Welcome to Romsey Choral Society

News

Romsey Choral Society has had to change and adapt to the current social and health circumstances, along with many, many other organisations.  We have been fortunate that our Musical Director, Richard Pearce, and our Accompanist, Richard McVeigh, have supported this by helping us to rehearse online. For some people this is their first experience of Zoom, so a new challenge! 

We have not only sung but also learned about some of the history and background of the music we are learning. We have listened to professional recordings of the pieces so that we can hear what we are aiming for. Richard Pearce has demonstrated to us just how versatile and knowledgeable he is, and we are lucky to have him with us during these unprecedented times making sure that there is music each week in one form or another.

We also have a break during rehearsal so that we can catch up in small groups and have a chat. As with any organisation, we look out for each other and keep in touch.

But things are looking up! We have some provisional dates in the diary and will publish further details as soon as we possibly can, but it's looking good for the Romsey festival in July 2021. Have a look on the "Concerts" tab for details.

​March 2021

Romsey Choral Society

Welcome to Romsey Choral Society which is recognised as one of the best choirs in Southern England.  Please have a look around this site to discover more about the choir.   The season's repertoire is listed in the Concert Diary pages.  For our latest choir newsletter click here.

Rehearsals usually take place every Tuesday at  7.30pm at the Romsey Methodist Church, The Hundred, Romsey, SO51 8BZ . Face to face rehearsals have currently been suspended and we are using Zoom at present.


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Click below to see and hear a short YouTube excerpt from Visions of Heaven - Saturday 28th March 2015
Click here to read our latest concert review
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Richard Pearce
RCS Musical Director

Richard took up the post of Musical Director in September 2019 as we transitioned to our next stage of development, building on six brilliant years under the baton of Jamie W. Hall.

Richard Pearce was organ scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with first class honours in music. He is now a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, coaching singers and instrumentalists for careers in opera and the concert platform, and is a trustee of the Josephine Baker Trust, which supports young soloists at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in London. 

Richard is busy as a conductor, pianist and organist with professional choirs. He records and broadcasts regularly with the BBC Singers. He recently conducted works by James MacMillan, Judith Bingham, Britten and Roxanna Panufnik for broadcast on BBC Radio 3.  As organist and pianist he has performed with many of the UK’s best-known choral conductors, including David Hill, Stephen Cleobury, Paul Spicer, Bob Chilcott and Sofi Jeannin. Richard has a long-standing association with the Royal Choral Society, and performs with them several times a year at the Royal Albert Hall in London. 

Richard has been musical director of the Waverley Singers, based in Farnham, Surrey, since 2009. During this time, he has led the choir in some 40 performances. Particular highlights have been concerts in Guildford Cathedral of Monteverdi Vespers, Verdi Requiem, Beethoven Mass in C, Brahms Schicksalslied, Mozart Requiem and Bach Magnificat in D. Alongside these major works he has introduced new and varied repertoire to the choir, including commissions by composer Will Todd, and many newly-written compositions.

Richard is regular organist with the Philharmonia and BBC Symphony Orchestras in London; with them he has performed with many inspirational conductors including established maestri Lorin Maazel, Pierre Boulez, Oliver Knussen, Andrew Davis, Sakari Oramo, Marin Alsop and Ed Gardner, as well as up-and-coming stars such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Valentina Peleggi. Recent performances have included the solo organ part in the European première of Unsuk Chin’s Le Chant des Enfants des Étoiles with Esa-Pekka Salonen in London’s Royal Festival Hall, and a tour of China performing Saint-Säens organ symphony with Vladimir Ashkenazy. He also performs regularly in Promenade concerts and recordings, including at the Last Night of the Proms to a worldwide television audience.

Richard frequently conducts and plays for services at St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster and at the Houses of Parliament.  ​​

Hello from lockdown

The choir's activities are curtailed, as the country and the world deal with this awful pandemic.

Our spring and summer concerts for 2020 were cancelled and our showcase Beethoven Missa Solemnis  in November was not possible either.  We managed a small Christmas celebration - click on the link to the left of this page to hear us sing.

So our staging of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius and Autumn's staging of Beethoven Missa Solemnis are merely postponed to another time, not cancelled entirely.  We will perform them and you will be able to come and listen. We are planning to meet again as soon as it is safe so that we can sing together and work towards a concert for our supporters. We will emerge out of this.

We all just have to be patient.
Stay safe.

Hilary Mitchell
RCS Admin Secretary

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Choir members can access a  members page for membership information plus reports from the committee. 
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Registered Charity: 282827