Mirfield Choral Society

15/04/2026

Great to be back rehearsing on Monday after our Easter break. We had a brilliant time singing musical theatre favourites from Les Miserables and My Fair Lady, as well as practising being Toreadors.

Now is a great time to join our choir! We're a friendly group, and we have an enjoyable time every week, our rehearsals have an encouraging atmosphere, where we're guided by our expert professional musicians and we love performing to supportive audiences.

Come along to a Monday rehearsal, your first four are free!

Tickets will be on sale soon, keep an eye out for details.

22/03/2026

Thanks to all who came to our concert yesterday, we were thrilled to perform alongside our amazing soloists and virtuosic keyboard players!

Ann Wilkes, Charlotte Woodhead, Peter Cain and James Gaughan formed a wonderful vocal quartet, and Lee Ward and our very own Ian Abbott provided us with exquisite and sensitive accompaniment.

The choir is growing and going from strength to strength, and we've been pleased to welcome a number of new singers over the past few months. Would you like to join us? Message on here or contact [email protected] for more info, your first four weeks are free.

21/03/2026

It's concert day!

There are still some tickets available on the door, you're in for a treat with our outstanding lineup of soloists, organ and piano duo!

The choir have been working incredibly hard over the past few weeks, and the music ranges from hauntingly beauty to infectious earworms!

See you there

Have you got your tickets yet? It's just over one week to go until our spring concert, where we will be performing Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle.

Not familiar with the work? Don't be fooled by the solemn title! Rossini, an absolute master of comic opera tried his hardest to write a serious sacred work, but couldn't help but write wonderful joyful music, straight out of the opera house.

We have four stunning soloists lined up for you, and we are delighted to be joined by Lee Ward, organist alongside our incredible accompanist Ian Abbott. The work contains beautiful operatic style solos, alongside choral movements ranging from hauntingly beautfil to athletic, and we guarantee you'll leave humming some of Rossini's infectiously melodic writing!

Tickets availalble by messaging on here, or contacting [email protected]

20/03/2026

We have another very important guest to introduce, Lee Ward will be playing organ alongside our accompanist Ian Abbott. Here's Lee's biography, and we guarantee that you'll be impressed by his playing.

Leeds musician Lee Ward is an organist, harpsichordist, conductor and teacher with a career that spans cathedrals, concert halls and universities across the UK and Brazil. His recent work includes distinguished appointments at Liverpool Cathedral and the University of Liverpool, where he taught classical performance and was a sought-after collaborative pianist and harpsichordist.

A former Foundation Scholar at the Royal College of Music—where he swept all the organ prizes—Lee has performed widely at home and abroad, giving recitals in major cathedrals and town halls. His recording and broadcast credits include the historic Beatification of Cardinal Newman, attended by Pope Benedict XVI.

Passionate about the harpsichord, particularly its twenty‑first‑century repertoire, Lee is equally at home in continuo roles. He has worked with leading ensembles including OSM and OSESP in Brazil the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Opera North, The Halle and London Mozart Players. Today he continues an active freelance career, performing, accompanying and directing choirs with his trademark musicality and versatility.

19/03/2026

Introducing the final soloist for our concert this Saturday, James Gaughan, completing our quartet, we can't wait to hear them performing together. Have you got your tickets yet?

James was born in Grantham, where he received his early training in singing from Doreen Palmer.
Whilst an economics undergraduate at the University of York, James enjoyed performing in light
opera productions and as part of local choirs.
After graduating with a Masters in Health Economics in 2010, James began working as a researcher
and continued his vocal studies privately with Michael de Costa and later Valerie Parker. In 2012, he
gave his first professional performance as bass soloist in Messiah with Market Rasen and District
Choral Society and Lincoln Pro Musica. James now performs regularly as a soloist with choirs and
choral societies. Previous engagements include with East Riding County Choir; Holmfirth Choral
Society; Hull Choral Union and Ruddington and District Choral Society (Nottingham). Previous pieces
include Elijah (Mendelssohn); Ein Deutsches Requiem (Brahms); Requiem (Faure); and Nelson Mass
(Haydn).
In 2016, James won a number of local competitive festivals including: the Rosebowl prize at the Mrs
Sunderland Festival (Huddersfield) and Rothwell Festival (Leeds) and Victor Ludorum Shield for
Senior Singing at the Cottingham Festival. He also began giving regular recitals throughout the U.K.
including at Bristol, Carlisle, Manchester, St Mary’s (Edinburgh) and Ripon Cathedrals among others.

