Details of our historical performances are below.  Visit our forthcoming concerts page for future performance details.

Note - links with dotted underline are created by Amazon's automatic recommendations.

Download a copy of our 2007-2008 brochure!

Sunday 7 December 2008 at 7.00pm - Marlborough Road Methodist Church, St Albans

A Christmas Celebration

Park Street School Choir, St Albans
Cate Cooper director
St Albans Choral Society
Richard Harvey organ/piano
George Vass conductor
 
Our ever-popular Christmas concert features a wide variety of music including Vaughan Williams beautiful Fantasia on Christmas Carols and the world premiere of a brand new piece from Geoff Cottrell (Festa Dies, a sequence of five carols) whose carol last year proved very popular indeed with both the audience and choir. To the delight of us all, seasonal readings will be given by talented readers from within the ranks of the choir.

Tickets £10 (£1 children)

Saturday 18 October 2008 at 7.30pm - St Peter's Church, St Albans

Mystical Songs and Chichester Psalms

Simon Preece baritone
St Catherine Singers, Haberdasher's Aske's School, Borehamwood
Lucy Caperon director
Sally Pryce harp
Nigel Shipway percussion
Richard Harvey organ
George Vass conductor

Ralph Vaughan Williams   Five Mystical Songs
Benjamin Britten   Suite for harp, Op 83
Bob Chilcott   Canticles of Light
Gustav Holst    Hymns of the Rig Veda, Group III
John Ireland    Greater love hath no man
Leonard Bernstein    Chichester Psalms

Tickets £17 (£14 concessions); £15 (£12 concessions); £1 children

 

5th July, 2008 - BRING and SING!    Fauré Requiem,  Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs - Dagnall Street, St Albans

28th June, 2008 - Bushey Hall School, London Road, Bushey, Hertfordshire - 7:45pm

Arnold Four English Dances
Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music
Walton Suite from Henry V
Fauré Suite:Masques et Bergamasques
Poulenc Gloria

Rachel Nicholls soprano
St Albans Choral Society
Bushey Symphony Orchestra
George Vass conductor

Tickets: £13 (£1 Children)

12th April, 2008 - Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban - 7:30pm

Hear the interview with Cecilia McDowall as Broadcast on Radio Verulam

An interview with choir members, also from Radio Verulam

Franz Schubert Magnificat in C, D486
Arvo Part Fratres
Cecilia McDowall Laudate Pueri World Premiere  St Albans Choral Society Commission
W A Mozart Requiem in D minor, K626

Charlotte Mobbs soprano
Frances Bourne mezzo-soprano
Mark Dobell tenor
Christopher Foster bass
St Albans Choral Society
Orchestra Nova
George Vass conductor

Tickets: £20; £16.50; £12.50 (reserved); £5 (unreserved)

9th December 2007 - Malborough Road Methodist Church, St Albans - 7:00pm

William Mathias Ave Rex, Op 45
Morten Lauridsen O Magnum Mysterium
John Tavener The Lamb

Our ever-popular Christmas concert features a wide variety of music including John Tavener's The Lamb, Ave Rex - a carol suite by William Mathias and Morten Lauridsen's beautiful O Magnum Mysterium. There will be seasonal readings by members of the choir and a guest spot from the Abbey Primary School Choir - a treat not to be missed.

Abbey Primary School Choir
Marie Price director
St Albans Choral Society
Richard Harvey organ/piano
George Vass conductor

Tickets: £10 (£1 Children)

20th October 2007 - St Saviours, St Albans - 8:00pm

George Frideric Handel Coronation Anthem: Zadok the Priest, HWV258
William Boyce Symphony in A, Op 2 No 2
George Frideric Handel Ode for the birthday of Queen Anne, HWV74
William Boyce Symphony in D, Op 2 No 5
Joseph Haydn Mass in C, Hob XXII:8 'Mariazeller Mass'

Grace Davidson soprano
Lucie Spickova mezzo-soprano
Graham Neal tenor
Michael Bundy baritone
St Albans Choral Society
Orchestra Nova
George Vass conductor

Tickets: £15 (£12 Concessions; £1 Children)

