Chamber Choir
The Addison Chamber Choir is an auditioned choir of between 30-40 voices
The Addison Chamber Choir is an auditioned choir of between 30-40 voices who sing a large repertoire but have become particularly known for the performance of music by a wide range of contemporary composers, many of whom have written pieces especially for the choir.
Most recently the choir performed at the Americana Festival at St John’s Smith Square and ‘Parry and Beyond’ at St Paul’s Covent Garden. The choir regularly sings at St Martin’s in the Fields as part of the Brandenburg Festival, King's Place and venues across London. In July 2018 the choir went on tour to Isle of Man and performed a range of contemporary works with local choirs.
The Addison Chamber Choir frequently joins concerts given by the Addison Oratorio Choir, often having their own performing spot and making a pleasing contrast to the larger scale works sung by the bigger choir. A high level of commitment and rehearsal attendance and practice at home is expected.
Matthew Thomas Morgan - our newly appointed Music Director, Classical - took up his post in January 2023.
The planning for a choir trip to Seville is currently well underway, with the trip due to take place in early May 2024. Please enquire asap about remaining spaces.
Conductor: Matthew Thomas Morgan
Ability: For more experienced singers
Duration: 1 hour 15 min, 10 weeks
Day & time: Wednesdays, 6.30-7.45pm
Membership subscription: £90, includes all music
Venue: Multimedia room, 4th floor, Polish Centre
Auditions
Auditions for AUTUMN 2023 will be held at the start of term. Please contact the Membership Coordinator (addisonadmin@gmail.com) in advance to indicate interest.
Please see further information about the informal audition requirements.
Repertoire
The repertoire is extremely varied including contemporary composers such as Judith Weir, John Ireland, Eric Whitacre, Howard Skempton, Gavin Bryars and more widely performed works by Mozart, Vivaldi and Bernstein.
Previous works performed under Matthew Thomas Morgan and David Wordsworth include:
Barber - Agnus Dei
Richard Rodney Bennett - Farewell to Arms
Bernstein– Chichester Psalms
Britten - Five Flower Songs
Chilcott - Weather Report
Dickinson- Lullaby
Duruflé – Motets
Elgar– Torrents in Summer
Fauré - Requiem
Howells - Requiem
Lauridsen - Nocturnes
Lauridsen - Les Chansons des Roses
Mathias - Shakespeare Songs
Mealor - Now sleeps the Crimson Petal
Palestrina - Lamentations of Jeremiah
Poulenc - Christmas Motets
Parry - Songs of Farewell
Schubert - Mass in G
Stanford - Three Motets
Vaughan Williams - Five English Folksongs
Weir– The Song Sung True
Whitacre– Sleep, Cloudburst
PREMIERES include:
Gavin Bryars - A la Dolce Ombra (world premiere)
Cecilia McDowall - Shipping Forecast (London premiere)
Kenneth Hesketh - I sing of a maiden (world premiere)
David Matthews - The Lord is my Shepherd (version for choir & strings : world premiere)
Zillah Myers– Red, Red Rose (world premiere)
Edwin Roxburgh - Lament (world premiere)
Howard Skempton - The Great Breath (commissioned by the Addison Singers: world premiere)
First rehearsal: Wednesday 3 January 2024
Time: 6.30pm-7.45pm
Cost: £90 (includes all music)
Venue: Multimedia room, 4th floor, Polish Centre, 238 King Street, W6 0RF
Half Term: Wednesday 14 February 2024 (NO REHEARSAL)
Last rehearsal: Wednesday 13 March 2024
Music to include:
Cristóbal de MORALES Ave Maris Stella
Joaquín RODRIGO (Vidre) Ave Maria
Cristóbal de MORALES Salve Regina
Herbert HOWELLS Hymn to St. Cecilia
Joint Chamber and Oratorio Choir Spring Concert: Saturday 16 March 2024 @ 7.30 pm, St Peter’s Church, Southfield Road, W41BB
First rehearsal: Wednesday 17 April 2024
Time: 6.30-7.45pm
Cost: £90 - price includes all music
Venue: Polish Centre, 238 King Street, W6 0RF.
Half term: Wednesday 29 May 2024 (NO REHEARSAL)
Last rehearsal: Wednesday 26 June 2024 (10 weeks)
Music: tbc
Classical Choirs trip to Seville - 2 performances: Saturday 4 May and Sunday 5 May 2024.
Joint concert Jazz and Classical Choirs: Saturday 29 June 2024 @ St Peter's Church, Southfield Road, London, W4 1BB
First rehearsal: Wednesday 20 September 2023
Time: 6.30pm-7.45pm
Cost: £90 - price includes all music
Venue: Polish Centre, 238 King Street, W6 0RF.
