10th March 2010

DORCHESTER: Choir celebrate 50th year

ORIGINALLY formed as the West Walks Singers, Dorchester Choral Society is celebrating its 50th anniversary year since foundation, with a concert on Saturday, March 27th at 7.30pm in St, Mary’s Church.

The Society has blossomed into a choir of over 80 members, performing major works accompanied by a full orchestra.

Ten years ago Christine Pag became Director of the Choral Society.

Before this she spent 20 years as a soloist with the choir, having previously performed with the English National Opera and as a soloist at national and international level.

The choir recently sang in Bayeux Cathedral as part of the Dorchester town twinning exchange programme, and were also asked to perform in local Normandy churches.

To add to the excitement, choir members were driven through the Normandy countryside on a mystery tour to intriguing venues of varying acoustics that allowed their splendid voices to blend and resonate.

This was a magical evening which inspired the programme that the choir hope to repeat in churches across Dorset.

In June they will be giving a series of free concerts of anthems and madrigals in eight Dorset churches, where donations for charity will be welcomed. This will culminate in a finale performance in the Borough Gardens, Dorchester.

The concert arranged for St Mary’s Church in March is an exciting programme which includes Haydn’s Nelson Mass, Vivaldi’s Gloria and soprano cantata Nulla in Mundo, and Holst’s Two Psalms, all accompanied by a chamber orchestra.

Soloists on the evening will be soprano prize-winner Hanna Wahlin and tenor Brian Parsons. The choir actively encourages young artists, and two locally renowned singers, bass Jonathan Pugsley and mezzo-soprano Catherine Sayles, will be taking centre stage.

Catherine is still a student, studying singing and cello at the Royal College of Music.

To avoid disappointment tickets are available through choir members and from Harmony Music Centre in Dorchester.

Tickets cost £15 for a reserved centre aisle seat and £12 for an unreserved inside aisle seat.