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Marlow Community Choir at Borlase
Local Choirs & Music Groups
▸ Amersham and Chesham Bois Choral Society
| Amersham and Chesham Bois Choral Society | We are a Society with about 130 singing members from a great variety of backgrounds. Some members have simply enjoyed music since their schooldays, some are professional musicians, and some are discovering for the first time the delights of live music-making. There are professional people like lawyers, teachers and nurses, people from the business world, community volunteers and mums and dads with young families still at home, as well as students and younger people eager to foster their enthusiasm for singing. Concerts usually take place in St Mary’s Church, Old Amersham, regularly in December and May. Rehearsals are usually held in the Main Hall at Dr Challoner’s Grammar School or Amersham Free Church in Amersham on the Hill. We rehearse mostly on Monday evenings from 8.00pm to 9.45pm. There is ample parking at Dr Challoner’s (use the play ground behind the main school buildings if the car parks are full). Additional voice training events are usually held on two Saturday mornings in each year. 🌏 www.amchor.com |
▸ Chiltern Camerata
| Chiltern Camerata | Founded in 1996, The Chiltern Camerata is an amateur string orchestra for adults.
Our players include music professionals and advanced amateurs. Our objective is to share the enjoyment of music-making and to bring a wide range of music to our audiences. We stage about three concerts per year and through this we provide an opportunity for soloists to perform with an orchestra. Often we combine with wind players, choirs and others to offer a wider range of music than the typical string repertoire. We rehearse during school term time at at Holmer Green Baptist Church. As a non-profit organisation we simply seek to cover the costs of staging our concerts. Some of our concerts raise funds for charities. Members pay a subscription for the pleasure of playing each concert and receive no fee. Over the years we have presented audiences with a wide range of concerts. Whether or not you play an instrument, if you love music and live in or around South Bucks, we hope to see you at our concerts. 🌏 www.chiltern-camerata.org.uk |
▸ Garsington Opera at Wormsley
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In June and July each year we bring productions of the highest professional quality
to an intimate setting of extraordinary beauty at Wormsley, in the Chiltern Hills.
The company is renowned for championing rarely performed works of artistic interest
as well as presenting the core repertory that includes Mozart and Rossini.
We provide a platform for the finest young principal singers to work alongside
more established artists and take special care to engage conductors and stage directors of distinction. 🌏 www.garsingtonopera.org |
▸ Henley Choral Society
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Henley Choral Society first met in the music room of Henley Grammar School in 1973
and gave its first concert in the Spring of 1974.
Since then we have sung music from a wide range of styles and periods:
from Monteverdi, taking in the old favourites, Bach, Mozart, Schubert and Brahms,
right through to a new piece commissioned especially for us by Ian D. Crew.
This last was only possible through the generosity of the Henley Festival Trust.
We always employ professional soloists for our concerts and also a professional orchestra or organist, as appropriate. There is no audition for membership as the size of the choir (over 100) means that everyone who wants to join can find a niche to suit them. We welcome new members at any time. All you need is a love of singing: an ability to read music is useful. Rehearsals take place at 7.30 on Monday, currently at d:two near the centre of Henley. For more information call Wendy Hawkins, Membership Secretary on 01491 576929. We usually sing three concerts a year, including one at Christmas featuring a local Primary school, and occasionally join with other organisations either for a big concert with another Choral Society or with our local Henley Symphony Orchestra. In 2013 we will celebrate our 40th Anniversary with a performance of the Verdi Requiem at the Concert Hall, Reading on Saturday 8th June. Concerts with the choir in Leichlingen, our twin town in Rheinland, Germany, have always been a part of our musical life and many of our members have made strong friendships as a result. We are a friendly, lively choir of all ages and the opportunity to sing together to the highest standard has forged a strong and enthusiastic community. 🌏 www.henleychoralsociety.org.uk |
▸ High Wycombe Choral Society
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The High Wycombe Choral Society was founded in 1934, originally as the Wycombe Oratorio Choir,
to perform classical choral music of a high standard in High Wycombe.
the choir now numbers over 60 singers and performs two major choral concerts every year with a professional orchestra,
and a number of smaller and less formal events. We also enjoy a number of social occasions, and have active links with overseas choirs. Our members have a range of musical skills, and come from all over the High Wycombe area. 🌏 www.hwcs.org.uk |
▸ Maidenhead Choral Society
| Maidenhead Choral Society | Maidenhead Choral Society is a mixed four-part choir based in Maidenhead.
