Past Events
2026
Saturday, 7th February 2026,
2:30 pm – 5:30 pm Workshop,
7:30 pm Concert
Chipping Norton Town Hall, High Street, Chipping Norton, OX7 5NA
We were joined by British-based barbershop quartet, The Acafellas, for an afternoon’s workshop on ‘singing as an ensemble’, where the group worked through various important aspects of ensemble singing; uniformity, tuning, awareness, interpretation, and performance. Through a fun afternoon of pieces and exercises, led by experienced ensemble singers, attendees were able to learn and practise the skills needed to improve their choral singing.
In the evening, The Acafellas performed a concert of varied music for male voices and barbershop classics.
All profits from this event went towards the commissioned choral work to celebrate 155 years of the Chipping Norton Choral Society in 2027.
2025
Saturday, 20th December 2025, 6:30 pm
St Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton, OX7 5NT
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
Organ: Bernard WestCharity Christmas Carols
Chipping Norton Choral Society were joined by Cotswold Youth Choir for a fantastic evening of Christmas carols.
Kindly sponsored by Wise Investment. A retiring collection was taken for Katherine House Hospice.
Saturday, 29th November 2025, 7:30 pm
St Mary’s Church, Banbury, OX16 0AA
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
Cotswold String Orchestra
Soprano: Belinda Morley‘Music for Choir and Strings’
This concert showcased the beautiful pairing of choir and string orchestra, and featured music by Gjeilo, Dyson and Fauré.
Friday, 19th September 2025, 7:00 pm
Chipping Norton School, Burford Road, Chipping Norton, OX7 5DY
‘An Evening with Roderick Williams’
We were joined by internationally renowned baritone Roderick Williams and star pianist Susie Allan for an evening of singing, masterclass, and discussion.
All proceeds from the evening went towards our commissioned piece to celebrate our 155th anniversary in 2027.
Saturday, 12th July 2025, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Chipping Norton Town Hall, Chipping Norton, OX7 5NA
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
Event: Come and Sing Day
Repertoire: Choruses from The CreationLed by our conductor Benedict Goodall, this Come and Sing day took us through all of the choruses in The Creation in a whistle-stop tour of the work.
Through a well-structured and exciting day of rehearsals, we covered the entire work’s choruses and gained an overview of the piece before giving an informal performance, for which we were joined by three excellent soloists: Margaret Lingas (soprano), Colin Ritter Danskin (tenor), and Benjamin Watkins (bass).
Saturday, 28th June 2025, 7:30 pm
St Peter’s & St Paul’s Church, Deddington, OX15 0SA
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
Orchestra: Trinity Camerata
Soprano: Hannah Fraser-Mackenzie
Baritone: James Berry‘A Night at the Opera’
Chipping Norton Choral Society sang in the summer season with A Night at the Opera, featuring all your favourite choruses, arias, and instrumental works from operas throughout the ages. We began the evening with our now traditional Picnic and Pimms in the Castle grounds in Deddington, followed by our exciting concert programme. Works included Brindisi by Verdi, O Mio Babbino Caro by Puccini, and the Bridal Chorus by Wagner, among many others.
We were delighted to be joined by the Trinity Camerata, who accompanied us, and two fabulous soloists.
Saturday, 12th April 2025, 7:30 pm
St Peter’s & St Paul’s Church, Deddington, OX15 0SA
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
Evangelist: Sebastian Hill
Soprano: Natasha Page
Alto: William Prior
Tenor: Tim Burton
Bass: Florian Stortz &
Chipping Norton Baroque PlayersJohann Sebastian Bach – St John Passion
Bach’s Magnum Opus, performed with period orchestra.
2024
Saturday, 14th December 2024, 7:30 pm
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
Organ: Bernard West
Harp: Reuben WestBenjamin Britten – A Ceremony of Carols
With Christmas Carols for choir and audience
Saturday, 15th June 2024, 7:30 pm
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
Piano: Rowena Gibbons“Masters of Music” – a programme that celebrated composers who held the title of ‘Master of the King’s/Queen’s Music’.
