Choral Society is in fine voice

Eaton Choral Society enjoyed a successful spring concert at Christ Church as Verdi’s ‘Requiem’  with talented musicians and a quartet of international soloists under Director Dr Susanna Self met great acclaim. Now the autumn concert is being planned.

On November 24 the choir will be performing Rossini’s ‘Petite Messe Solonnelle’. Rehearsals start on September 11 at St Andrew’s Eaton and new members are warmly invited. It’s a friendly and welcoming group – auditions are not required and the ability to read music is not essential.

IN HARMONY: Eaton Choral Society has gone from strength to strength.

Eaton Choral Society was initially formed in 1981 as Eaton Parish Choir by David Storey, the Christ Church organist.

Members were mainly drawn from the choirs of the two Eaton churches, St Andrew’s and Christ Church, but as auditions were not required it soon attracted singers from the local neighbourhood and further afield.

Since 1982, the choir has gone from strength to strength and performed many major well-known sacred choral works ranging from the Bach Passions and B minor Mass to 20^th century works such as Poulenc’s Gloria and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms (in Hebrew!). These works were accompanied by a small orchestra made up of local amateur and semi-professional musicians skilfully put together by Carmela and Patrick Furness.

David Storey directed the choir until he moved away in 2003 when the baton passed to Neil Ricketts who was then the organist at St Andrew’s Eaton. In 2018 Daniel Justin took over as director and the name of the choir was changed to Eaton Choral Society.

The Ccvid pandemic put a stop to music making for over a year but it resumed in autumn 2021 and in 2022 a new conductor, Dr Susannah Self took over.  She is a composer and opera singer.

The spring concert in 2024 was an exciting performance of the Verdi’s Requiem which featured a quartet of international soloists and was well received.

The autumn concert will take place at St Andrew’s Church Eaton on Sunday,  November 24 and will feature Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonnelle.

The choir remains non-auditioned and new members are always welcomed.  Rehearsals take place in St Andrew’s Church at 7.30 on Wednesday evenings starting on  September 11.

For further information contact the organisers by email: at choralsocietyeaton@gmail.com