The Oriel Singers

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The Oriel Singers One of the leading chamber choirs in Gloucestershire, celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2025, and former BBC Choir of the Year.

We’re very excited to be presenting Bach, and All That Jazz, a concert of motets by J.S. and J.C. Bach, interspersed wit...
20/04/2026

We’re very excited to be presenting Bach, and All That Jazz, a concert of motets by J.S. and J.C. Bach, interspersed with jazz improvisations inspired by the themes of the motets.

The inherent jazz undertones that can be found in the harmonic language and rhythmic counterpoint of both Bachs’ music will make this an intriguing and enjoyable evening of music, for lovers of Jazz and Choral Motets alike - and indeed, for lovers of both.

We are very fortunate to be joined by our jazz instrumentalists: The David Gordon Quartet, comprising David Gordon on Piano, James Ayre on Drums, Dave Ayre on Bass, and Dom Franks on Saxophone. The Oriel Singers are directed by Ben Sawyer.

This concert is at 8pm on Thursday 25th June 2026, at St. Andrew’s Church, Montepellier Street, Cheltenham, GL50 1SP. The concert will last about an hour with no interval. Tickets are £15, or for under-18s and students, £2, and are on sale now.

🎷🥁🎹🎻🎶

What a fantastic weekend we’ve had being hosted by St Davids Cathedral. It’s been a very special privilege to sing servi...
14/04/2026

What a fantastic weekend we’ve had being hosted by St Davids Cathedral. It’s been a very special privilege to sing services at the cathedral.

Music we’ve featured includes:
* Missa Brevis - Grayston Ives
* St Martin’s Service - .music
* Antiphon - Benjamin Britten
* My Beloved Spake - John Sanders
* Alleluia, I Heard a Voice - Janet Wheeler
* Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in F Minor - Alan Gray
* Preces and Responses - Richard Ayleward

We were directed musically by Ben Sawyer and our organist was Andrew Caskie.

This term, we've got some fantastic performances coming up, including next weekend's cathedral tour to St David's Cathed...
05/04/2026

This term, we've got some fantastic performances coming up, including next weekend's cathedral tour to St David's Cathedral, where we will be helping celebrate Evensong and the Eucharist, as well as rounding off 2025/26 with a late-night appearance at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester at the end of July.

We'll also be performing a programme of Bach and Jazz in June - watch this space for more about this very exciting performance!

On Sunday, 8th March, its International Women’s Day. And the day before, Saturday 7th, is I Heard A Voice: Spring Concer...
06/03/2026

On Sunday, 8th March, its International Women’s Day. And the day before, Saturday 7th, is I Heard A Voice: Spring Concert, featuring a number of pieces from this collection: Multitude of Voyces Volume 1, Sacred Music by Women Composers.

We will be featuring Imogen Holst’s A Hymne to Christ; Cecilia McDowall’s The Lord is Good; Undine Smith Moore’s We Shall Walk through the Valley; and Janet Wheeler’s Alleluia, I heard a voice. The latter, of course, being the source of our concert’s name.

We hope you’ll be able to join us from 4pm for refreshments, full details and tickets available in the event linked above.

Thule, (THYOO-lee) the land beyond the horizon to the north, just waiting to be discovered. But that’s far from the only...
23/02/2026

Thule, (THYOO-lee) the land beyond the horizon to the north, just waiting to be discovered. But that’s far from the only unlikely thing to be mentioned in this two-part madrigal about love (with “Thule, The Period of Cosmography” being followed by “The Andalusian Merchant”), both of which we're performing at I Heard A Voice: Spring Concert.

Not only shall our hearts both freeze with fear, but also fry with love. Mount Etna shall erupt, and the air shall be filled with flying fishes. Nothing is stranger or more wondrous than love, not even these various unlikely happenings, says Thomas Weelkes (1575-1623), who published these two madrigals in 1600.

Weelkes was at the time organist at Wi******er College, and would soon go on to be appointed organist and chorister instructor at Chichester Cathedral. His contribution to English madrigals are perhaps some of the most important in the canon.

We’re delighted to be singing both parts of this madrigal at our concert on Saturday 7th March.

