A brief history of Reigate and Redhill Choral Society

View of orchestra in Harlequin Theatre The society was founded in 1941 and has been part of the musical life of the area continuously since that time, presenting concerts not only in the Harlequin Theatre, but also in a number of local churches. The first concert we presented was Handel's Messiah and since then we have been proud to present not only the great choral masterpieces, but new and unusual repertoire which has both delighted and challenged our members and audiences.

Many of today's top soloists began their careers singing solo roles with amateur choral societies, and we are no exception. The pattern began with our performance of Elijah in 1942, which featured Isobel Baillie as one of the soloists. The trend has continued since then; examples from subsequent decades include John Shirley Quirk in Bach's St. Matthew Passion in 1964, Philip Langridge in Dyson's Canterbury Pilgrims in 1970, Catherine Wyn Rogers in our 1984 performance of Elijah, and Katerina Karnéus in Bach's Mass in B Minor in 1994.

Not all of our previous soloists progressed as singers. Included here are Roger Norrington (now Sir Roger) as the tenor soloist in the 1964 Messiah,who is now better known as a conductor, and Brian Kay, the baritone soloist in the Fauré Requiem we performed in 1971 who now pursues a busy career as a singer, conductor and Radio 3 presenter. Most notable amongst those who have subsequently excelled on the podium is our music director in the 1956 season, Sir Colin Davis, who is now the Society's President. Further details of our past performances are on the Past Concerts web page; this includes details of the repertoire we have performed, together with details of the soloists, conductor, orchestra, date and performance venue.

More recently we have undertaken several new initiatives. In 1999 we brought together choral singers from all over the South East to join in the first ever Surrey Choral Festival, held at Donyngs Recreation Centre in Redhill. This has now become a highlight of our calendar, with the Surrey Choral Festival taking place every second year at the Harlequin Theatre, Redhill. Other recent events include a tour to France (singing at La Madeleine and in Brunoy, where we gave the French premiere of Richard Blackford's Mirror of Perfection), a Gospel Workshop, and our debut CD recording.

If this has whetted your appetite to hear more, why not come to our next concert? We look forward to meeting you!

For further information: call 01737 772811 or email info@rrcs.org.uk
	Reigate & Redhill Choral Society is affiliated to Making Music: The National Federation of Music Societies and gratefully acknowledges support received from the Borough of Reigate & Banstead Arts Council. Registered Charity No 280195

All photos and written material may not be reproduced in any form without express written consent of the Trustees of RRCS