Huddersfield Choral Society
| Huddersfield Choral Society | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England |
| Genres | Classical choral music |
| Years active | 1836–present |
| Labels | Signum Records |
| Website |
www |
Huddersfield Choral Society is an internationally famous choir based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1836, and is recognised as one of Britain's leading choirs.[1] Over the years the choir has performed most of the major works in the choral repertoire, and has had numerous works commissioned for it, including works by Ralph Vaughan Williams and William Walton.[2] The choir has made numerous recordings and broadcasts.[3][4][5] Two of its albums made an appearance in the UK Albums Chart. These were The Hymns Album (1986, #8) and The Carols Album (1986, #29).[6]
The choir performs regularly with the leading orchestras in the north of England, including the Orchestra of Opera North, The Hallé, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata and the Northern Sinfonia. The choir performs with many leading conductors, known by the choir as their 'family' of conductors instead of having one Principal Conductor. Martyn Brabbins is Conductor Laureate of the society and other notable conductors to work with the choir regularly include: Vasily Petrenko, Bramwell Tovey and Jane Glover (a former Principal Conductor and former Principal Guest Conductor of the choir).
Huddersfield Choral Society has as chorusmaster Joseph Cullen and as deputy chorusmaster Darius Battiwalla. Cullen is a Grammy Award-winning artist known for his work with both the Huddersfield Choral Society and the London Symphony Chorus.
Despite its reputation and international touring schedule, the choir remains an amateur one, with membership open to all via a brief audition.
The Huddersfield Choral Society was in partnership with the University of Huddersfield, however, this relationship ended in 2012 for reasons of funding.
Discography
| Year of recording | Work / Album | Artists | Record label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Messiah, G.F.Handel | Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Macolm Sargent (conductor) | Columbia |
| 1990 | The Carols Album | Owain Arwel Hughes (conductor) | Cfp |
| 1993 | A Christmas Celebration | Sellers Engineering Band, Brian Kay (conductor) | Chandos Brass[7] |
| 1994 | The Wreckers (world premiere recording) | BBC Philharmonic, Odaline de la Martinez (conductor) | Conifer Records Limited |
| 2000 | A Christmas Fantasy | Black Dyke Mills Band, John Foster (conductor) | Chandos Brass |
| 2002 | Symphony No. 3 'The Muses', Cyril Scott | BBC Philharmonic, Martyn Brabbins (conductor) | Chandos |
| 2003 | Works for Chorus and Orchestra, Sir Arnold Bax | BBC Philharmonic, Martyn Brabbins (conductor) | Chandos |
| 2006 | Messiah, G.F.Handel arr. W.A.Mozart | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras (conductor) | Signum Classics |
| 2006 | The Hymns Album | Joseph Cullen (conductor) | Signum Classics |
| 2009 | The Crucifixion, Stainer | Darius Battiwalla (organ), Joseph Cullen (conductor) | Signum Classics |
| 2010 | Messiah, G.F.Handel | Northern Sinfonia, Jane Glover (conductor) | Signum Classics |
References
- ↑ "Huddersfield Choral Society - Home". Huddersfield Choral Society. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
- ↑ "Huddersfield Choral Society - About Us". Huddersfield Choral Society. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
- ↑ "Major Past Performances to January 2011" (PDF). Huddersfield Choral Society. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ↑ "Huddersfield Choral Society". Signum Records. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
- ↑ "Reviews - Huddersfield Choral Society - Classical Music Recordings - CD, DVD, SACD". www.classicstoday.com. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
- ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 262. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ↑ "Huddersfield Choral Society on Chandos". Chandos. Retrieved 12 September 2011.