About Us
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The Society has been directed by Duncan Saunderson since 1996. Much of his insight has been gained as a singing teacher as well as by having sung professionally under some of the finest choral conductors in the country. Since 1961, we have performed over 100 different works from the standard choral repertoire, from Monteverdi and Purcell to Britten and Stravinsky. We have also performed a number of unusual works. Few could forget the powerful and mesmerising effect of the African drumming in Guido Haazen’s Missa Luba, a piece that helped create the success of the classic 1968 film If. In that same concert in 1999, we gave the UK premiere of Messe Solennelle en L’honneur de St. Claire a fascinating piece composed by a monk in a monastery in Casablanca. We have also sung an arrangement by its present conductor of one of Schubert’s most beautiful piano Impromptus and an arrangement of the wonderful Adagio from Mozart’s Wind Serenade in B flat that was used to mark the beginning of the end for the jealous Salieri in the film Amadeus… In 2001 we were one of the first choirs to perform Andrew Gant’s Hymn for the Golden Jubilee with words by the Poet Laureate Andrew Motion. Dr. Gant, Master of Music at St. James’s Chapel Royal and resident of Summertown attended the concert and commended the Choir on its excellent performance. Our last concert, which took place in May 2008, was a celebration of spring, with a range of seasonally-inspired pieces: including Spring from Haydn's The Seasons and Britten's Five Flower Songs. A copy of the choir's constitution may be found here.
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The Summertown Choral Society (est.1961) is a well-established mixed voice amateur choir with around 150 members. Although based in North Oxford, its members are drawn from all over the city, and surrounding areas. We aim to encourage a friendly atmosphere in which everyone enjoys singing. There is no audition and we perform twice a year, in January and May.