Welcome

* Please check back here regularly for information regarding the 2020-21 season *

Update 12 October 2020

Everyone : We had our first mixed live/online rehearsal this evening with up to 35 singers in the church + Neil + Michael (so within the church's defined terms) and a great number of other members tuning in at home via Zoom. Two one-hour sessions were held with a different set of singers in each. It was such a relief to get back to some real singing in person and feedback from those at home was very positive as they felt much more part of the rehearsal by hearing other voices. Huge thanks to Tracy & Helen in particular for assessing the risks and putting together the processes to make it all happen.

Update 12 October 2020

Choir Members : Please download this document that contains a summary of the rules and conditions under which we need to operate the live rehearsals on Monday evenings. Make sure you are familiar with all the conditions listed within it and note where each voice part will be sitting - they are not the same locations as before. In addition, if you have been assigned for a specific role during each rehearsal session then the tasks for each role are defined in this other document.

Update 10 October 2020

Choir Members : Please see your newsletter sent by email earlier today. It provides you with great news about our return to live in-person rehearsals in St Mark's church (Yay!!!), albeit with substantial limits on numbers and clearly defined arrangements to ensure everything can be done as safely as possible within all the guidelines researched. The newslertter is also available via the Choir Notices page.

Previous updates can be be found by clicking on the Coronavirus Status banner above.

Welcome to Wimbledon Choral Society and our website. We are a choir of 180 or so members drawn from a wide range of ages, professions and backgrounds, and have a reputation for giving concerts of the highest quality presented with professional soloists and orchestras.

"Where some amateur choruses can give the impression of dutiful performers, how heartening it was to see singers of all ages who clearly adore singing."

Mark Pullinger, www.bachtrack.com

"... one of the most substantial and formidable choirs in London ... a vigorous and sophisticated choral ensemble ..."

Roderic Dunnett, Church Times

"... the impressive Wimbledon Choral Society ..."

Barry Millington, Evening Standard

"Wimbledon Choral Society make a lovely sound - clean, clear and bright. The uninhibited expressivity of those who sing for pleasure with no payment is distinct from the polished virtuosity of the professional choir. Scan the faces of the singers, here more than 200, and all you see is pride and excitement, a sense of investment and ownership [that] was justified in this concert."

Anna Picard, The Times

"The Wimbledon Choral Society were magnificent. Nothing seemed out of place - the women angelic, the men monastic - the intonation and timing exquisite. Neil Ferris controlled the chorus, soloists and Philharmonia impeccably."

Marc Bridle, Opera Today

Click here to read more feedback we've had about our performances.

The season runs from September to June and typically consists of three main concerts in major venues in and around London and a local Christmas concert in the Wimbledon area. As well as promoting its own concerts, the choir is invited regularly to participate in other events with several of Britain’s leading orchestras and in collaboration with other choirs. The 2020/21 season starts on Monday 7th September. See our Join Us page for further details of when potential new members normally would be welcome to come along.

This season begins in the whirlpool that is the Covid-19 pandemic and all the associated and somewhat unclear guidelines, regulations and differing opinions on the safety of singing in large groups, with or without audiences. The period up to Christmas 2020 remains very fluid and we will continue to monitor the options available to us. Please return here on a regular basis to see our updated plans. The planned performance of Handel's Messiah in Cadogan Hall in mid-November has been postponed with the decision taken that whenever our first public concert is able to be staged it will be the Messiah. We look forward to welcoming you back whenever that occasion takes place.

Clips featuring and about the choir can be found on the Hear Us page. Whether you are interested in hearing us, joining us, supporting us or hiring us, please follow the links above or contact us. If you would like to be kept up to date with all the latest concert news and promotional offers then please join our mailing list.

Please also consider supporting us with your online shopping. It won't cost you a penny but would help us enormously to maintain our high level of quality in our performances and other projects. Further details on how to do this can be found here. One notable project at present is funding the recording of our 100th anniversary commission, Cecilia McDowall's Da Vinci Requiem in April 2021. If you would like to find out more about this endeavour then please visit this page.

Wimbledon Choral Society is a registered charity in England & Wales (No. 263150) with a Constitution, approved by the Charity Commission. The 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.