What an absolute treat this was! David Murray pulled out all the stops for this beautifully uplifting concert by the Bishopwearmouth Choral Society and chamber ensemble, alongside the exceptionally talented soprano, Anna Dias. David has worked with the choral society for well over twenty years, and he brought them together with the impressive chamber ensemble, for an evening of Christmas music to warm our hearts and lift us into the season.

What an absolute treat this was! David Murray pulled out all the stops for this beautifully uplifting concert by the Bishopwearmouth Choral Society and chamber ensemble, alongside the exceptionally talented soprano, Anna Dias. David has worked with the choral society for well over twenty years, and he brought them together with the impressive chamber ensemble, for an evening of Christmas music to warm our hearts and lift us into the season.

The concert opened with the choir singing John Rutter’s What Sweeter Music, accompanied beautifully by the ensemble, who then took a breath to allow the choir, a cappella, to treat us to My Lord has Come by Will Todd, a successful local composer. Raising the Christmas spirit up a notch, Anna Dias gifted the eager audience with Bethlehem Down and, a personal favourite, O Holy Night with piano accompaniment by Eileen Bown. 

Pens at the ready, we were then challenged to furiously scribble down all 27 excerpts from well known carols and songs within David’s very clever and entertaining composition: A Christmas Medley. The piece was so tightly packed with so many favourites; neat handwriting was not an option!

Before the interval, the musicians guided us through Bob Chilcott’s Christmas story, On Christmas Night, interspersed with readings. This was beautifully performed, with intertwining melodies and accompaniment from choir, strings, piano and soloists. A truly magical performance.

Once back in our seats, the choir performed Holst’s beautiful Four Old English Carols, which had been rewritten to include strings. We then heard something quite unusual by Bob Chilcott: traditional carols recreated with fascinating layers, textures and rhythmic nuances to captivate the audience. 

The final two performances had the audience singing and toe tapping along, with David exclaiming, “You can join in as long as you can keep up!”; and who could resist this challenge?! Anticipating this evening of Christmas music had the audience wondering what to expect; and it certainly did not disappoint: There was love, warmth, joy, beauty, good fun and humour. Congratulations to all involved with this fantastic evening.

(The above is a crit of the Night before Christmas concerts performed by Bishopwearmouth Choral Society at St.Mary’s Church, Whitley Bay on the 3rd December 2022 and at Sunderland Minster on the 10th December 2022 – and submitted to the Sunderland Echo for publication)

Another first – as part of competitions being run by Radio Newcastle and Classic FM for Christmas content, the choir made professional recordings of some of the items from their forthcoming concert.

The three links below will enable you to sample what you have in store as part of our ‘A Night before Christmas’ concert on Saturday 10th December 2022 – for full details of the concert see under Events.

New season, start, and opportunities

You will all have had to resort to this approach when things are not going well, be it with a vacuum cleaner, a television or computer. Sometimes it is the sensible first place to start – is it plugged in? – or simply the last option you can try yourself before calling in a repairer.

Sometimes the fault of the situation is not with the kit but down to external factors, such as the loss of your broadband. Certainly the present situation of the Choral Society is down to external factors but we are not going to allow them to get in the way of progress.

Last season we came back together, after the isolations of Covid, and celebrated that with a performance of Messiah complete with professional musicians and soloists – but without a live audience. Then in June, after much preparation, we enjoyed performing the Rossini mass in full concert mode. Given all of the previous restrictions this marked a considerable achievement. We now starting our new season, with all of the possibilities it can bring, and will be rehearsing for a December concert that will brighten up your Christmas and show the Society at its best.

Thanks to the combined effort of many people, Bishopwearmouth Choral Society returned to providing full performances with a concert featuring Rossini’s ‘Petite Messe Solennelle’ on Saturday 18th June 2022. It was performed as close as possible to it’s original, but unusual, setting for voices, piano and harmonium and was a suitable way to mark the Society’s emergence from the chaos of Covid. Our first live audience for quite some time brought out the best in the choir after rehearsing under so many restrictions and they were well supported by a group of young but excellent soloists. The whole piece was dominated by the piano accompaniment, beautifully played on an instrument hired in to match the occasion.

The enthusiasm of the audience for the opportunity to enjoy live music was matched by the thrill of the choir being able to perform to them once again. Everyone now looks forward to the next opportunity.

We are delighted to confirm that our rehearsals will recommence at Sunderland Minster on Wednesday 2nd February 2022. Please come a little early so that the organisation of scores can take place and we can commence the rehearsal promptly.

