About Sherborne Chamber Choir

Formed in 1979, Sherborne Chamber Choir is made up of around forty adult members from Sherborne and the surrounding area who enjoy singing a wide range of music, from the sixteenth century to the present day. Under our Musical Director, Paul Ellis, we have built up a reputation throughout the region and further afield for the high standard of our performances.

We perform regularly in Sherborne Abbey, both a cappella and with orchestra, as well as giving a number of other concerts throughout the region. In Sherborne, musical highlights in recent years have included performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and St John Passion and B minor Mass with period orchestra, a sell-out performance of Messiah with soprano Emma Kirkby and a performance of James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross as part of Holy Week worship in the Abbey. Recent a cappella works have included Copland’s In the Beginning, and Victoria's Requiem, along with works ranging from Tallis, Finzi and Stanford to Jonathan Dove, Veljo Tormis and Eric Whitacre.

Collaborations with other choirs have included two performances with Taunton Camerata: Rachmaninov’s Liturgy of St John Chrysostom in Sherborne Abbey and Belshazzar’s Feast in Wells Cathedral. We have also joined with Sherborne Young Singers for concerts in Sherborne Abbey Music Festival and in 2004 for the St Matthew Passion. Most recently we joined with the East Cornwall Bach Choir for a memorable performance of Rachmaninov's Vespers in Wells Cathedral in November 2008.

Abroad we have sung at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, in Siena Cathedral and San Gimignano, Italy, and most recently in Bruges. We regularly sing for services in cathedrals and over the last few years have led worship at Bath Abbey and the cathedrals of Exeter, Winchester, Westminster, St Giles, Edinburgh, and Christ Church, Oxford, as well as leading a number of services in Sherborne Abbey.

In 2009 the choir recorded its first CD, Comfort, Life and Love, in aid of St Margaret's Somerset Hospice and hospices throughout the UK. Every copy sold will help raise money for their magnificent work of caring for people with life threatening illness. For further information, click here. A full list of works performed in recent years can be found in the Concert Archive.