Berkhamsted Choral Society are a very friendly mixed voice choir of just under 100 singers, based in and around Berkhamsted, W. Herts. We do not audition new members but we work hard to achieve some fantastic performances. Our choir has performed an impressive list of major and small-scale works from a choral repertoire including classical, jazz, sacred and secular music. We have sung in a range of different venues too from cathedrals and churches to concert halls and open air venues. We take our repertoire on tour every summer and have sung in many European cities including, Verona, Venice, Berlin, Paris, Angers, Liepzig and Spa.
The choir began its life in the early 1930s when it was known as the Wayfarers’ Choral Society. Once well established, it adopted its present name and, although our membership is drawn from towns and villages throughout the area, true to our name, we feel a strong association with Berkhamsted and so we use St. Peter’s Church in Berkhamsted as our venue for local concerts. We are a registered charity (No. 274462) dedicated to sharing the joy of singing and choral music within our local community and we are non-profit making.
Part of the choir’s strength lies in the fact that members come from all walks of life and bring with them a wide range of experience – from the lifelong choral singer or church choir member, to those who simply want to sing for the joy of it – and a common purpose: to enjoy what we do and do it as well as we can.
We also sing regularly with the Chorleywood Choral Society and The Leconfield Singers as the English Philharmonic Chorus, for a larger concert in a big London venue every 3 years. Imagine the thrill of singing a major work like The Verdi Requiem with over 300 voices and a full orchestra. Exciting ?
In recent years, the choirs have raised almost £100K for charity with their performances. The main beneficiary has been Cancer Research UK for whom we have raised around £75K. Other charities that have benefited from this work include Plan UK; Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted and Peace Hospice in Watford.
We are always happy to have new members keen to experience the joy of singing. Rehearsals are 8pm Tuesdays at Swing Gate School, Swing Gate Lane, Berkhamsted. Please come along or visit our contact page for more information.
Berkhamsted Choral Society 