Joining us is easy! The best time is just after one of our concerts – we’ll be making a start on new music then and you’ll be able to attend all of the rehearsals. However if you want to join between performances, you can still get in touch – usually a minimum of 70% attendance at rehearsals is required to sing in a concert, but our Musical Director can waive this at his discretion. You can attend up to three rehearsals without commitment to give you plenty of time to decide whether you want to sign up – please email us at berkhamstedcssecretary@gmail.com beforehand though, so that we can welcome you and make sure you have everything you need!
The annual fee to join BCS for 2025 is £195, with free membership if you are 18 – 25 years old. Our subs for the year are collected in January but if you start with us after this point then the fee is calculated pro-rata from your first rehearsal. If for any reason you are unable to pay the full fee straight away, don’t worry – at the discretion of the Choir committee we can make arrangements to pay in instalments if necessary so do come and talk to us. All rehearsals (including Saturday workshops), music hire and the costs associated with performing our three annual concerts (in Spring, September and Christmas) are covered by the fee. Everyone performing in a concert must be over 18 and a paid-up member.
Sometimes we hold extra fundraising events outside our three concerts, for instance a ‘Come and Sing’ (where we informally workshop a major choral piece in one day) or a social evening such as a quiz night. These are not part of the annual subscription, and both members and non-members can buy a ticket to attend.
The summer tour in August is also an optional extra, and is charged for separately – although only paid-up members of the choir can take part in this one! The cost per person varies year-on-year depending on where we go, and includes all travel and accommodation plus a meal together on the last night. Non-singing partners are welcome to come along too, and they pay a slightly reduced fee. If you don’t want to come on the tour there’s no need to though – we always recap the programme in our September concert in St Peter’s Church, so no-one misses out!
We meet most Tuesday evenings from September through to July, 8 -10pm at Swing Gate School, Swing Gate Lane Berkhamsted.
We hope to see you there!
Berkhamsted Choral Society 