2021-22: Our 72nd season
Sheffield Bach Society was thrilled to be able to plan our 72nd concert season, following over a year of non-activity due to the coronavirus pandemic. We started rehearsals in September 2021, planning a slightly shorter season than is usual, given that we hadn’t sung together for over a year – and the risks that still exist in relation to the pandemic.
However, the season included a number of favourites, to celebrate the return to singing together – albeit with some restrictions still, and with great care. We started by singing Rutter’s gorgeous Requiem in November, followed in December by our annual Messiah. At Easter we presented Bach’s magnificent St Matthew Passion, and we ended the season with an evening celebrating Bach’s brilliance, in June 2022.
John Rutter – REQUIEM
Saturday 13 November 2021 at 7.30pm
St Mark’s Church Broomhill
John Rutter’s Requiem is a musical setting of parts of the Latin Requiem with added psalms and biblical verses in English, completed in 1985. Sheffield Bach Choir presents the version scored for ensemble rather than orchestra, featuring players from Sally Robinson’s wonderful National Festival Orchestra.
With up-coming soprano soloist Jane Burnell, regular visitor David Houlder of the organ and of course celebrated conductor Dr Simon Lindley, this was a welcome return to choral music-making for the choir, in the lovely setting of St Mark’s Church, Broomhill.
Sheffield Bach Choir
Players from the National Festival Orchestra
Conductor – Dr Simon Lindley
Soprano – Jane Burnell
Organ – David Houlder
Handel – MESSIAH
Monday 6 December 2021 at 7pm
Sheffield Cathedral
Completed in just 24 days, Handel’s Messiah is one of the most glorious and popular choral works. The Sheffield Bach Choir was thrilled to be able to present our annual rendition of Handel’s marvellous oratorio, accompanied by the National Festival Orchestra and conducted by Dr Simon Lindley.
Sheffield Bach Choir
National Festival Orchestra
Conductor – Dr Simon Lindley
Continuo – Alan Horsey
Soprano – Ella Taylor
Counter-tenor – David Allsopp
Tenor – Joshua Ellicott
Bass – Peter Edge
Tickets £16 and £13 (concessions)
Click here to book tickets for Messiah NB a modest booking fee will be charged
COME SING MESSIAH
Monday 13 December 2021 at 7.30pm
St James’s Church, Norton, Church Road, S8 8JQ
THE CONCERT WENT AHEAD AS PLANNED, face coverings were mandatory except when singing – and when enjoying the wonderful mulled wine and mince pies!
Conducted by our President Professor George Nicholson, and with Tom Corns on the organ, this was a fun sing through much-loved choruses from the Christmas and Easter sections of the work. With mulled wine and mince pies at the interval, it was a super evening for everyone who likes a good sing!
Sheffield Bach Choir
Conductor – George Nicholson
Organ – Tom Corns
Bach – St MATTHEW PASSION
Saturday 5 March 2022 at 6.30pm
Sheffield Cathedral
The St Matthew Passion was written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra. Setting the 26th and 27th chapters of the Gospel of Matthew to music, with interspersed chorales and arias, it is widely regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces of Baroque sacred music.
Sheffield Bach Choir was thrilled to be able to return to our traditional triennial rendition of this great work, especially poignant after the losses and tribulations of the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Simon Lindley conducted a superb team of soloists, choir and orchestra in what was a very special evening in Sheffield Cathedral.
Sheffield Bach Choir
National Festival Orchestra
Conductor – George Nicholson
Evangelist – Stephen Lilley
Christus – Ed Ballard
Pilate – Quentin Brown
Soprano – Debra Morley
Alto – Margaret McDonald
Bass – Alex Ashworth
Tickets £16 and £13 (concessions)
THE BRILLIANCE OF BACH
Saturday 18th June 2022 at 7.30pm
St Marks Church Broomhill
A wonderful concert for Bach enthusiasts – a whole evening of works by this greatest of composers, including choral favourites Sheep may safely graze, Cantata 118, Jesu Meine Freude and the ever-popular Jesu joy of man’s desiring.
The concert also featured the brilliant Leeds Town Hall organist Darius Battiwalla, who played some of Bach’s favourites for organ, including the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor. This majestic work, probably the most famous organ piece in the world, was first made popular by Felix Mendelssohn and then by its use in a number of films, including Fantasia and Phantom of the Opera.
Majestic organ works and a series of beautiful cantatas accompanied by musicians from the accomplished National Festival Orchestra, all demonstrating the brilliance of Bach in the beautiful surroundings of St Mark’s Church, Broomhill – an evening not to be missed!
Sheffield Bach Choir
National Festival Orchestra Ensemble
Conductor – George Nicholson
Organ – Darius Battiwalla
Tickets £12 (£10 concessions)
Sheffield Bach Society 