2025-26: Our 76th season
Sheffield Bach Society is looking forward to another year of fabulous music making with our conductor, Philip Collin.
The choir has grown substantially over the last two years but are still welcoming new members from all voice parts. For further information see Join Us
HANDEL – MESSIAH
Monday 1st December 2025 at 7pm
Cutler’s Hall Sheffield
The concert was dedicated to the memory of Helen Frances Walker, a keen supporter of the choir for over 35 years and often seen knitting on the back row of the audience.
Handel’s majestic Messiah needs no introduction and forms an essential art of the Christmas celebrations for many people. Many people made it part of theirs in the marvellous setting of Sheffield’s wonderful Cutler’s Hall, with a sell-out performance.
Composed in 1741 with text from the Bible, Messiah was first performed in Dublin in 1742 and has been performed countless times the world over ever since – including every three years by Sheffield Bach Choir, whose mastery of the work is legendary.
Over 400 Sheffielders made their Christmas celebrations complete by joining the choir, the National Festival Orchestra and a team of stunning soloists for this very special performance – there truly is nothing like hearing this magnificent choral work accompanied by a full orchestra, and in Sheffield’s historic Cutler’s Hall, ‘where historic grandeur meets timeless elegance’ made it an extra special experience!
Refreshments were available from the Cutler’s Hall bar before the concert and during the interval. A collection was taken for the Master Cutler’s charity, the Weston Park Cancer Charity.
“Thank you for choosing the Cutlers hall tonight for your performance and for inviting me” said the Mistress Cutler Gina Jackson. “The performance from your choir was outstanding and I felt very privileged to be there. The hall normally has a buzz during our annual feast but tonight your choir beat that hands down .
Please pass our thanks to all of your team and thank you for collecting in aid of our chosen charity. Kind regards Gina Jackson”
- Sheffield Bach Choir
- National Festival Orchestra
- Ruth Nicholson – Continuo
- Aimée Fisk – Soprano
- Ailsa Mainwaring – Alto
- Peter Wilman – Tenor
- Dean Robinson – Bass
- Philip Collin – Conductor
Most tickets were bought online or through choir members, with the remaining few on the door. Adults £18, concessions £16, students £8 (Student Card required on entry), accompanied children free.
COME SING MESSIAH
Monday 8 December 2025
St James’s Church Norton
The Choir is pleased to be able to present our popular Come and Sing Messiah in St James’s Church, Norton. President George Nicholson will conduct and Music Director Philip Collin will play the organ.
This is always a fun evening for those who love to sing Messiah – so come and sing your hearts out!
- Professor George Nicholson – Conductor
- Philip Collin – Organ
Tickets priced £15 are available online (booking fee payable) and on the door, and include mulled wine and mince pies; scores will be available to hire.
BACH – MASS IN B MINOR
Saturday 14 March 2026 at 19.30
St Mark’s Broomhill
Since its completion in 1749, the B Minor Mass has been celebrated as one of the pinnacles of Western music, whose significance has only grown with time. Musicians and scholars through the ages have marvelled at its complexity, beauty, and spiritual depth. It may be that he thought of it as a final legacy, a statement both of his faith and of his mastery of composition. In short, a must for lovers of baroque and choral music, and of course, of J.S Bach.
- Sheffield Bach Choir
- National Festival Orchestra
- Zoë Brookshaw – Soprano
- Kate Symonds-Joy – Alto
- Joseph Banerjee – Tenor
- William Burn – Bass
- Philip Collin – conductor
Tickets are available online, (booking fee payable) or you can pay on the door (card or cash). Adults £18, concessions £16, students £8 (Student Card required on entry), accompanied children free.
JUNE Delights
Saturday 27 June 2026 at 19.30
St John’s Church, Ranmoor
A special programme of delightful music for the summer concert, in the gorgeous acoustic of St. John’s Church, Ranmoor. Enjoy Jonathan Dove’s gorgeous Seek him that maketh the seven stars and the magnificent Missa Festiva for choir, organ and brass, by Belgian composer Flor Peeters.
- Missa Festiva – Flor Peeters
- Two Human Hymns – Judith Weir
- Seek him that maketh the seven stars – Jonathan Dove
- Other music for choir and organ
Featuring celebrated organist Darius Battiwalla, this will be one not to miss!
- Sheffield Bach Choir
- Darius Battiwalla – Organist
- Phillip Collin – conductor
Tickets are available online, (booking fee payable) or you can pay on the door (card or cash). Adults £18, concessions £16, students £8 (Student Card required on entry), accompanied children free.
Concerts that have now taken place
Britten ST NICHOLAS and Faure REQUIEM
Saturday 15 November 2025 at 7.30pm
St Mark’s Church Broomhill
Our season began with Benjamin Britten’s wonderful oratorio Saint Nicolas paired with Gabriel Faure’s beautiful Requiem. Britten’s piece, completed in 1948 using a text by Eric Crozier, enhances the drama of the legends and stories relating to the saint’s life, using striking contrasts in instrumentation, vocal style, and musical textures.
Faure composed his Requiem between 1887 and 1890, and wrote of the work, “Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest.”
A substantial audience greatly enjoyed the concert – as did the choir, choristers, musicians and soloists.
- Sheffield Bach Choir
- Peter Wilman – tenor
- Choristers from St John’s Church Ranmoor
- Philip Collin – conductor
Tickets were adults £18, concessions £16, students £8 (Student Card required on entry), accompanied children free.
Sheffield Bach Society 