BEETHOVEN 'MASS IN C' with other wonderful romantic music
Sturm und Drang! - German Romantic Myths & Legends
BEETHOVEN MASS in C and other wonderful romantic music.German Romantic Music embodies nature, emotion and expressive performance, influenced by folklore and traditional themes. Our concert explored the world of myths and legends through the magnificant music of Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Humperdinck.
- Beethoven Mass in C
- Schumann Manfred: Overture & Chorus of the Spirits
- Schubert Rosamunde: Hunter’s Chorus & 3rd Entracte
- Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Titania’s Lullaby & Nocturnes (Nos 3 & 7)
- Humperdinck Hansel & Gretel: Abendsegen
Soprano Hannah Dienes-Williams
Mezzo Soprano Hannah Bennett
Tenor William Searle
Bass Sam Young
Organ Ben Giddens
Eastwood Chamber Orchestra
Directed by George de Voil
A memorable concert of wonderful music
WCS very much enjoyed our 1st performance with the excellent Eastwood Chamber Orchestra and our MD, George de Voil, was clearly in his element with such a good, large orchestra! The Beethoven Mass in C was beautiful and it was a treat to have such a variety of great music in the 2nd half of the programme, including being able to relax and enjoy the 3 beautiful orchestra-only pieces. We had lots of great feedback from our appreciative audience, with compliments on the balance of our sound, and our engagement with our MD and the audience.
Crit by Robin Eaglen:
STURM UND DRANG, literally Storm and Stress, was a romantic artistic movement originating in late eighteenth century Germany. It influenced the great composers of the period and afforded a rich palette for the spring concert of Wokingham Choral Society under the baton of its gifted Director, George de Voil. For the first time the Society’s voices were joined by the impressive Eastwood Chamber Orchestra, formed locally in 2019. The centrepiece of the concert was a stunning performance of Beethoven’s Mass in C Major. The resources of the choir’s hundred voices, orchestra and four young soloists gave an immaculate rendering of Beethoven’s score, from the contemplative Kyrie, to the dramatic Gloria and ending with the 'dona nobis pacem' of the Agnus Dei. After the interval the chamber orchestra gave a stirring performance of Schumann’s Overture from Manfred, followed by extracts of works by Schumann, Schubert, Mendelssohn (Titania’s Lullaby) and ending with Humperdinck’s Evening Prayer, arranged by de Voil.
Download the programme and the extra information about our stand-in bass soloist, Sam Young.
KARL JENKINS: THE ARMED MAN - ‘COME & SING’ and CONCERT
KARL JENKINS: THE ARMED MAN 'A Mass for Peace'
A ‘COME & SING’ and CONCERT in aid of SHELTER
Saturday 07 February 2026 - Come & Sing workshop 13.00 - 17.45 / Concert performance 18.30 - 19.30
What a wonderful day. WCS did themselves proud!
Our Come & Sing was a resounding success! 158 singers for the Come & Sing, 159 in the concert audience.
This was a great opportunity for choral singers to come & sing the choruses of Karl Jenkins' moving ‘Mass for Peace’ and perform it in a public concert with organ, trumpet and percussion, and for our audience to hear the Armed Man choruses performed with passion by massed voices in the lovely local venue of All Saints Church Wokingham; all while raising funds for SHELTER, the housing and homelessness charity.
It was so rewarding to see a packed-to-capacity church. The singing was amazing. Such good quality for only 3 hrs rehearsal with a scratch choir representing 45 separate choirs! Adding trumpet and percussion to the organ accompaniment was a stroke of genius, lifting the choir and making for a very moving performance with so many highlights, including the 'Last Post' which was beautiful.
We received lots of great feedback from both singers and audience about the day, and especially about the quality and skills of George de Voil (WCS MD) and Ben Giddens (WCS Accompanist) and how lucky WCS are to have them. We couldn't agree more!
The below message from a member of Reading Male Voice Choir encapsulates the general feedback:
'Please allow me to congratulate you and Wokingham Choral Society on yesterday’s most successful ‘Armed Man' Come & Sing, as well as the Concert. I was very impressed with the calibre of both the choristers and especially George de Voil, the director. He and Wokingham Choral Society were extremely well prepared for the event! The performance quality we managed to achieve within only three hours of training during the afternoon was amazing. My voice was one of only 12 basses, who were rather overpowered by the number of sopranos, but George solved it cleverly with the instrumentalists. I think WCS has done a wonderful job under George’s directorship.'