All of our Covid precautions remain in place and we need everyone to be aware of the Guidance to Members and act accordingly.

We look forward to seeing everyone then.

Bishopwearmouth Choral Society have been rehearsing a shortened version of Handel’s Messiah since September 2021 when choirs were allowed to sing again, properly distanced in a well-ventilated space. Unfortunately Sunderland Minster is not large enough to accommodate an audience as well as the choir, musicians, and soloists so our performance on Saturday December 4^th 2021 was only available to see and hear via an online streaming available on the Minster’s YouTube channel for a short period.

A small orchestra took part with two soloists, Anna Dias – soprano and Sophie Horrocks – mezzo soprano, all conducted by David Murray.      

As you will be aware it has not been possible to hold choir rehearsals for some time because of Covid-19 and all of our recent concert plans had to be cancelled. However we now have a target date to resume rehearsals of Wednesday 8th September 2021. Arrangements are being put in place to make these rehearsals Covid-secure and details of how this will be done are now published in the Members News section for anyone to consult. We very much look forward to re-establishing regular concerts but this will take some time to organise while we ‘find our voice’. All details will be published here under Events in due course.

People often say “No news is good news” but at the moment it is probably nearer the truth to say that most of the news is bad news. It is particularly true of choirs and of our Choral Society because the very act of singing – which is what we do – is considered very inappropriate to preventing the spread of Covid-19. So faced with all of the recent studies and the latest government advice,  at the moment it is simply not practical or safe to restart our usual rehearsal schedule preparing for our next concert, or even arrange an annual general meeting.

We can only offer our apologies to our members for not being able to start our rehearsals in September and to our loyal patrons for the concerts that have had to be cancelled and continue to be in jeopardy. As soon as the guidance becomes more certain and we can reconvene under safe and workable conditions then we will update everyone with the information.

Our thanks to Vincent Smith for allowing the publication of this review of our concert on Saturday 7th December 2019, which was prepared for publication in the Sunderland Echo :

An imaginative programme was presented by the Bishopwearmouth Choral Society to a receptive audience at the Minster on Saturday Evening. Of the four works performed three were by Benjamin Britten. The opening item however was the Motet “Beatus Vir, a setting of Psalm 112 by Monteverdi. There is a direct joyfulness to the work which was captured from the onset. The contrasting textures and drama which are integral to the music of Monteverdi were fully captured and enhanced by the tasteful support of the instrumental group of two solo violins, organ and continuo.

The full string group were to give the chorus a well deserved rest as it performed the “Simple Symphony” in which Britten uses themes from four of his pieces, written when he was but a boy. The audience responded warmly to each of the movements in turn and not least to the delightful “Playful Pizzicato.” One of Britten’s most charming and uncomplicated works which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

A feature of the Choral Society is the encouragement and opportunity given to young singers and that a regular group known as Bishopwearmouth Young Singers, meet under the direction of Eileen Bown. What a contribution they made to this event! The Twelve Apostles introduced the soloist, Richard Pinkstone, a young tenor with a rapidly growing reputation. His interaction with the Young Singers as they faced each other was pleasing to eye and ear. Their interaction was also effectively communicated to the audience. How inspiring to hear youngsters sing with clarity of diction and tuneful voices and to be able to respond so wonderfully to the voice and personality of someone with whom they will have only had limited rehearsal time. Equally vital to the performance was the skill and musicianship of Eileen at the piano.

No work can be described as easy to perform but although written mostly for amateur performers St Nicholas, the first major work of Britten, does pose many challenges. Richard Pinkstone was ideal as St. Nicholas. There was another soloist too, Stephanie Little, one of the Young Singers who had important interjections to make which were performed with confidence and clarity. The Young Singers took the role of the treble soloists again to great effect and as in the 12 Apostles without copies. The chorus was in great form and clarity of diction helped to maintain audience involvement in the colourful story of the life St. Nicholas a mixture of fact and legend. Oh! And that includes us too; because the congregation get to take part as there are two hymns towards the end of the work. To the orchestra was added an organ (Colin Wood), percussion and a piano duo with Venera Bojkova joining Eileen Bown. David Murray the Music Director welded all together with his masterly conducting technique and musicianship to provide a most enjoyable and uplifting evening to which one must add the acoustic and environment of the Minster.

Vincent Smith

This performance was attended by The Right Worshipful the Mayor, Councillor David Snowdon, and his Mayoress, Councillor Dianne Snowdon, who joined the Patrons of the Society for a small reception before the performance.