We sing a variety of choral works, both classical and modern.
We are an amateur choir with professional conductor and accompanist, and we use professional soloists in our concerts. We are currently accepting new members. Our members have a wide range of experience, and we do not audition. The ability to read music is useful but not essential. 🌏 www.maidenheadchoralsociety.org |
▸ Marlow Choral Society
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Marlow Choral Society is a mixed voice choir of over ninety strong.
It is based in the centre of the town and members are drawn from the Marlow community and surrounding towns. Our concerts are varied and, as well as choral music, include orchestral pieces and instrumental soloists. We always provide a warm welcome to new singers with any voice range, with or without experience. If you are interested then please see the Membership page for details of rehearsals and how to join us. 🌏 www.marlowchoralsociety.org.uk |
▸ Marlow Community Choir at Borlase
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The Marlow Community Choir at Borlase (MCCaB) is a highly successful community outreach initiative
of Sir William Borlase's Grammar School, with Performing Arts College status.
Under the direction of Gillian Dibden MBE, our inspirational and dynamic Director of Music,
we meet on Wednesdays at 7:30pm on school term dates for vocal training and rehearsals
to achieve concert performance standard. We offer you training in choral music and vocal technique for singing in mixed, 4-part (SATB) choirs, with regular concert performances, including soloists and full orchestra. MCCaB, centered on Marlow, serves the needs of an ever expanding community over a wide area. We currently have over 100 members from Marlow, Marlow Bottom, High Wycombe, Bourne End, Flackwell Heath, Cookham, Maidenhead, Taplow, Windsor, Reading, Stokenchurch, Henley and the surrounding areas and gather together at Sir William Borlase's School, on Wednesdays during term time, from 7:30 - 9:00pm. 🌏 www.mccab.org.uk |
▸ South Bucks Choral Society
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South Bucks Choral Society was founded in 1980 by our musical director Iain Ledingham MA FRAM FRCO,
who teaches at the Royal Academy of Music.
We currently have about 100 active singing members, and perform with professional orchestras and soloists. We present three concerts each year, including a Carol Concert in December. One of our concerts is part of the Amersham Festival of Music. Rehearsals are on Tuesday evenings in Chalfont St Peter, from early September until the spring concert. Many members sing in other events, such as a sung Mass performed as part of the Amersham Festival, and a summer school. New members are welcome - tenors doubly so! Entry is by private audition. 🌏 southbuckschoral.org.uk |
▸ Slough Philharmonic Chorus
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We are an amateur chorus and orchestra based in Slough with an enviable reputation as one of the leading music
societies in the country.
We perform four or five concerts a year, with at least half being full choral works.
Our Season runs from September to June. 🌏 www.sloughphil.org |
▸ Taplow Choirs
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Taplow Choirs was set up in September 2004 by Gillian Dibden and Philip Viveash to establish a centre
for local singers and bring together children and adults interested in building their singing skills.
The aim: to create a structure of various choirs for all ages, who rehearse together towards performance,
providing a centre for singing excellence in the area. Based at Gillian's home village of Taplow in South Bucks, close to Maidenhead, Slough and Windsor, and easily accessible from the South Bucks and Berkshire areas. Not far from junction 7 of the M4 and the mainline station at Taplow. Taplow is also easily accessible from the M40. Facilities for practice and performance exist in Taplow, at the village centre, and the church although the choirs go further afield for performances, too. 🌏 www.taplowchoirs.org.uk |
▸ Voices Anon
| Voices Anon | Voices Anon is a choir of mixed ability based in Maidenhead.
The choir was formed in 1995 by a small group who simply wanted to enjoy the art of singing and
it now has a membership of 90 female and male singers.
The aim of the choir is to introduce adults of all ages to the skills, techniques and fun of choral singing.