Half Term: Wednesday 25 October 2023 (NO REHEARSAL)
Last rehearsal: Wednesday 29 November 2023 (10 weeks)
Theme: Into Light/Alla Luce
Music to include (tbc):
Joseph RHEINBERGER Abendlied
Morten LAURIDSEN Nocturnes
Herbert HOWELLS Requiem
Samuel BARBER Sure on this shining night
James MacMILLAN O Radiant Dawn
Peter WARLOCK Bethlehem Down
Anon 16th Century Coventry Carol (3 – part)
Eric WHITACRE Lux Aurumque
Eric WHITACRE Glow
Gavin Bryars - Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
Chamber Choir concert, part of the Brandenburg Choral Festival of London: Friday 24 November, 7.30pm @St Margaret Pattens Church, Rood Ln, Eastcheap, London EC3M 1HS
Carols service: Wednesday 13 December 7-8.30pm @St Saviours Wendell Park, Cobbold Rd, W12. Carols with Matthew Hough in aid of the Upper room local charity.
80th birthday concert for Gavin Bryars: Tuesday 19 December 2023 @Barbican Centre
Auditions are necessary for entry to the two smaller Addison Singers groups, the Jazz Ensemble and the Chamber Choir, in order to achieve a good blend and balance of voices, and to ensure that singers have the musicianship and sight-reading skills to be able to perform the chosen repertoire to a high standard.
Auditions for the Chamber Choir are usually held at the beginning of each term. Please contact the Membership Coordinator (addisonadmin@gmail.com) to indicate interest. Successful applicants are asked to commit themselves for a minimum of a term to include the concert or ideally for longer and to participate in at least 75% of the rehearsals.
When to apply To apply to audition for the Chamber Choir, please fill in the online form. Auditions are held at the beginning of each term. The exact date for the start of each term will be given on our dates page.
Format of audition Your audition will be with the Musical Director with an accompanist and should take no more than about 10 minutes and will include: - a few vocal exercises - some sight reading - performance of a piece you have prepared.
How to apply If you would like to have an audition, please fill in the online form or if you have any queries, contact our Membership Coordinator, or ansaphone 07928 617 238. She will be able to help with further information and arrange a time for you to attend an audition prior to rehearsals starting.
If you are interested in joining the Chamber Choir please read the information about auditions.
NEW MEMBERS: If you have completed a successful audition, please enrol online at the start of term by first registering (click on Register in the top menu bar and fill in the form with your details, choose a password). You can then login as a member (click on Members in the top menu bar) by entering your email and password.
Once logged in the Members section, you can purchase a Chamber Choir membership (click on Purchase your memberships), go through Checkout, choose a payment method and confirm. You will receive an email confirmation.
Please contact us to ask about enrolling after term has started.
EXISTING MEMBERS: To enrol you need to first access the Members section - click on Members in the top menu bar, then log in with your email address and/or reset your password. Choose your membership(s), go through Checkout, select a payment method and confirm. You will receive an email confirmation.
Taster Session
Any potential new member to one of the auditioned choirs will be invited to do their audition and then, if successful, will be invited to stay for that evening's rehearsal. At the end of which you will be asked to complete the enrolment online and make the appropriate payment.
If you wish to join more than one choir, the following discounts will be applied directly in your shopping basket:
We do not offer concessionary rates currently but if you are on a low income and would like to request a discount, please apply to the Chair of The Addison Group of Singers directly (chairaddison@gmail.com) or via the membership Coordinator (addisonadmin@gmail.com). All requests are confidential.
Payment methods
You can pay by:
- bank transfer online (BACS) to our bank account (CAF) to:
The Addison Group of Singers.
Sort code 40-52-40.
Account 00016259.
Please put your last name, choir/class and term as the payee reference (eg SMITH OC VT SPR14). This is our preferred method of payment, it doesn't cost you or us anything. - cheque, please add your bank card number on the reverse of your cheque, made payable to The Addison Group of Singers. Please include a SAE if you wish us to send you a receipt.
- credit/debit card. We are now able to offer a card payment option. A small fee is payable to cover the cost of the transaction. Please select Debit/Credit Card payment on the Checkout page and follow instructions. You will receive an email confirmation.
Refunds
If a choir rehearsal has to be cancelled, for example, due to bad weather conditions, refunds will not be given, as we will try to arrange an alternative date. If a class has to be cancelled and cannot be rearranged, the fee will be refunded based on the number of cancelled sessions.
If a member does not take up a place or complete a term for any reason (other than the above) there is no entitlement to a refund. You can however opt to transfer your fee to the following term, but we do ask you to return the current term's music before this is confirmed. If you wish to transfer to another choir or class you need to consult our Membership Coordinator, and any difference in the fee or subscription must be paid or be refunded. If you require a receipt for your postal enrolment, you will need to enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope.
Gift Aid
If you are a taxpayer, current legislation allows us to reclaim basic rate income tax on your membership subscriptions (however not on CDs, class fees or tuition elements). When enrolling online, please read the Gift Aid information and tick the box if you are happy for us to do this. Remember to notify us if you no longer pay an amount of income tax and/or capital gains tax equal to the tax we can reclaim on your donations.
Members website
Once you have enrolled in a choir or class, you will be eligible to access the Members' area on the AS website and added to the mailing list to receive e-mail information about choir activities, social and other events. An online resource only, you can access information sheets, publicity posters, the Newsletters, photos of concerts, additional trips and social events. This helps us reduce postal costs and speeds up communication about choir events. The Membership Coordinator will send you an email with an invitation to join and give you a pre-selected password that you can change to a more memorable version once you are logged in.
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