The repertoire included:
Maurice Greene – Thou visitest the earth
Robert Parsons – Ave Maria
Walford Davies – Excerpts from A Short Requiem
Peter Maxwell Davies – Farewell to Stromness
Judith Weir – A Guardian Angel
Edward Elgar – From the Bavarian Highlands
Sunday, 24th March 2024, 7:30 pm
St Peter & St Paul’s Church, Deddington
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
Soprano: Becca Wilkins
Accompanied by The Karen Sharp QuartetThis concert showcased two masterpieces from the choral‑jazz world, and also included sets from our professional jazz quartet, the Karen Sharp Quartet.
The repertoire included:
George Shearing – Songs and Sonnets from Shakespeare
Will Todd – Mass in Blue
2023
Sunday, 17th December 2023, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Town Hall, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
Christmas Come-and-Sing Day
Saturday, 18th November 2023, 7:30 pm
St. Mary’s Church, Banbury
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
Music for Remembrance and Peace
Jenkins – The Armed Man
Barber – Adagio for Strings
Bernstein – Chichester PsalmsJenkins’ The Armed Man and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms both reach thematically and structurally across communities and languages: Bernstein through his combination of traditional Hebrew psalms with a Christian musical setting, and Jenkins by embracing texts and musical idioms from many cultures.
A small number of people attending the concert were unable to buy a copy of the programme. Therefore, we are making it available as a free download.
Saturday, 17th June 2023, 7:30 pm
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
“Summer is icumen in” – Part Songs and Madrigals
Including works by Elgar, Mozart, Bruckner and Morley.
“And we will all the pleasures prove That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, Woods, or steepy mountain yields. And we will sit upon the rocks, Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals.” (Christopher Marlowe)
Perfect entertainment for a summer evening, with traditional folk songs, delightful madrigals and well known part-songs.
Sunday, 26th March, 2023, 7:30 pm
St. Mary’s Church, Banbury
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
Brahms – Ein deutsches Requiem
Unique amongst Requiems, Brahms’ masterpiece is a humane and consoling work intended to bring comfort to the living rather than to plead for the souls of the dead. The text, sung in German, is drawn from the Lutheran Bible and brought to intense dramatic life by one of the greatest choral composers.
2022
Saturday, 17th December 2022, 7:30 pm
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
Family Christmas Concert
Charlie Baigent (baritone), Rebecca Nicholas (cello) & Bernard West (organ)
A concert of seasonal carols featuring the fun and exciting Christmas Mass by Ronald Corp, setting the words of the Latin Mass to the tunes of well-known Christmas carols; and Fantasia on Christmas Carols by Ralph Vaughan Williams whose 150th anniversary we are celebrating this year.
Saturday, 23rd July 2022, 10:30 am – 6:30 pm
Town Hall, Chipping Norton
Director: Benedict Goodall
Sing Day: Fauré Requiem
Saturday, 11th June 2022, 7:30 pm
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
“Pomp and Pimms”: Songs from the Coronation
A week after the official Platinum Jubilee celebrations, The Chipping Norton Choral Society performed a programme inspired by the music played at the Coronation in June 1953.
Saturday, 2nd April 2022, 7:30 pm
St. Peter & St. Paul’s Church, Deddington
Conductor: Benedict Goodall
with Adderbury EnsembleSoloists: Michael Gibson (tenor) & James Berry (baritone)
Puccini – Messa di Gloria
Verdi – Stabat MaterUnashamedly operatic and clearly influenced by his idol Verdi, the Messa di Gloria (more correctly, Messa a quattro voci) was written as a graduation piece when Puccini was only eighteen, shortly after Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle and Verdi’s Requiem, and brings the same sense of heightened drama, vitality, musical dexterity and sheer exuberance to the Latin mass.
