About Us

President:               Ian Partridge  CBE
Music Director:       Neil Ferris  BMus(Hons)  ARCM  MMus
Accompanist:         Michael Higgins  BMus(Hons)  PGDip  ARAM

Wimbledon Choral has a reputation for being an open, welcoming, friendly and accessible group. We are widely regarded as one of the finest amateur choirs in South East of England and our aim is to grow that reputation even further through developing our repertoire so as to appeal to a wider audience and broaden our membership base. Our repertoire is extensive and versatile, embracing traditional works alongside contemporary and popular music, from Baroque right through to the 21st century and music commissioned specially by us.

 

The choir’s origins can be found in old newspaper archives stretching back to 1870 when there is mention of the New Wimbledon Choral Society.   Evidence of subsequent activity is rather patchy and it appears several attempts were made to continue or restart a Society during the period 1870-1900.    It is not until 1914 that the choir in its present guise was formed.  Further details of this, our early connections with Belgium and the development of the Society can be found on the History page.

 

Now, it is a well-established and flourishing choir with a membership of in excess of 180, an average age considerably lower than many of its neighbouring peers and a healthy intake of new members in an area with a relatively high proportion of transient population. This keeps the choir fresh and changing and many members go on to continue singing in other choirs when they leave this part of south-west London.

 

Although based in Wimbledon for rehearsals there are no sizeable venues in the vicinity in which the choir’s main concerts can be performed. Following the demolition of the local Civic Hall at the end of the 1980s to make way for the Centre Court shopping centre, Wimbledon Choral used this as an opportunity to widen its audience and now performs in major venues in and around London. These have included Guildford and Southwark Cathedrals, St John’s Church Waterloo, The Royal College of Music, Cadogan Hall, Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Square, the Royal Festival Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.

 

 

In addition to its own concerts, the choir is invited regularly to participate in events produced by other organisations. Of particular note in recent years are several recordings of BBC TV’s Songs of Praise, two appearances singing from the pitch at Wembley Stadium to capacity crowds as part of the pre-match entertainment for the Rugby Football League, for more than 15 years forming half of the Festival Chorus at the Royal British Legion’s annual Festival of Remembrance in the Royal Albert Hall, recording the theme music (an adaptation of Faure’s Pavane) played on every programme of BBC TV’s coverage of the Football World Cup 1998, a joint promotion with Barts Choir for a performance of Mahler’s mammoth Symphony No.8 (Symphony of a Thousand) to an audience of over 4000, and a similar joint venture with Vivace Chorus for Verdi's Requiem, both of these last two events also in the Royal Albert Hall.   The centrepiece of the choir's centenary season in 2014-15 saw it perform Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem in the Royal Festival Hall.   Paired with Saint-Saëns' Symphony No 3 (Organ), this played to a 2000-strong audience.   This feat was to be bettered in May 2019 when the choir returned to the RFH for the World Premiere of the Da Vinci Requiem by Cecilia McDowall, commissioned by Wimbledon Choral to mark its centenary.  This work was subsequently recorded (albeit delayed due to the Covid pandemic) by the choir in 2022 and published by Signum Records in April 2023.   Reviews of the premiere and the recording can be found on this other page.

 

We work with both well-established soloists and those rising stars in the early years of their careers, as well as some of Britain’s leading orchestras like the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia, Brandenburg Sinfonia, Charivari Agréable, London Mozart Players, Florilegium, Salomon Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia and Orchestra Vitae.

 

Please explore the links at the top of this page or contact us to find out more about this exciting choir.

 

Wimbledon Choral Society (performing as Wimbledon Choral) is a registered charity in England & Wales (No. 263150) with a Constitution, approved by the Charity Commission, and a small set of Rules for members.   The Trustees Annual Report and associated annual Accounts Statement are approved at the Society's AGM and are published and made available on the Charity Commission's website for public viewing.   To ensure continued operation, it has a finance Reserves Policy in force and in line with Charity Commission guidance.  In addition, in compliance with UK data protection laws and the 2018 General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), Wimbledon Choral has a Data Protection & Privacy Policy.   

 

The Society is fortunate to have been associated with some very distinguished persons in the role of President of the Society since its beginning.   The lists of these and the Music Director titleholders past and present are shown below.   The list of members of the Society who have held the senior management positions since 1914 can be seen here.