Hallé Choir biography
Get involved with the Hallé Choir
Forthcoming choral concerts
Recently performed choral works
Sir Sir Charles Hallé founded the Hallé Choir alongside the orchestra in 1858. Led by James Burton, the Hallé’s Choral Director, the choir gives around 20 concerts a year with the Hallé at The Bridgewater Hall and at other venues across the UK. It appears with internationally renowned conductors and soloists in concerts and recordings in an exciting and varied programme of major choral and operatic works.
The choir gives performances of familiar repertoire, such as Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Passions and Brahms’s A German Requiem, and enjoys a reputation for tackling more unusual works. Highlights from recent years include Shostakovich’s Second and Third Symphonies, Tippett’s Ritual Dances from The Midsummer Marriage, Janá?cek’s Glagolitic Mass, Rachmaninov’s The Bells, Aftertones by Colin Matthews, the Hallé’s Associate Composer and Elgar’s The Kingdom.
Other ventures have included a cappella recitals at the Royal Northern College of Music, Albion Church in Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Cathedral, and an appearance at the 2007 Manchester International Cello Festival. Under the direction of Sir Mark Elder, the choir, alongside the Hallé, the Hallé Youth Choir and a cast of international soloists, was invited to sing Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius at the 2005 BBC Proms.
Last season the choir’s performances included Verdi’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah, as well as an involvement in the Hallé’s Sibelius celebration, ‘The Origin of Fire’, and in its 150th anniversary concert with Vaughan Williams’s Toward the Unknown Region. Highlights of the current season include Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise and Wagner's Götterdämmerung.
Since 2003 the choir has featured regularly on the Hallé’s own CD label, notably in Elgar’s The Music Makers, and on Elgar: A Self-Portrait, shortlisted in the Gramophone Awards 2006. Other recordings include English Rhapsody featuring Grainger’s Brigg Fair; English Landscapes including choral rarities by Ireland and Elgar; and Hallé Christmas Classics under Carl Davis. The choir also appears on the latest release, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, conducted by Sir Mark Elder and featuring Alice Coote, Paul Groves and Bryn Terfel.
The Hallé Choir is made up of 150 singers from all over the North West of England and from all walks of life. Meeting to rehearse regularly in Manchester, the choir's activities include individual vocal coaching, sectional and full choir rehearsals as well as social events. If you would like to find out how to join the Hallé Choir or for any further details, please visit www.halle.co.uk or e-mail enquiries@hallechoir.co.uk.
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Recently performed choral works
Bach St. John Passion
Beethoven Meerstille und Glückliche Fahrt
Brahms Requiem
Brahms Song of Destiny
Elgar The Music Makers
Elgar The Dream of Gerontius
Handel Messiah
Haydn The Creation |
Holst The Planets
Janácek Glagolitic Mass
Mahler Symphony No.2
Mascagni Cavalleria rusticana
Tippett The Midsummer Marriage: Ritual Dances
Verdi Falstaff
Verdi Stabat Mater and Te Deum from The Four Sacred Pieces
Walton Belshazzar's Feast |
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