2021
Saturday, 18th December 2021, 7:30 pm
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with Cheltenham Chamber OrchestraBenjamin Britten – Saint Nicolas
Excerpts from Handel – Messiah
Saturday, 14th August 2021, 7:30 pm
St. Peter & St. Paul’s Church, Deddington
Conductor: Peter Hunt
Anne Page (harmonium) & Stewart Taylor (piano)
Gioachino Rossini — Petite Messe Solennelle
2019
Saturday, 21st December 2019, 7:00 pm
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
Family Christmas Concert:
Carols & Chilcott
Sunday, 3rd November 2019, 5:30 pm
Cheltenham Town Hall
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with Cheltenham Chamber Orchestra
& North Cotswold Chamber ChoirWilliam Walton – Belshazzar’s Feast
James MacMillan – Cantos Sagrados
Saturday, 6th April 2019, 7:30 pm
Church of St. Peter & St. Paul, Deddington
Conductor: Peter Hunt
Fanshawe – African Sanctus
2018
Saturday, 15th December 2018, 7:30 pm
St. Mary’s Church, Banbury
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with Cheltenham Chamber OrchestraSoloists: Carris Jones (mezzo-soprano) & James Berry (baritone)
Elgar – The Music Makers
Vaughan Williams – Dona Nobis Pacem
Saturday, 16th June 2018
Chipping Norton Secondary School & St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
Community Sing Day:
Vivaldi – Gloria
Bob Chilcott – The Voyage
Saturday, 12th May 2018
St. Mary’s Church, Witney
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with Baroque Orchestra OxybaroxyVivaldi – Gloria
George Frideric Handel – O Praise the Lord with One Consent (Chandos Anthem No. 9)
Verdi – Pater Noster
Stanford – Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in C
2017
Saturday, 9th December 2017
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with Cotswold Baroque PlayersCharlotte Beament (1st soprano), Rebecca Outram (2nd soprano), William Purefoy (counter tenor) & Robert Rice (bass)
J.S. Bach – Mass in B Minor
2016
Saturday, 17th December 2016
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with Cotswold Baroque PlayersCharlotte Beament (soprano), Esther Brazil (mezzo-soprano), Guy Cutting (tenor) & Robert Rice (bass)
Haydn – Nelson Mass (Mass in D Minor)
Mozart – C Minor Mass
Sunday, 26th June 2016
All Saints’ Church, Churchill
Conductor: Bernard West
Tim Wakerill (organ) & Esther Brazil (mezzo-soprano)
César Franck – Psalm 150
J.S. Bach – Prelude and Fugue in G major, BWV 541
Hector Berlioz – Premiers transports que nul n’oublie
Felix Mendelssohn – Grant us Thy Peace, Nachtlied, Drei geistliche Lieder, Op 96
Hanny Hensel – Frühling
J.S. Bach – Prelude and Fugue in G major, BWV 541
Saturday, 7th May 2016
Church of St. Peter & St. Paul, Deddington
Conductor: Peter Hunt
Catherine White (harp), Nathan Cole (percussion), Bernard West (piano and organ), Martyn Lane (piano) & Matthew Ernst (treble)
Folk Songs from the British Isles – Braes o’Yarrow, Bobbin John & The Road to Ford
Cecilia McDowall – A Fancy of Folksongs
Trad. – Londonderry Air
Bob Chilcott – Extracts from Songs and Cries of London Town
Francis Poulenc – Piano Sonata for Four Hands
Leonard Bernstein – Chichester Psalms
2015
Saturday, 5th December 2015
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
Julie Cooper (soprano), William Purefoy (alto), Matthew Minter (tenor), Ben Bevan (bass) & The Cotswold Baroque Players – lead by Catherine Weiss
George Frideric Handel – Messiah
2014
Saturday, 21st June 2014
All Saints’ Church, Churchill
Conductor: Bernard West
Cynthia Hall (organ), Esther Brazil (mezzo-soprano), Ben Phillips (countertenor) & Martin Davies (baritone)
Stanford – various works including Te Deum Laudamus, Nunc Dimittis and Psalm 150
Purcell – Come, ye sons of art
Saturday, 10th May 2014
