This is a piece worth seeking out if you don't know it. The whole choir gave a lovely performance of How Can I Keep from Singing, which their talented accompanist Andrew Wicker arranged for them. He also thrilled us with his jazz style renditions of The Man I Love & I've Got Rhythm (Gershwin). The whole evening was thoroughly enjoyable and ended with a moving rendition of the Irish Blessing, arranged by Bob Chilcott. If you are interested in joining this friendly choir do check out their website www.swindonchoral.org.uk.
Mirian Sirrelle New Musical Director: Elinor Cooper Elinor is a conductor, singer and classical music writer based in the South-West. She has a first class BA in Music from the University of Bristol and an MMus in choral conducting from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she studied with Adrian Partington, Sarah Tenant-Flowers, Andrea Brown and Greg Hallam. For two years, Elinor worked as a writer for BBC Music Magazine, and now combines freelance journalism with her musical career. During her time with the organisation, Elinor interviewed renowned artists such as Kiri Te Kanawa, Tara Erraught and Sakari Oramo, and contributed to numerous features and articles. As a singer, Elinor has worked with international conductors and artists, both in performance and masterclasses. Highlights include consecutive BBC Proms with Vasily Petrenko, Bob Chilcott and Daniel Barenboim, and masterclasses with Ian Bostridge, Mary King and Sarah Connolly. Elinor is currently Musical Director of Bristol University Singers, Collegium Singers, UWE Singers, chamber choir Spiro Singers and assistant conductor for Bristol Youth Choir. She teaches singing at Wycliffe School, Stroud and from her home in Bristol. Praise from Venice ![]() Santa Maria dei Miracoli Christmas at Christ Church: Britten St Nicolas ![]() About Us Atlantic Odyssey 2019 In this our 90th year, we are delighted to be staging this splendid work again on the 25th May in Swindon's Steam Museum, reinforced by Swindon's JTPTrust Concert Choir and the Choral Society of Middle Georgia, based in Macon, GA USA. We very much look forward to welcoming our American cousins for this exciting event. The Macon choir has joined us before, singing Britten's War Requiem in October 1995. BIG Concert Fundraising Past performances include the Passions of Bach, Requiems from Mozart to Rutter by way of Howard Goodall's Eternal Light, Britten's War Requiem, and many familiar oratorios, notably, A Child Of Our Time and The Dream of Gerontius, and most recently the first half of The Christmas Oratorio. The Armed Man, by Karl Jenkins has also featured. For a complete list of our concerts, please visit our Concerts pages. We enjoy performing with professional orchestras and soloists. We have worked with The London Mozart Players (under Jane Glover), the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, the West Forest Sinfonia, the Chameleon Arts Orchestra and, very recently, the Reading Symphony Orchestra. The Society also incorporates the Swindon Chorale, an increasingly active and dedicated group providing sacred and secular music by request for weddings, funerals, fund-raising concerts for ourselves and others, together with other events. | Next Event: Autumn Concert |