A huge thank you from all our singers to George for his careful preparation, inspired use of instrumentalists, and ability to get an impressive performance out of such a diverse group of singers in just 3 hours, and make it great fun! One visiting singer commented that 'WCS are lucky to have such a relaxed MD'!
And massive thanks to Ben for his 'very sympathetic accompaniment' (quote from an audience member), and his skill and stamina to play so well for that long, swapping between piano and organ, and all the while battling with a recalcitrant score which seemed hell-bent on closing!
Thank you too to our very talented instrumentalists whose excellent playing made such a difference to the concert; Katie Lodge on trumpet and Joshua Neale on percussion.
Also, many thanks to our Shelter representative, Tharmiga Sivakaran, who gave an excellent and informative talk about Shelter's work, leading the retiring collection to raise £994.73!
The overall total raised for SHELTER from the retirement collection and event profits was approx. £2,780. Huge thanks to the generosity of our singers and audience.
See the programme here.
- Home is a human right. It's our foundation and it's where we thrive. Yet, every day millions of people are being devastated by the housing emergency. Shelter exists to defend the right to a safe home. Because home is everything.
- Shelter’s campaigns team and local hubs are fighting every day to create a fairer housing system, making sure everyone has access to a safe, affordable home.
- 164,040 children are homeless with their families in temporary accommodation – up 21,650 (15%) in a year (September 2024)
- Around 4,667 people are sleeping rough in England, a 20% increase in a year (Autumn 2024)
All funds raised by this event will help Shelter’s essential work:
- £6 could enable a person to make contact with our Legal Team to start the process of getting the expert help and support they desperately need.
- £20 could fund a webchat for someone facing homelessness so they know their rights.
- £29 could fund one call to our emergency helpline or Donating £29 could pay for an emergency call with a Shelter Adviser.
CHRISTMAS CONCERT - CAROLS & MESSIAH CHORUSES
A magnificent Christmas concert!
Well-loved Messiah choruses and carols, along with some very moving Christmas pieces. From the quiet highlight of 'The Lamb' to the epic finale of Handel's fabulous 'Hallelujah' chorus, the choir performed impressively to a sell-out audience at All Saints Church, Wokingham.
A big thank you to George de Voil, our MD, for his inspired programming, to Iestyn Davies as guest organist, our readers and soloists, and all the behind-the-scenes teams for their hard work to make it all possible.
Thank you too to all who donated to the retiring collection raising £784 (£980 with gift aid included) to be divided between the Mayor's charity, CLASP Wokingham, and the choir's charity for this season, the All Saints organ fund.
See the programme here.
BAROQUE MASTERS - BACH & HANDEL
A BEAUTIFUL BAROQUE CONCERT
An evening of wonderful music by Bach and Handel featuring 5 brilliant professional soloists, superb Baroque orchestra of strings, woodwind, trumpets, harpsichord and timpani, and excellent choral singing.
Handel Ode for St Cecilia's Day
First performed on 22 November 1739, this stirring piece celebrates Saint Cecilia as the patron saint of music and musicians. The cantata’s text is a setting of a 1687 poem by John Dryden based on the Pythagorean theory of harmonia mundi, linking the movement and origin of the celestial bodies to music. The opening chorus, From harmony, from heavenly harmony, praises the power of music.
This beautiful setting of the biblical canticle, Magnificat, was Bach's first major liturgical composition on a Latin text. The canticle is Mary’s song of praise in recognition of the fulfilment of the Angel Gabriel’s prophecy that she would bear Jesus.
Soprano: Charlotte Bowden
Soprano: Eloise Irving
Countertenor: Tom Lilburn
Tenor: Archie Inns
Bass: Ben Watkins
Orchestra: Hampstead Chamber Orchestra
Directed by: George de Voil
We had great feedback from our large and appreciative audience e.g. 'One of your best concerts'!
BREATHTAKING BACH AND HANDEL - Crit by Robin Eaglen
The refurbished interior of All Saints Church, Wokingham is a superb location for concerts by the Wokingham Choral Society. On Saturday 15 November it was the venue for a spectacular performance of two Baroque masterpieces, Bach’s Magnificat and Handel’s Ode for Saint Cecilia’s Day.