Members improve their vocal skills, extend their musical knowledge and sing for their own enjoyment under the
leadership of their professional Musical Director, Guy Bunce. The choir meets on a Thursday evening between 7.45 and 9.45pm. Our current rehearsal venue is Tippets Hall, St Pirans School, Gringer Hill. SL6 7LZ 🌏 www.voicesanon.co.uk |
▸ Windsor & Eton Choral Society
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The Windsor & Eton Choral Society gave its first public performance in Windsor
while William the Fourth was still on the throne, so qualifying as one of the ten oldest Choral Societies in the country.
Founded by the then Organist of St. George’s Chapel Windsor, it has always had a close connection with both St. George’s
and Eton College, the conductors having been drawn in almost equal numbers from the two royal foundations. The Choral Society is honoured to have had among its patrons Prince Albert, Princess Christian and, since 1923, the reigning Monarch. Of the present Royal Family, H.M. The Queen, Prince Philip and the late Queen Mother have all attended performances. The Society is about 185 strong. As well as enjoying the established “classics”, the Society has, over the last few years, been persuaded to venture into new territory with works by Monteverdi, Howells, Dankworth, Nielsen, Bernstein, Spicer and Ferguson. After the trauma of the initial rehearsals, all these have proved to be deeply satisfying, and it is intended that this enlivening mixture of old and new should be continued during the half century leading up to the two-hundredth anniversary of the Society’s first concert, in 2037. The Society participated in the 2007 Falklands commemoration ceremony televised from Horse Guards Parade and in the hugely successful May 2008 Royal Windsor Tattoo featured on BBC1 and, in September, in the spectacular and much acclaimed 'Music on Fire' at Sandhurst singing with Jonathan Ansell and Hayley Westenra for 22,000 people. 🌏 www.w-ecs.org.uk |
▸ Wooburn Singers
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Wooburn Singers is one of the leading chamber choirs in Buckinghamshire.
Rehearsing in Wooburn, we perform about six concerts per year in the area in towns such as Beaconsfield,
Marlow, Amersham and High Wycombe, ranging from a cappella works to large choral pieces. Wooburn Singers was founded in 1967 by Richard Hickox and has earned a fine reputation as one of the UK's best amateur mixed voice choirs. The 70-strong choir covers a wide and varied repertoire. Recording credits include Berlioz's Te Deum under Abbado, Langlais's Salve Regina and Burgon's Requiem, and a compilation of Music for the Last Night of the Proms with the RPO and Sir Charles Groves which was a best seller at the time of its release. Wooburn Singers has also sung in London's major concert halls and in other European cities. Foreign tours have taken the choir to Malta, Krakow, Venice, Paris, Prague, Geneva, Tuscany and Barcelona. There is also a good social programme for members and their families and friends. 🌏 www.wooburnsingers.org.uk |
▸ Wycombe Orpheus Male Voice Choir
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Eighty-nine years ago, on the 2nd of January 1923,
12 good men and true gathered at Westbourne Street Methodist Church in High Wycombe
with one desire: to form a choir.
