The Choir

“The unusual presentation of this stunning music for unaccompanied choir was innovative and proved to be not only very persuasive but also emotionally powerful” (Rachmaninov Vespers Feb 2019)

Somerset Chamber Choir was founded in 1984 by former members of the Somerset Youth Choir. Our biannual concerts, comprising interesting and varied programmes of small and medium-scale works from medieval times through to the 21st century, have been an established and popular part of the county’s musical calendar for many years now.

We aim to perform twice a year in wonderfully atmospheric buildings, including Wells Cathedral – our Summer concert in the cathedral is invariably with orchestra, and our other concert is usually accompanied by one or two instrumentalists although a cappella works are also often included.

The members of the Choir are keen amateur singers from all walks of life, all united by friendship, a love of choral music, and a commitment to musical performance of the highest quality. There are no weekly rehearsals; instead, we rehearse for six full weekends each year, meeting in Hambridge Village Hall, near Langport on the Somerset Levels.

We are a registered charity and all our income goes towards our musical activities. However, running a choir like ours costs more than we can raise from ticket sales alone, even a sold-out concert may not cover costs. We can only keep our charity going with help from you, either as a choir member, as an audience member, or as part of our large community of volunteers and supporters – please read how you can help on our Support Us page here.

You can read more about what we do here, and more about the history of the choir here.

Conducting ‘with spirit and vitality – and musical integrity always at its core’, Andrea Brown has led award-winning concerts and festivals across the globe. In addition to her work with Somerset Chamber Choir, Andrea is also the Musical Director of Tippett Voices, Exeter Festival Chorus and The Fourth Choir.

Andrea works regularly as conductor with other choirs including the BBC Singers, North London Chorus, London Oriana Choir and the Southbank Centre’s Voicelab. Recent work includes concerts in Berlin with Hortus Vocalis, the Czech Republic with Festa Musicale and the critically acclaimed ‘Memorial’ with Tippett Voices at the Barbican Centre, London. Most recently she was Conductor and Musical Director of the acclaimed ‘The Paradis Files’, a commission by Errollyn Wallen with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Graeae Theatre Company, which received its world première at Queen Elizabeth Hall (Radio 3 broadcast) and subsequently toured the UK.

Andrea is Head of Choral Conducting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Recently Director of Music at Morley College, and Deputy CEO of Surrey Music Hub, Andrea is a passionate advocate for music education. She co-founded the award-winning Women Conductors and Wavelength programmes, both designed to encourage, educate, and promote women within the conducting profession.

An active member of the Association of British Choral Directors, Andrea chairs jury panels of choral competitions, and holds masterclasses for choirs and conductors across the globe. Andrea was the Artistic Director of Various Voices, an international choral festival involving 60+ international choirs performing at the Southbank Centre.

Previously Andrea had a busy singing career as a soprano, having performed and recorded at some of the finest concert halls around the world with a range of top-class ensembles, including the Academy of Ancient Music, Gabrieli Consort, Chapelle du Roi, Ex Cathedra and Coro Cervantes. Operatic performances have included Opéra Châtelet, Shakespeare’s Globe, Split International Festival, Spitalfields Festival, Utrecht Early Music Festival and the BBC Proms.

Andrea is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in recognition of her significant contribution to the field.

Andrea's website: http://www.andreabrown.com

Anita read music at the University of Birmingham, graduating with first class honours, was a piano finalist in the Essex Young Musician of the Year and subsequently studied at the Royal Academy of Music. She has performed chamber concerts in many prestigious venues, including Birmingham Symphony Hall, Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall. She is also a skilled choir accompanist and répétiteur.

Anita is also an experienced and versatile music teacher and has held senior teaching posts at Trevor-Roberts School, Primrose Hill, and Sherborne Girls, Dorset. She now enjoys a busy freelance career and teaches piano at Charterhouse and Eton College.

Notable highlights from Anita’s concerts with us have been a dazzling duet (with Annabel Thwaite) in Carl Orff Carmina Burana, entrancing performances of Chopin Waltz in C sharp minor Op 64 No 2 and Polonaise No 6 ‘Heroic’, and stunning renditions of Rautavaara Sonata No 2 ‘The Fire Sermon’ (1st movement), Łukaszewski Stadium and Rachmaninov Prelude No 12 in G sharp minor.

For more information please see Anita’s website https://www.anitapiano.com/

Anita performing Rautavaara’s Piano Sonata No.2 “The Fire Sermon” live at our concert at King’s College Chapel Taunton (Feb 2012)

Our Patron, Dame Emma Kirkby, first sang with the Choir in 1988 and has been a much-loved soloist with us on a number of occasions since that time.

Emma has written that she feels lucky in many ways: that she met Renaissance vocal polyphony while still at school, that while studying Classics she sang with the Schola Cantorum of Oxford, and, best of all, that while at Oxford she encountered the “historical” instruments known to Renaissance and Baroque composers - lute, harpsichord, early piano, wind and string instruments, whose sound and human scale drew from her an instinctive response.

Beginning as a schoolteacher and amateur singer, Emma was soon invited to perform professionally with pioneer groups; from that time, supported by a wonderful singing teacher, the late Jessica Cash, she formed long partnerships in Britain and abroad, with individual players, ensembles and record companies, so that her voice and elegant and intelligent musicianship became recognised worldwide.

In the UK, Emma was made a Dame in 2007 and, in 2011, received the Queen’s Medal for Music. Astonished by all this, she is nevertheless glad of the recognition it implies, for a way of music-making that values ensemble, clarity and stillness above volume and display; and she is excited to see the recent explosion of chamber groups, instrumental, vocal or both, here and in so many other countries, giving fresh life to centuries of their heritage.

We feel honoured and grateful that Emma continues to serve as our Patron.