Chester Bach Singers
Chester Bach Singers is one of the finest chamber choirs in the North West of England.
Our 2024-25 season was both poignant and memorable, as Martin Bussey’s distinguished role as musical director drew to a close in March 2025. However, before that, we had an exciting programme of concerts and a workshop, reflecting on the theme of 'Journeying on Together'.
October 19th was a late afternoon concert at Wesley Methodist Centre, where we presented Vaughan Williams’ "Toward the Unknown Region". Also in the mix were references to pilgrimage, seeking and searching in songs from Tannhauser, Nabucco, Cavilleiro Rusticana and Hildegard Von Bingen. As always, our wonderful collaborative pianist, Catherine Barnett held us all in check.
Our much loved annual Christmas carol concert took place on the afternoon of December 14th, featuring a mix of the old and the contemporary, the well-known and less familiar. We performed works by Jonathan Dove and Will Todd, alongside "White Christmas" and "Santa Claus Coming to Town", with our usual invitation to our audience to join us in singing traditional seasonal carols. Tom Coxhead brought festive flair to the organ of St Werburgh’s Church.
There were also further opportunities to hear the choir at Chester’s Abode Hotel, on 8th and 15th December.
In January held our annual workshop - this year exploring Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. And, for our final work under Martin in March we honoured our namesake with a no-holds-barred performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor featuring fabulous soloists and the 18th Century Sinfonia at St John the Baptist Church in Chester.
Our Summer Concert in June, "Taking Flight", was our first under the baton of our new Musical Director - Emma Baker. The theme of the concert was flight, and featured a diverse range of pieces from composers including Hubert Parry, Herbert Howells, Eric Whitacre, and Rebecca Dale. We were also excited to be able to perform the UK premier of "Where the Lark Flies" by Canadian composer Benjamin Sigerson.
Established in 1976, next season will mark the choir's 50th year and we will be announcing details of our programme very soon.
Concert and Workshop dates for the 2025/26 season will be:
Autumn Concert, 18th October 2025;
Christmas Concert, 13th December 2025;
Workshop with Will Todd, 31st January 2026;
Spring Concert, 14th March 2026;
Midyear Concert, 16th May 2026.