We’re looking forward to featuring two works by Bob Chilcott in I Heard A Voice: Spring Concert, in a few weeks in Chelt...
19/02/2026

We’re looking forward to featuring two works by Bob Chilcott in I Heard A Voice: Spring Concert, in a few weeks in Cheltenham.

“Sun, Moon, Sea, and Stars” and “Thou, My Love, Art Fair” are both a delight to sing, both featuring a rich underlay of close harmony that gives all parts of a choir the chance to shine, and adds a touch of jazz to any programme.

The baritone writing this post, is of course biased towards the former piece, but that’s only because baritones get the melody throughout. They’re both fantastic to listen to, as well as to sing - this author recommends having a listen to them both.

Bob Chilcott is an English composer of choral music, whose works span many genres, as well as a choir conductor, director, and singer. He was a chorister and choral scholar in the choir of King’s College, Cambridge; and he is a former member of the King’s Singers (1985-97, tenor). He is, since 2019, Principal Conductor of the Birmingham University Singers, and since 2002 is Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Singers. His Christian faith has inspired him to write a great many works for church choirs, as well as secular music. He celebrated his 70th birthday last year.

We’re delighted to be featuring this arrangement of “We Shall Walk through the Valley”, an African-American spiritual, a...
14/02/2026

We’re delighted to be featuring this arrangement of “We Shall Walk through the Valley”, an African-American spiritual, arranged here by Undine Smith Moore for I Heard A Voice: Spring Concert.

She is often known as the “Dean of Black Women Composers”, for her many years as a teacher and educator, latterly at the Virginia Union University, but is also known for her time at Fisk University, being the first student from that historically black university to be awarded a scholarship from the Juilliard School, in 1924. As well as composing choral works and teaching, Smith Moore was also a student of piano and organ, and composed for both. She also was a choir director, running a high school choir in Chesterfield, Virginia.

She was born in 1904, the granddaughter of slaves, and died in 1989. Her prolific output of especially choral and vocal compositions and arrangements continues to inspire artists today, and we are delighted to feature her work once more.

Our concert, “I Heard a Voice” is on Saturday 7th March, at 4:30pm, with refreshments from 4pm, in Cheltenham. Find out more in the event, linked at the top of the post.

Tickets for I Heard A Voice: Spring Concert are now on sale! Have a look at the event for the link.This concert is a bea...
18/01/2026

Tickets for I Heard A Voice: Spring Concert are now on sale! Have a look at the event for the link.

This concert is a beautiful mix of unaccompanied English madrigals, contemporary sacred works, and part songs, featuring pieces by Bob Chilcott, Cecilia McDowall, Imogen Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams, amongst others.

If you would like to join us from 4pm for tea and coffee, you're also welcome to - this is included in your ticket.

Keep in touch as we share a sneak preview of the music over the coming weeks.

Wow! Our generous audience from Carols for Christmas with The Oriel Singers raised over £570 for Sue Ryder Leckhampton C...
05/01/2026

Wow! Our generous audience from Carols for Christmas with The Oriel Singers raised over £570 for Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court 😮👏

Thank you to everyone who supported this worthy cause!

What a wonderful concert, Carols for Christmas with The Oriel Singers, at Holy Apostles we had tonight. We’d like to par...
19/12/2025

What a wonderful concert, Carols for Christmas with The Oriel Singers, at Holy Apostles we had tonight. We’d like to particularly thank the composers and arrangers present, as well as our long-time fans who come to see us time and time again. Special thanks also to Simon Bell who accompanied us on Organ and Piano, and to our Musical Director Ben Sawyer, who put together a really fantastic programme this year!

The Oriel Singers wishes you, your friends, and your family, a peaceful and relaxing Christmas, and a happy and prosperous new year.

We’ll see you in 2026! Exciting things to come! 👀👀

Carols for Christmas with The Oriel Singers is tonight! The Oriel Singers have been working hard for the past couple of ...
19/12/2025

Carols for Christmas with The Oriel Singers is tonight! The Oriel Singers have been working hard for the past couple of months to prepare this concert for you.

We especially welcome families with a significant discount on tickets for children under 18 and students. Tickets include seasonal refreshments!

We also will be hosting a retiring collection for Sue Ryder.

Full details including tickets can be found in the event linked above.

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