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The
WINDSOR AND ETON CHORAL SOCIETY gave
its first public performance in Windsor
while William the Fourth was still on the throne, so qualifying as one
of the ten oldest Choral Societies in the country. Founded by the then
Organist of St. George’s Chapel Windsor, it has always had a close
connection with both St. George’s and Eton College, the conductors
having been drawn in almost equal numbers from the two royal
foundations.
The Choral Society is
honoured to have had among its patrons Prince
Albert, Princess Christian and, since 1923, the reigning
Monarch. Of the present Royal Family, H.M. The Queen, Prince Philip and
the late Queen Mother have all attended performances.
The Society is about 175
strong. As well as enjoying the established “classics”, the Society has,
over the last few years, been persuaded to venture into new territory
with works by Monteverdi, Howells, Dankworth, Nielsen, Bernstein, Spicer
and Ferguson. After the trauma of the
initial rehearsals, all these have proved to be deeply satisfying, and
it is intended that this enlivening mixture of old and new should be
continued during the half century leading up to the two-hundredth
anniversary of the Society’s first concert, in 2037.
In the past year the
Society has performed to full houses in three concerts in Windsor
Castle, in the Falklands commemoration ceremony in Horse Guards Parade
and in a concert in Eton College School Hall.
Rehearsal – click on the photo for a more
detailed photo
Our Next Concerts
8th,
9th, 10th May 2008 – WINDSOR CASTLE
Windsor Castle Royal
Tattoo - A Heroes Welcome
18th,
19th, 20th September 2008 –
THE ROYAL MILITARY ACCADEMY,
SANDHURST
Music on Fire! The
Fireworks Prom
Tuesday 9th
December 2008 – ETON
COLLEGE SCHOOL HALL 7:30 pm
Mendelssohn – Elijah
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Our Conductor
 Ralph
Allwood is Precentor and Director of Music at
Eton
College. He founded and runs the five
Eton Choral Courses, attended each year by three hundred singers aged
between 16 and 20. The courses broadcast and record evensongs and
sequences for BBC Radio Three. He has conducted choral courses in
Taiwan, Sydney,
Barcelona, Harvard
University,
Boston,
Kansas, Utrecht
and Vancouver. He has been musical
director for National Youth Music Theatre musicals for ITV,
Granada
and BBC2, and conducted on two occasions for the Edinburgh International
Festival. He is a judge for the Sainsbury's / BBC2 Choir of the Year
Competition. Eton College Chapel Choir, which he directs, tours abroad
every year and have released six recordings. He is an advisor for
Novello and Co and for the Voices Foundation, and a judge for the
Sainsbury's Choir of the Year Competition and the Llangollen
International Eisteddfod. He has recently been made an honorary Fellow
of the Royal School of Church Music and an honorary Associate of the
Royal Academy of Music. He also directs the Windsor and Eton Choral
Society and the Rodolfus Choir. The latter have released recordings of
choral works by Bax and Villette, Parry, Francis Grier, Eberlin, Choral
Arrangements, 19th Century German Motets and one of English Folk Song
arrangements.
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