Welcome
Welcome to Wimbledon Choral 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.
Rehearsal Accompanist Required :
After 17 wonderful years, Michael Higgins has stood down from the role of accompanist for Wimbledon Choral. Therefore, we are seeking a replacement for him. Please see www.wimbledon-choral.org.uk/accompanist for further details if interested.
Choir Notice :
It's been a great first season with Daniel and we look forward to the start of the new 2025/26 season. Rehearsals commence on Monday 1st September. If you may be interested in singing with us then please do come along to the first two rehearsals in September, which are designated as 'open' sessions for anyone who would like to try us out. Further details on the Join Us page.
Always keep a look out for new versions of the rehearsal schedule in the Quick Links section. This gets updated as certain items get confirmed over the season. An online version is also available on the Rehearsals page.
The new edition for the next season (v1 : 16-Jun-25) is now available to download.
Coming Up
To see what exciting music we had to share with you for this whole past season, just click on the banner above.
The opening concert of the new 2025/26 season sees us return to Southwark Cathedral for a performance of Dvořák's Requiem. Further details about this great work can be read on the event page.
First performed in Birmingham in 1891, it seemed to exceed all expectations with music critics lauding it as one of the most powerful settings of the Mass for the Dead. Look out for the Book Here option to be displayed to get your tickets.
We look forward to welcoming you at this concert.
Our New Commission
Wimbledon Choral is delighted to announce that it has commissioned renowned London-born composer, Tarik O'Regan, to write a new mass, which will receive its world premiere in London's Cadogan Hall in April 2026. Further details about this exciting news can be found here: www.wimbledon-choral.org.uk/criticalmass.
The recording of our previous commission, Cecilia McDowall's Da Vinci Requiem, is now available for sale via streaming channels and on CD.
"An electrifying performance of my new arrangement of the Verdi Requiem, Luminous singing and enormous dramatic impact."
Richard Blackford, composer
"Absolute commitment to every word – fantastic stuff that stirs the soul."
Ben Durrant, soloist
"Last night‘s concert was outstanding. The entire cathedral was buzzing during and afterwards. It was joyous."
Audience member
"Absolutely thrilled with the Wimbledon Choral performance of my 'Salve Deus' last night. Very happy composer!"
Alison Willis, composer
"A magnificent performance of my 'Mirror of Perfection' tonight in Cadogan Hall. Heartfelt thanks to all the performers for an unforgettable evening."
Richard Blackford, composer
"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."
"... one of the most substantial and formidable choirs in London ... a vigorous and sophisticated choral ensemble ..."
"... the impressive Wimbledon Choral Society ..."
Barry Millington, Evening Standard
"... the superb Wimbledon Choral ..."
Robert Matthew-Walker, The Organ
"Wimbledon Choral Society make a lovely sound - clean, clear and bright."
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."
Marc Bridle, Opera Today
Click here to read more feedback we've had about our performances.
The season runs from September to June and consists typically 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 occasionally to participate in other events with several of Britain’s leading orchestras and in collaboration with other choirs.
The 2025/26 season begins on Monday 1st September and will be our second season with Music Director, Daniel Mahoney. The planned schedule of rehearsals and events is available via the Quick Links section to the left. See our Join Us page for further details of when potential new members normally would be welcome to come along. The first two rehearsals in September and January are designated as 'open' and anyone who would like to have a taster of what it would be like to sing with this large, friendly choir is very welcome to come along.
The previous season, our first with our new MD, had a great start with a concert titled Music of the Stars, featuring music by Cecilia McDowall, Vaughan Williams and our own Michael Higgins. Following a successful come-and-sing event with Haydn's Paukenmesse, we continued with the same composer and his Nelson Mass paired with Dobrinka Tabakova's wonderful Centuries of Meditations (with the composer in the audience) in Cadogan Hall in March, and then finished the seasoned with John Rutter's Mass of the Children with a choir from Wimbledon High School. This concert also featured a world premiere of one of the movements from Russell Hepplewhite's Living Voices project, again with the composer in the audience. Lastly, with sadness but also with enormous thanks, we said goodbye to our outstanding accompanist/ composer-in-residence, Michael Higgins, who had been with us for 17 magical years. We wish him continued success as he focuses more on his composition work.
This coming season sees us get our teeth into Dvorak's mighty Requiem in the splendid surroundings of Southwark Cathedral. In November, we have been invited back to join the Bach Choir in a performance of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in the Royal Albert Hall and we'll end 2025 with our popular Christmas concerts locally in Southfields. In May 2025, we announced our next commission - a new work by British-American composer Tarik O'Regan. The world premiere of his Critical Mass will be performed in Cadogan Hall in April 2026. Further details here. To round off the season, we're blowing the dust off our copies of Leonard Bernstein's fabulous Chichester Psalms and matching them up with psalm-related pieces by German-American composer, Lukas Foss. So, a splendid season with a fantastically diverse programme - something for everyone and for you to enjoy.
The choir also supports the locally organised Merton SingFest - a collaboration of locally-based choirs in the Merton area and the Merton Music Foundation. It is a great opportunity for singers of all ages from across the borough to get together and celebrate the joy of singing. The 2026 SingFest day for WCS participation will be on Saturday 16th May in St Mark's Church.
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.
Wimbledon Choral Society (performing as Wimbledon Choral) 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.