George de Voil, the Society’s Musical Director, conducted the works with great panache from the harpsichord, with the Hampstead Chamber Orchestra providing an accomplished performance on baroque instruments and Ben Giddens, the Society’s accompanist, at the organ. The choir continued its recent purple patch with stylistic excellence.
An important feature of the Society’s performances is the choice of young singers, already making their mark as soloists, and the two sopranos, counter tenor, tenor and bass were a delight to hear.
Huge thankyous, as always, to our incredibly hard-working committee, choir admin, refreshments and staging teams to whom we owe so much for making our concerts a great experience for us, our audience and our professional musicians. A particular thank you to George de Voil for another brilliant multi-talented/tasking performance as our MD and Conductor. Also, to Ben Giddens for the lovely organ continuo, and his masterfully-transposed accompaniment this term.
CONCERT PROGRAMME - downloadable here.
'And all the people rejoiced' - A Majestic Programme of Choral Classics with Piano, Organ and young soloists
Feedback on the concert was incredibly positive, describing it as a triumph, joyful, outstanding, amazing, and more.
We had over 200 in the audience who gave generously to our choir charity, Alexander Devine Children's Hospice Services, raising £525. The charity representative, Hannah Pickup, thought the concert was wonderful and loved seeing our passion for the music. The Deputy Mayor and his wife thoroughly enjoyed the evening, saying; 'The four soloists and the choir as a whole were outstanding in a diverse programme of choral music'.
Our 4 young soloists were wonderful and deservedly received fulsome praise from choir and audience. Talented and mature in their solos and their blending with each other and the choir, they added hugely to the success of the concert.
We already loved the choice of chorus numbers for the concert, but great programming is only really appreciated once we hear the whole thing together, and it was lovely! So, our thanks go to our MD, George de Voil, for his programme choice, calmness and consideration in the rehearsal, great conducting, multi-tasking on soloist accompaniment, and very entertaining duet with Ben, organist and WCS accompanist, who played so well and made the All Saints organ sparkle throughout.
A big thank you to the All Saints team and all at WCS who once again made our concert possible.
Soprano: Alice Fisher
Mezzo-soprano: Adrianna Forbes-Dorant
Tenor: Hugo Williamson
Bass: Edward Chesterman
Organ: Ben Giddens
Directed by George de Voil
Crit by Robin Eaglen - MAJESTIC MUSIC
The Wokingham Choral Society Summer Concert took place in All Saints Church, Wokingham, on Saturday, 21 June. The massed resources of the superb choir and organ played by Ben Giddens, piano and four highly talented young singers early in their careers were used to great effect to perform a rich and varied programme of music.
The first half of the concert consisted of Mozart’s Coronation Mass, interspersed with other works including an unusual transcription for organ and piano of a Mozart sonata and ending with a thrilling performance of Parry’s renowned I Was Glad.
The second half began with a beautiful rendering of Haydn’s Insanae et Vanae Curae and included memorable solos by the four young singers accompanied by the Musical Director, George de Voil, on the piano. The concert ended with Handel’s Zadok the Priest, a stylish and fitting end to an exhilarating evening.
The next concert of the Society entitled ‘Baroque Masters: Bach and Handel’, will take place in All Saints on Saturday 15 November.
RJE
Download programme here.
A really lovely final concert in our exciting 2024/25 season.
Elgar Dream of Gerontius at Guildford Cathedral
A WONDERFUL DREAM
An amazing evening in collaboration with Bracknell Choral Society, celebrating the 125th anniversry of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius with 200 singers, 60-piece professional orchestra, wonderful soloists and a packed audience in the inspiring space of Guildford Cathedral.
Jonathan Cooke Tenor
Felicity Buckland Mezzo-Soprano
Patrick Keefe Bass
Ben Giddens Organ
Greg Hallam Chorus Master
The British Sinfonietta
Directed by George de Voil
'ELGAR’S wonderful oratorio, The Dream of Gerontius, a setting of Cardinal Newman’s poem, responds with heightened emotion when deploying large vocal and orchestral resources. This was strikingly demonstrated to the capacity audience who made the journey to Guildford Cathedral on Saturday 22nd March in a performance of the work by the combined Bracknell and Wokingham Choral Societies, amounting to two hundred voices, and the accomplished British Sinfonietta and the organist Ben Giddens.
The Wokingham conductor George de Voil directed the ensemble of the assured choir, instrumentalists and soloists to bring out the rich emotional intensity of this work with masterly skill.
