Worcester Festival Choral Society (WFCS) is an independent, SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) choir of around 150 amateur singers that presents classical choral concerts at

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire, England, situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Bles ...

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

. The conductor is Samuel Hudson (Worcester Cathedral’s Director of Music) and the accompanist is Nicholas Freestone (Worcester Cathedral’s Assistant Director of Music). The Chairman is Ben Cooper. The President is The Lord Bishop of Worcester and Senior Vice President is The

Dean of Worcester The Dean of Worcester is the head of the Chapter of Worcester Cathedral in Worcester, England. The current dean is Peter Atkinson, who lives at The Deanery, College Green, Worcester. Crockford's on-line accessed by subscription Tuesday 11 June ...

Choir

Worcester Festival Choral Society was founded in 1861 and has performed classical choral music in the City of Worcester ever since. Initially staging its concerts in Worcester’s former Music Hall (later known as the Public Hall; now demolished), most of the Society’s concerts since 1930 have taken place in

. To date the Society performed more than 350 concerts. It has also staged several choral premieres, been recorded, performed in other UK cities and hosted conductors such as

Sir Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

. The Society’s current concert orchestra is the Meridian Sinfonia, which has played at WFCS concerts since 2013. Each concert is also supported by professional soloists.

Directors of Music

History

Worcester Festival Choral Society was first established in 1861. Its aims were to cultivate choral music, and to provide singers to the

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester) and originally featu ...

Chorus. These aims are still part of its objectives today. The Society had close links with composer

in the 1890s. At that time Elgar, who lived in

, was a musician and not yet famous for composing music. Worcester Festival Choral Society had its own informal orchestral Band, and in the 1890s violinist Elgar became its leader. Several other musician members of his family also played in the WFCS Band. As Elgar’s reputation grew, WFCS performed several of his choral works at its concerts, conducted by the composer. Elgar also wrote two choral works that were given their world premiere by Worcester Festival Choral Society, which he also conducted: '' The Black Knight'' (1892) and '' Scenes from the Bavarian Highlands'' (1895) Two WFCS conductors of that era were also close friends of Edward Elgar, and have music dedicated to them: his cantata '' The Black Knight'' was dedicated to

Hugh Blair Hugh Blair FRSE (7 April 1718 – 27 December 1800) was a Scottish minister of religion, author and rhetorician, considered one of the first great theorists of written discourse. As a minister of the Church of Scotland, and occupant of the ...

; and the Third Pomp and Circumstance March (1904) was dedicated to

Ivor Atkins Sir Ivor Algernon Atkins (29 November 1869 – 26 November 1953) was the choirmaster and organist at Worcester Cathedral from 1897 to 1950, as well as a composer of songs, church music, service settings and anthems. He is best known for editi ...

. 5]. Other composers and conductors to have guest-conducted Worcester Festival Choral Society concerts over its history include

Hubert Parry Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 18487 October 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill in Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is be ...

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (15 August 18751 September 1912) was a British composer and conductor. Of mixed-race birth, Coleridge-Taylor achieved such success that he was referred to by white New York musicians as the "African Mahler" when ...

Walford Davies Sir Henry Walford Davies (6 September 1869 – 11 March 1941) was an English composer, organist, and educator who held the title Master of the King's Music from 1934 until 1941. He served with the Royal Air Force during the First World War, dur ...

Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was educated at the ...

Vernon Handley Vernon George "Tod" Handley (11 November 1930 – 10 September 2008) was a British conductor, known in particular for his support of British composers. He was born of a Welsh father and an Irish mother into a musical family in Enfield, Middle ...

, Jonathan Willcocks and

Sir Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...

. Today, Worcester Festival Choral Society presents choral works written for SATB chorus, orchestra and soloists. Amongst the more traditional works performed are requiems, masses and oratorios by composers such as Mozart,

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

, Handel and

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

. The choir also performs many late 19th/early 20th century choral pieces by composers such as

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, Poulenc, Fauré and

Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

; and later works by living composers including Lauridsen, Jonathan Willcocks and Jonathan Dove. In addition to its own concerts, Worcester Festival Choral Society’s appearances around the UK have included the King's Lynn festival and two Elgar Festivals at the Royal Albert Hall in the 1970s; Elgar concerts at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall with the BBC Singers and Chorus in the early 1990s; and a performance of Britten's

War Requiem The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a large-scale setting of the Requiem composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was bui ...

at Symphony Hall with the CBSO and City of Birmingham Chorus in 2004. Many of its singers also took part in a

300th anniversary performance that was given to The

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

at Buckingham Palace in 2015. The following year, one of WFCS’s past Directors of Music, Sir David Willcocks, died. As a tribute, Worcester Festival Choral Society joined Worcester Cathedral Choir to create a music CD featuring many of the Christmas carol arrangements for which

David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambr ...

was famous, and it briefly entered the UK’s classical music charts. The Society has commissioned two pieces from its conductors: A Song of Celebration composed by Dr Donald Hunt in 1995 (marking English Music Year); and Creation Canticles, by Adrian Lucas, in 2004. For its 150th season in 2011, the Worcester Festival Choral Society performed Belshazzar’s Feast by

Walton Walton may refer to: People * Walton (given name) * Walton (surname) * Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer Places Canada * Walton, Nova Scotia, a community ** Walton River (Nova Scotia) *Walton, Ontario, a hamlet United Kingdo ...

held a black tie dinner in Worcester’s Guildhall, which the four living Directors of Music ( Sir David Willcocks, Dr Christopher Robinson, Dr Donald Hunt and Adrian Lucas) attended.

Performances

Premieres

Music conducted or attended by the composer

Other event-related performances

References

External links

Worcester Festival Choral Society web pageWorcester CathedralThree Choirs FestivalGloucester Choral SocietyHereford Choral Society
{{authority control English choirs Culture in Worcester,_England 1861 establishments in England Musical groups established in 1861 Organisations based in Worcestershire Choral societies British choirs