SERENADE FOR SUMMER
7.30pm, Saturday 23 June 2007
St Peter's Church, St Albans

Pippa Goss soprano
Ilid Jones oboe
Orchestra Nova
George Vass conductor

Antonio Vivaldi Credo, RV591
Alessandro Marcello Oboe Concerto in D minor
Dietrich Buxtehude Magnificat
Johann Sebastian Bach Cantata No 84 'Ich bin vergnügt'
Richard Harvey Echo
Edward Elgar Serenade for string orchestra in E minor, Op 20
Ralph Vaughan Williams Benedicite

A superb mix of uplifting music, old and new, for our Summer Serenade; from the Baroque traditions of Bach, Buxtehude, Marcello and Vivaldi, via Elgar's glorious Serenade for strings to the Vaughan Williams Benedicite. The society is also tremendously excited to be to featuring the second performance of a new work by the choir's multi-faceted accompanist, Richard Harvey. Commissioned in 2006 by the Finchley Choral Society, Echo is a setting of words by Christina Rossetti for soprano, chorus and string orchestra. Beautiful music for a summer's evening.

St Albans takes on Belgium!
Friday 1 June 2007
Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk, Brugge

Saturday 2 June 2007
St Baafskathedraal, Ghent


Ros French soprano
Tony Eldridge baritone
Richard Harvey organ
George Vass conductor

John Ireland Greater Love Hath No Man
Elgar Ave Verum Corpus
Howells Like As the Hart Desireth the Waterbrooks
Faure Requiem
Mozart Ave Verum Corpus

In 2007, the St Albans Choral Society embarked on its first tour - destination: Belgium!
The choir performed at two beautiful settings in Brugge and Ghent with a varied selection of music to suit all tastes.
 

ROSSINI AND BRAHMS
7.30pm, Saturday 17 March 2007
St Peter's Church, St Albans

Marianne Cotterill soprano
Frances Bourne mezzo soprano
Mark Wilde tenor
Michael Bundy baritone
Gretel Dowdeswell piano
Richard Harvey organ/piano
George Vass conductor

Johannes Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzer, Op 52
Gioacchino Rossini Petite messe solennelle

In March we present Brahms in his sparkling Viennese vein and Rossini trying to be serious, never quite succeeding, but always in his distinctly light-hearted operatic style - add four tremendous soloists, a superb solo pianist and our very own Richard Harvey - sit back and enjoy this wonderful music, a great recipe for a super evening.

Tickets: £15; £12 concessions; £1 children

MOZART ANNIVERSARY CONCERT
7.30pm, Saturday 21 October 2006
St Peter's Church, St Albans

Charlotte Mobbs soprano
Lucie Spickova mezzo soprano
Nicholas Mulroy tenor
Eamonn Doughan baritone
Orchestra Nova
George Vass conductor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony No 13 in F, K112
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Litaniae Lauretanae, K195
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Exsultate Jubilate, K165
Joseph Haydn Missa Sancti Nicolai

St Albans Choral Society celebrates Mozart's 250th anniversary year in style with performances of three joyous works written early in his career between 1771 and 1774. We present one of the most effervescent of his early symphonies, the much-loved soprano motet Exsultate Jubilate and a rare performance of his expansive and elaborate Litaniae Lauretanae, written for the spacious acoustic of Salzburg Cathedral. The programme is completed with Haydn's classically conceived St Nicholas Mass, and we are joined by four exciting young soloists and accompanied by our old friends, Orchestra Nova.

Tickets: £15; £12 concessions; £1 children

A CELEBRATION OF CHRISTMAS
7.00pm, Sunday 10 December 2006
Marlborough Road Methodist Church, St Albans

Rebecca Rudge soprano
The Grove School Choir, Harpenden
Rosie Coupe director
Richard Harvey organ/piano
George Vass conductor

Our Christmas celebration returns once again to the wonderful acoustic of Marlborough Road Methodist Church. The concert will include carols for choir and audience together with a performance Cecilia McDowall's Christmas cantata Christus Natus Est specially written for St Albans Choral Society in 2002 and excerpts from John Rutter's joyful Magnificat. Our young guests this year are from The Grove Junior School, Harpenden and after the great success of last year's concert, members of the choir will once again give seasonal readings.

Tickets: £10; £1 children