In 2020, James combined completing his doctorate in Economics with adding professional choral
singing to his musical life. He is currently a regular dep for the choirs of Bradford and Sheffield
Cathedrals.
As a recitalist, James enjoys creating innovative programmes drawn mainly from the English Song
and Lieder traditions. Well-loved classics and less familiar gems are bound together through spoken
introductions to the internal narrative which inspired the selections.
More details about past experience and upcoming engagements available at
www.jamesgaughan.com and on Facebook.

18/03/2026

Now to showcase our alto soloist, Charlotte Woodhead. Charlotte will be a familiar face to our audience, as she has performed Vivaldi's Gloria and Mozart Requiem with us, so it's great to have a repeat visit!

Charlotte is a Choral Director with the RPS Award winning Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme, with many years of experience in teaching whole class singing in primary and secondary schools, founding new children’s choirs and leading performance projects. She currently studies singing with Hannah Mason and has made solo appearances as a mezzo-soprano for choral societies throughout the UK.

A qualified secondary music teacher, Charlotte graduated in 2011 from the University of Birmingham with a First in Music, specialising in performance and with a choral scholarship at St. Chad’s Cathedral. In 2020, she completed the PGCert Vocal Pedagogy with Voice Study Centre and the University of Wales Trinity St. David. Alongside this she has tutored and led workshops for Fulneck School, Yorkshire Youth Choir and the Society of Heads.

17/03/2026

We're introducing our fantastic tenor soloist today, Peter Cain. Peter has sung for the choir many times now, and we always enjoy his performances at our concerts, whether it's for Mozart Requiem or Messiah!

Peter's biography:

Peter Cain began his vocal studies at college in Liverpool under the direction of Jean Gordon-Brown. On completion of his studies at Huddersfield University, Peter began lessons with Nigel Cliffe and the late David Lennox (formerly of Covent Garden). Peter took several major roles in the University's Student Opera productions, attracting critical acclaim for his performance in the Marriage of Figaro. Since graduating in 1996, he has concentrated mainly on Oratorio work and is in great demand at both Christmas and Easter time. Other highlights of his work have included a concert of opera favourites with the Chesterfield Symphony Orchestra and singing solo on BBC Radio 4'S Daily Service. Many performances with local societies have brought much praise. More recently, Peter has become a regular choral professional with both Sheffield and Bradford Cathedral choirs.

Peter is a teacher of voice and classical guitar and holds a performance diploma in the latter.

16/03/2026

In the run up to our concert on Saturday, we're introducing our four incredible soloists. First of all, it's our soprano soloist, Ann Wilkes. Ann sang with us in October for our community concert, and was one of our soloists for our brilliant Mozart Requiem last year, and we're delighted that she's returning this year for Rossini.

Yorkshire born Ann Wilkes studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, and was awarded a first-class honours undergraduate degree and her masters. Ann is an experienced Oratorio singer with highlights including: Bach’s Cantatas 140 and 147, Brahms’ Requiem, Faure’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Missa in angustiis, Paukenmesse, and Theresienmesse, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Requiem and Solemn Vespers, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Poulenc’s Gloria and Vivaldi’s Beatus Vir, Gloria, and Magnificat.

Ann also enjoys performing contemporary pieces and was one of the featured soloists in the world premiere of Citizens of Nowhere, composed by Anna Appleby, at the Tête-à-Tête Opera Festival. She also premiered Fireworks by Grace-Evangeline Mason, a solo written for Ann with a symphony orchestra. Ann lives in Manchester and works as Fundraising Officer for the charity Manchester Action on Street Health. She sings with the psychedelic-folk band Cobalt Chapel, is trying to learn the Bowed Psaltery, and enjoys exploring the folk repertoire.

15/03/2026

Besides brilliant choral writing, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle contains some absolutely fantastic solo movements.

Have a listen to this wonderful performance of Domine Deus (one of the tenor solos) any you will hear Rossini's mastery of operatic vocal writing. It's also a perfect illustration of the fact that this music is in no way solemn.

Have you got your tickets yet? Our concert is on Saturday 21st March, 7.30 pm at Trinity Methodist Church, Mirfield.

Tickets are available by messaging us on here or contacting [email protected]

In case you want to support our house and the artists through these uncertain times you can make a donation via this link: http://bit.ly/donation-nobA wonder...

14/03/2026

Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle is wonderful, and if you're not familiar with the work then have a listen to this, featuring one of the earworms around the 50 second mark!

A true opera composer at heart, the 'Cum Sancto Spiritu' (With the Holy Spirit) is overflowing with joy, it's essentially the first act finale, and features the whole choir.

Get your tickets now for our concert on Saturday 21st March, 7.30 pm at Trinity Methodist Church, Mirfield.

Message us on here or contact [email protected] for tickets.

Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) – Petite messe solennelleCum Sancto SpirituLaurens Vocaal gives students the opportunity to be trained in the profession of cho...

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