The main objective was to create and deliver high quality singing entertainment
for the town and the villages of South Buckinghamshire. Today, 89 years later the Choir, now named the Wycombe Orpheus Male Voice Choir, has grown to over 80 members – more than six times its original singing roster – and continues to provide entertaining music of all kinds to the South Bucks area (and well beyond). And in those intervening years, the Orpheus has notched up more than 60 festival awards by projecting a warm, friendly atmosphere, a sense of fun in what they are singing while maintaining very high standards of vocal music and a distinctive Orpheus “sound.” It’s been 89 years of musical progress culminating in a choir which can hold its own against any other in the land by high musical standards, attention to detail and promoting a warm bonhomie from choristers to audiences. 🌏 www.wycombeorpheus.org.uk |
Local Arts Centres
▸ Music in Marlow / Christ Church URC, Marlow
▸ Norden Farm Centre For The Arts
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Since September 2000, Norden Farm has offered the people of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead,
and beyond, the best in entertainment and the performing arts. The Centre's history begins in the 1970s, when a strong demand for an arts centre for Maidenhead began to emerge. It was focused by the establishment of Maidenhead Arts in 1978, set up as an umbrella organisation of local arts groups committed to establishing an appropriate centre for both amateur and professional work. In 1992 an opportunity arose to consider part of the Norden Farm site, sought for redevelopment. The site offered listed buildings with a quality ambience suited to creative activity, an opportunity to preserve part of Maidenhead's heritage, and a proximity to the heart of the community which would enable use of the facility to be maximised. A Trust with Registered Charity status, Norden Farm Centre Trust, was established to manage the project. Work commenced on building Norden Farm arts centre in early 1994. In autumn 1994 the National Lottery commenced operation and Norden Farm Centre Trust applied to the Arts Council for lottery funding to complete Norden Farm. Following an intensive and detailed design and public consultation phase, planning approval was granted in September 1997. The Arts Council carried out a full assessment during autumn 1997, prior to an announcement of support and approval for the finished scheme with a Lottery award of £5,295,000 in January 1998. The final design stage of the project was completed in late 1998 and Norden Farm Centre for the Arts finally opened its doors to the public on the 17 September 2000. Up to 2,500 people a week visit the Centre for a variety of live shows, films, classes and workshops or to eat in the Cafe Bar. Norden Farm is located on the west side of Maidenhead, approximately 1.5 miles from the town centre. Norden Farm Centre for the Arts Altwood Road, Maidenhead SL6 4PF Telephone: ☎ 01628 788997 🌏 www.nordenfarm.org |
▸ South Hill Park
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South Hill Park Arts Centre is Bracknell's multi-purpose arts centre.
It offers a wide variety of shows, courses and a café/brasserie in its many space:
A key part of our remit is supporting and commissioning new work across the arts, from both established and emerging artists. South Hill Park currently offers term time courses each year across, art, music, drama, dance, digital media, and literature, in addition to this workshops are offered each year, for all ages and abilities and covering a wide range of subjects, from taster sessions to master classes. The annual programme of performing arts offers hundreds of events, including music, drama, comedy, musicals, dance and opera by leading local, national and international professional artists and talented new amateur groups. The galleries host many exhibitions a year across the 7 spaces, showing the work of local, national and international contemporary artists in a wide range of media. South Hill Park is about seven minutes drive from Bracknell Town Centre in the Birch Hill area. South Hill Park Ringmead, Bracknell RG12 7PA Telephone: ☎ 01344 484123 🌏 www.southhillpark.org.uk |
Rehearsal Aids
▸ ChoraLine (Rehearsal CDs, Folders, etc)
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ChoraLine provide vocal scores, SATB rehearsal CDs & MP3 files, unique singing sets, music bags,
performance CDs & box sets, musical gifts & toys. For a 10% discount please enter MARLOWCC into the discount code box on the shopping page. Please note: last time to order for delivery in time for Christmas is 4pm on 21st December! 🌏 www.choraline.com 🌏 Elgar's The Dream Of Gerontius |
▸ CyberBass (Rehearsal Files)
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CyberBass: Innovative learing for choral singers. Free MIDI files for online use, CDs available for purchase. 🌏 www.cyberbass.com |
▸ Learn Choral Music (Downloadable Midi Part Files)
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Freely download Midi SATB part files for various choral works. If you need a Midi player, please follow the link to the Downloads section. 🌏 www.learnchoralmusic.co.uk 🌏 Elgar's The Dream Of Gerontius |
▸ Rehearsal Arts (Sung Rehearsal CDs)
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Rehearsal Arts, LLC produces learning CDs for choral singers performing major works from the classical repertoire.
We currently have 34 titles in our catalog. "We have created SingleParts to help you master your music. We are dedicated to producing SingleParts with the highest quality standards and uncompromising attention to detail." Bill Brett, Founder Your part is sung by a professional teaching singer. Selected hard passages are slowed on special tracks called StudySpots™. All choral movements are supported by a complete performance recording in the background. 🌏 www.rehearsalarts.com |
Other Links
▸ James Wood Creative (Dido and Aeneas photos)
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Professional photographs of our performance of Diso and Aeneas, available for free viewing, or for purchase. 🌏 jameswood81.zenfolio.com |