Methodist Church, High Street, Witney
Conductor: Peter Hunt
Bernard West (organ) and Oxybaroxy, Esther Brazil (soprano), Rachel O’Malley (alto), Tom Dyer (tenor) & David le Provost (bass)
Vivaldi – Kyrie
George Frideric Handel – Let thy hand be strengthened
George Frideric Handel – Zadok the Priest
D’Astorga – Stabat Mater
J.S. Bach – Jesu Joy
2013
Saturday, 7th December 2013
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with The Cheltenham Chamber OrchestraRebecca Outram (soprano), Greg Tassell (tenor) & Robert Rice (baritone)
Joseph Haydn – Creation
Saturday, 22nd June 2013
St. Mary’s Church, Charlbury
Conductor: Bernard West
David Lee (tenor), David Le Prevost (baritone) & James Brown (organ)Maunder – Olivet to Calvary
Saturday, 18th May 2013
Church of St. Peter & St. Paul, Deddington
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with The Cheltenham Chamber OrchestraBernard West (piano) & Marion Ackrill (flute)
Dreams of the Summer Night – an evening of music by English composers, featuring:
Arthur Bliss – Pastoral
Hubert Parry – An English Suite for Strings
Colin Touchin – Adlestrop
2012
Saturday, 8th December 2012
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Bernard West
with The Cotswold Baroque PlayersMozart – Requiem
Haydn – Requiem in C minor
Saturday, 23rd June 2012
All Saints’ Church, Churchill
Conductor: Bernard West
Pomp & Pimms:
Coronation Music
Saturday, 26th May 2012
Church of St. Peter & St. Paul, Deddington
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with The Oxfordshire County Percussion Ensemble & Cotswold Children’s ChoirBernard West & Stewart Taylor (piano)
Orff – Carmina Burana
2011
Saturday, 3rd December 2011
St. Mary’s Church, Banbury
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with The Cheltenham Chamber OrchestraVerdi – Requiem
Saturday, 25th June 2011
All Saints’ Church, Churchill
Conductor: Bernard West
Fauré & Fizz:
Fauré – Requiem
Saturday, 16th April 2011
Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Deddington
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with The Cotswold Baroque PlayersJ.S. Bach – St. John Passion
2010
Saturday, 4th December 2010
St. Mary’s Church, Banbury
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with The Cheltenham Chamber OrchestraMendelssohn – Elijah
Saturday, 12th June 2010
Charlbury Church
Conductor: Bernard West
Vivaldi and Vino:
Beatus Vir
Gloria
Ostro Picta
Saturday, 8th May 2010
Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Deddington
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with Acer Saccharum (Bassoon Quartet)Britten – Rejoice in the Lamb
Rutter – Gloria
2009
Saturday, 5th December 2009
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with The Cheltenham Chamber OrchestraBrahms – Ein Deutsches Requiem
Saturday, 27th June 2009
All Saints’ Church, Churchill
Conductor: Bernard West
Edward Tambling (organ scholar-elect, Westminster Cathedral)
Purcell and Pimms:
Funeral Sentences
Thy word is a Lantern
O Sing unto the Lord
Rejoice in the Lord Always
Saturday, 16th May 2009
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with The Cheltenham Chamber OrchestraHaydn – Nelson Mass (Missa in Augustiis)
Haydn – Te Deum (for the Empress Maria Therese)
Haydn – Symphony No. 6 in D ‘Le Matin’
2008
Saturday, 13th December 2008
St. Peter’s Church, Hook Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with The Cotswold Baroque PlayersCandlelight Concert:
Buxtehude – Magnificat
Monteverdi – Beatus Vir
Pergolesi – Magnificat
Schutz – Christmas Story
Saturday, 17th May 2008
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with the Adderbury EnsemblePuccini – Messa di Gloria
Vaughan Williams – Serenade to Music