The stunning performance will have moved the listeners in many and varied ways. For the present writer it included the pivotal tenor, Jonathan Cooke as Gerontius, the explosive entry of the Bass, Patrick Keefe as the Priest and the ethereal texture of the Angel, mezzo soprano Felicity Buckland, semichorus and harps.
Crit by R J Eaglen.
Christmas Family Carol Concert
Our Family Christmas Concert 2024 was an uplifting programme of traditional and modern carols including the contemporary/jazz influenced 'Three Carols' by Carl Rutti, providing something for adults and children alike.
We sang to a full house in the beautiful refurbished All Saints Church in Wokingham town centre, where the acoustic is magical, the festive refreshments are yummy, and the seating is comfortable!
Conductor: George de Voil
Organist/Accompanist: Ben Gidden
See the programme HERE.
English Masters: Britten, Purcell, Wallen, Rutter - in collaboration with the Choir of St George’s School, Windsor
A CELEBRATION OF ENGLISH MUSIC
Audience reaction
This comment from an audience member says it all - Congratulations! That was an ambitious concert: programmatically, musically, logistically, collaboratively. And you really pulled it off. Very impressed. Enjoyed it hugely. And delighted to encounter significant new works. Well done!
Crit by R. Eaglen
On Saturday 16 November Wokingham Choral Society and St George’s School Windsor Castle combined to perform a sellout concert of music by English masters in All Saints Church, Wokingham. An imaginative use of the space turned the church into an admirable concert venue.
The massed resources included George de Voil (conducting WCS) and James Wilkinson (conducting the St George’s choir), two accomplished soloists, Nicholas Madden (Tenor) and Thomas Lowes (Bass), three accompanists on the piano and organ, Robert Mingay-Smith, Ben Giddens and James Speakman, and the polished Chameleon Arts Orchestra.
The first half of the programme featured two works by Henry Purcell, David Bednall’s Make we Merry, Sir John Rutter’s What Sweeter Music, Errollyn Wallen’s Peace on Earth, as a beautifully sung treble solo, and Michael Head’s The Little Road to Bethlehem.
The second half of the concert was devoted to Benjamin Britten’s vibrant and dramatic cantata, St Nicolas, with Nicholas Madden as St Nicolas. The scoring of the work was strikingly original, combining strings and percussion. Although the work was not familiar to many it was clearly very much enjoyed by all the singers and warmly received by the audience.
Conductor - George de Voil
Tenor - Nicholas Madden
Bass - Thomas Lowen
Orchestra - Chameleon Arts Orchestra
In collaboration with the Choir of St George’s School, Windsor
Director of The Choir of St George’s School, Windsor - James Wilkinson
WCS and soloists from The Choir of St George's School, sang Purcell: O Sing unto the Lord, and Jehova quam multi sunt hostes mei - Generally considered England's most important early music composer, Henry Purcell is renowned for his chamber opera Dido and Aeneas and dramatic pieces King Arthur and The Fairie Queen. The two anthems are beautiful choral works based on Psalms 96 and 3.
A beautiful suite of short pieces by 20th/21st century British composers was performed by the St George's choir:
Michael Head - The little road to Bethlehem
John Rutter - What sweeter music
Errollyn Wallen - Peace on earth
David Bednall - Make we merry
Both choirs came together for the strikingly dramatic Britten: St Nicolas which was Britten's first work for amateur musicians. It tells the story of the legendary life of Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, Lycia, in a dramatic sequence of events. His habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the folklore of Santa Claus ('Saint Nick').
DOWNLOAD CONCERT FLYER
Summer 2024 Concert - A SONG FOR SUMMER
"The choir sang throughout with obvious relish and confidence."
“The balance of the sound was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Top marks to the choir.”
