About us

Summertown Choral Society is a mixed-voice amateur choir based in North Oxford, with about 160 members drawn from all over the city and surrounding areas. We sing two concerts per year, typically in January and May, and aim for a high musical standard.

The choir encourages a friendly atmosphere in which members of all standards enjoy singing, and gives a high priority to the social side of music-making, with regular events, parties, and an annual choir holiday. We like to believe this fusion of the serious with the social is one of the reasons behind our success.

Since our foundation in 1961 we have performed more than 100 works from the mainstream repertoire, from Monteverdi and Purcell to Britten and Stravinsky. We have also sung several works outside the mainstream notably, in 1999, Guido Haazen’s mesmerising Missa Luba, part of which was used, memorably, in the 1968 cult film If ... In the same concert, we gave the UK première of Messe Solennelle en L’honneur de Ste Claire – a fascinating piece composed by a monk in Casablanca.

More recently, we gave the world première of Oxford composer Bill Ives’s Songs of Ariel, based on texts from Shakespeare.

Since 1996, Summertown Choral Society has been directed by Duncan Saunderson, a professional singer, teacher, and member of the distinguished New College choir. Duncan has arranged several pieces for performance by the choral society, including a Schubert piano impromptu, the Adagio from Mozart’s B flat wind serenade, and Schumann’s sublimely beautiful lied Widmung.

In 2001 we were one of the first choirs to perform Andrew Gant’s Hymn for the Golden Jubilee, with words by the then poet laureate, Andrew Motion.

We do not audition our members. Prospective new recruits are welcome to come along and attend a rehearsal or two, without obligation.

A copy of the choir's constitution may be found here.