2007
Saturday, 1st December 2007
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
with The Cheltenham Chamber OrchestraKarl Jenkins – The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace
Schubert – Symphony No. 8 ‘Unfinished’
Saturday, 16th June 2007
St. Edward’s Church, Stow-on-the-Wold
Conductor: Peter Hunt
Bernard West (piano)
Bubbles and Betjeman:
David Pope – From Here to Burgess Hill: Setting of Seven Poems by John Betjeman
Elgar – From the Bavarian Highlands
Saturday, 31st March 2007
Witney Methodist Church
Conductor: Peter Hunt
Bernard West (organ)
An Evening of French Music:
Maurice Duruflé – Requiem and Motets
Gabriel Fauré – Cantique de Jean Racine
2006
Saturday, 16th December 2006
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
Handel – Messiah
Saturday, 10th June 2006
All Saints’ Church, Churchill
Conductor: Peter Hunt
An Evening of Musical Entertainment and Summer Refreshment:
Purcell – Dido and Aeneas
Saturday, 1st April 2006
St. Peter’s Church, Hook Norton
Conductor: Peter Hunt
Three Oxbridge Music Professors:
Sir Charles Stanford – Three Motets Op. 38
Sir Hubert Parry – selection of Songs of Farewell
Sir John Stainer – The Crucifixion
2005
Saturday, 10th December 2005
St. Mary’s Church, Chipping Norton
Christmastide Concert:
An evening of carols, readings and seasonal songs for the choir and family audience
Looking back further…
(thanks to Roger Stein for the research)
June 2005
Tippett – A Child of Our Time
2004
December 2004
Vivaldi – Gloria
Haydn – Little Organ Mass
Hummel – Mass in Bb
June 2004
Summer Concert: ForeverEngland!
Rutter – The Reluctant Dragon
2003
December 2003
J.S. Bach – Sleepers Wake
Vaughan Williams – Fantasia on Christmas Carols
Mathias – Ave Rex
May 2003
Rossini – Petite Messe Solennelle
2002
December 2002
J.S. Bach – Christmas Oratorio
May 2002
Brahms – Songs of Love
Elgar – From the Bavarian Highlands
2001
December 2001
Charpentier – Messe de Minuit
Fauré – Requiem
May 2001
Sullivan – Trial by Jury; and lighter pieces
February 2001
J.S. Bach – St. Matthew Passion
2000
March 2000
Rutter – Requiem
Andrew Carter – Benedicite
1999
December 1999
Handel – Messiah
May 1999
Mozart – Requiem and Great Mass in C Minor (conducted by Shauni)
1998
December 1998
Britten – Ceremony of Carols
March 1998
Monteverdi – Vespers
1997
November 1997
Dvorák – Mass in D
Kodály – Missa Brevis (Peter’s first concert)
July 1997
Music for a Summer Evening (conducted by Shauni)
March 1997
Handel – Israel in Egypt (Stewart Taylor’s final concert)
1996
November 1996
Fauré – Requiem (from scratch)
June 1996
Purcell – The Fairy Queen
1995
November 1995
Haydn – St. Nicolas Mass
Mozart – Piano Concerto in F K459 (Michael Liddell, soloist)
Britten – St. Nicolas
March 1995
Mendelssohn – Elijah
1994
November 1994
Music for Choir and Organ:
Parry – I was Glad
Gardiner – Evening Hymn
Parry – Blest Pair of Sirens
Durufle – RequiemPlus organ solos performed by Thomas Trotter
June 1994
Handel – Chandos Anthem No 11 “Let God Arise” and Acis and Galatea
March 1994
J.S. Bach – Mass in B minor
1993
Summer 1993
Pergolesi – Magnificat
Schubert – Mass in G
March 1993
Purcell – Rejoice in the Lord Alway
J.S. Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
Handel – Dixit Dominus
1992
November 1992
Brahms – A German Requiem
June 1992
German – Merrie England
April 1992
J.S. Bach – St. John Passion
1991
November 1991
Mozart – Solemn Vespers and Mass in C
June 1991
Purcell – Bell Anthem, Come ye sons of art and King Arthur
March 1991
Stainer – Crucifixion
1990
November 1990
Vivaldi – Gloria
Haydn – Nelson Mass
July 1990
Handel – Semele
March 1990
Handel – Coronation Anthems
J.S. Bach – Magnificat
1989
November 1989
Handel – Messiah