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Portsmouth Baroque Choir was founded in 1981 when Drayton Choral Society was re-formed under the directorship of Christopher Burgess.
In 1989 Ian Schofield became music director and established it as one of the leading choirs in the South-east. Handel: Israel in Egypt, Haydn: Creation and Mozart: Requiem were among the finest performances during this period. In June 2001 John Page took over as music director until June 2003. Notable performances during this period were Rachmaninov: Vespers and Bach: St John Passion. John Page was succeeded by James Henderson in June 2003. For the first part of 2005 we were fortunate to have Ian Caddy join us as our Guest Conductor.
Richard Barnes was Director of Music from 2005 to 2007, and introduced the choir to a range of new choral works, notably the Boyce 'Coronation Anthems' as part of the 2006 Portsmouth Festivities.
Malcolm Keeler (from the Tenor section) ably and willingly stood in as deputy director in late 2007, and has recently relinquished to baton to the newly appointed Musical Director, Andrew Cleary.
Andrew is an accomplished organist and choral conductor. He is involved with many musical activities in the Portsmouth area in his role as Director of Music at the Grammar School, as well as having responsibility for the 'Cantate' girls choir at St. Thomas' Cathedral.
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| L-to-R: Past Conductors: Richard Barnes, Ian Caddy (President), Ian Schofield and Chris Burgess (photo from 2005) |
Portsmouth Baroque Choir currently has approximately 25 members. We perform a wide repertoire of music from the late Renaissance period to works of contemporary composers, including several works which have been written especially for the choir. Many works are performed unaccompanied, but we especially enjoy singing when accompanied by an orchestra.
We normally perform four concerts each year: in October; a Christmas concert in December; at Easter-time; and in midsummer - in churches and cathedrals in Portsmouth and the surrounding district. |
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