George de Voil Conductor
Ben Giddens Organ & Piano
Henry Chandler Violin
Daniel Stroud Violin
Concert Programme
| Sumer is icumen in | Medieval English |
| Now is the month of maying | Thomas Morley |
| Chanson de matin, Op. 15, no. 2 – Violin solo | Edward Elgar |
| Who shall win my lady fair? | Robert Pearsall |
| Echoes | Arthur Sullivan |
| Country Gardens - Piano duet | Percy Grainger |
| Two partsongs (arr. for SATB): The Snow + Fly, singing bird – With two violins | Edward Elgar |
| Chanson de nuit, Op. 15, no. 1 – Violin solo | Edward Elgar |
| Two songs of courage: The Seekers + Reveille | George Dyson |
| INTERVAL | |
| The Sprig of Thyme The bold grenadier (SATB) The keel row (SATB) The willow tree (SATB) The sprig of thyme (SA) Down by the sally gardens (TB) The cuckoo (SATB) I know where I’m going (SA) Willow song (SATB) O can ye sew cushions? (SA) The miller of Dee (TB) Afton water (SATB) |
John Rutter |
| Blackbird | Beatles - SATB arrangement |
Spring 2024 Concert - Duruflé, Finzi, Mendelssohn & Elgar
CONCERT PROGRAMME
- Finzi: Lo, the full, final sacrifice
- Elgar: Serenade for Strings
- Mendelssohn: Hear my prayer
- Duruflé: Requiem
Charlotte Bowden Soprano
Jack Harberd Tenor
Freddie Crowley Bass
Iestyn Evans Organist
George de Voil Conductor
Orchestra Chameleon Arts Orchestra
CRIT
At the Spring Concert of Wokingham Choral Society in the Great Hall, Reading University, on Saturday 23 March, the audience was treated to a musical feast. The programme of four works was a blend of the much loved and the lesser known.
The first was Gerald Finzi’s Lo the full final sacrifice, rich in invention and striking harmonies, introducing the evening’s talented young soloists, Charlotte Bowden (soprano), Jack Harberd (tenor ) and Freddie Crowley (bass).
This was followed by Elgar’s Serenade for Strings played with sensitive elegance by the Chameleon Arts Orchestra. The first half of the concert ended with a fine performance of Mendelssohn’s Hear my prayer, with its exquisite ‘O for the wings of a dove’.
The second half of the concert was devoted to a chamber orchestral version of the Requiem by the distinguished French organist Maurice Duruflé, in which the hall organ was played with consummate skill by Iestyn Evans. The setting of the Latin mass cries out for comparison with Gabriel Faure’s frequently performed version, but both works deserve to be appreciated as much for their differences as their similarities.
Family Christmas Carol Concert 2023
Conductor George de Voil
Organist Rupert Gough
Programme
| ALL Joy to the World (Lowell Mason) CHOIR Angelus ad Virginem (Arr Willcocks) CHOIR Nativity Carol (Rutter) ALL Away in a Manger (Arr Willcocks) Christmas reading CHOIR Sussex Carol (Arr Willcocks) ALL See, Amid the Winter Snow (Arr Speakman) CHOIR Coventry Carol (Arr Shaw) |
CHOIR A Babe Is Born (Mathias) ALL O Come, All Ye Faithful (Arr Willcocks) Christmas reading ALL O Little Town of Bethlehem (Trad) CHOIR Shepherd’s Pipe Carol (Rutter) CHOIR I Wonder as I Wander (Arr Rutter) ALL Hark the Herald Angels Sing (Mendelssohn) CHOIR Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Martin and Blane) |
Come & Sing the Greatest Choral Hits
Accompanist: George de Voil
The event attracted 156 singers (82 sops, 47 altos, 12 tenors, 15 basses) over 65% of which were visitors. We also had an audience of 36 at the informal concert at the end of the day. Feedback was excellent, including:
What a great day!
An excellent conductor and accompanist.
The organisation was marvellous.
Perfect choice of music.
Your music booklet was impressive.
The cakes were delicious.
A wonderful day – we sang all the way home!
The day was great fun and very successful, enhancing the choir’s profile and reputation, and netting a profit to boost choir funds and charity donations.
Inspirational music for our Come & Sing !Handel - Zadok the priest
Bruckner - Locus iste
Mozart Requiem - Dies irae
Mozart Requiem – Lacrymosa
Rachmaninov - Bogorodĩtse Dẽvo, raduisya
Vivaldi Gloria in D-major – Gloria
Fauré - Cantique de Jean Racine
Mozart - Ave verum corpus
Fauré Requiem - Libera me
Mendelssohn Elijah – He, watching over Israel
Haydn Creation - The Heavens are telling the Glory of God
Brahms Deutsches Requiem - Wie lieblich sind
Parry Jerusalem - And did those feet in ancient time
Verdi Nabucco – Va, pensiero
Handel Messiah - Hallelujah
