Making Music Virtual Christmas Concert
The choir has sent its virtual recording of Gabriel's Message to the concert to be broadcast on
Tuesday, 15 December 2020 - 7:00pm
It's FREE
Here's our effort:
Sunday 22nd March 2020
Concert CANCELLED
Jonathan Dove – Arion and the Dolphin (with children’s choir)
Carl Orff – Carmina Burana
Soprano Barbara Cole Walton
Countertenor Matthew Paine
Piano 1- Anne Robertson
Piano 2- Helena Cheong
Percussion-
Thomas Lowe
David Kerr
Jon Chapman
Daniel Fairley
James Chong
Anne Evans

Sunday, December 15th, 1930
Helensburgh Parish Church
G F Handel, Messiah
Conductor - Susannah Wapshott
Leader -Justine Watts
Soloists -
Soprano Sarah Power
Alto Katie Grosset
Tenor David Lyn
Bass Phil Gault
Sunday 19th May 2019, 7:30 pm
Helensburgh Parish Church
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem
Leonard Bernstein: Chichester Psalms
Conductor - Susannah Wapshott
Sunday 9 December 2018
A Winter Uplifter!
George Shearing: Songs and Sonnets
Carmichael arr. Rutter: Skylark
Will Todd: Mass in Blue
The Will Todd Ensemble

Musical Director – Jonathon Swinard
Sunday 15 April, 7:30pm
Helensburgh Parish Church
Originally commissioned by the Birmingham Festival, and first performed in 1846, Mendelssohn’s dramatic and emotional oratorio tells the story of the Old Testament prophet and miracle-worker, Elijah.
This luscious work has special significance for the Oratorio Choir, as Elijah was the first piece that we ever performed and has not been repeated since 1963!
We welcome four acclaimed soloists: international baritone Roland Wood, former Scottish Opera Emerging Artists Elgan Llyr Thomas (tenor) and Sioned Gwen Davies (mezzo), and English National Opera Harewood Artist Eleanor Dennis (soprano).
The concert also features pupils from Lomond School, Cardross Primary and Arrochar Primary and will be accompanied by orchestral players from Scottish Ballet, Scottish Opera, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland – led by Justine Watts.
TICKETS: £12 (adults); £6 (students); £2 (under 16s)
Pre-concert talk with Jonathon Swinard
“Mendelssohn, Miracles, and a Man with a beard”
Helensburgh Parish Church, Small Hall, 6:45pm (£3)
Sunday 5 November, 1930, Helensburgh Parish Church
Winter Concert: ‘Sound the trumpet, beat the drums’
Johann Sebastian Bach – Cantata 214, “Tönet ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten!”
Joseph Haydn – Paukenmesse “Mass in time of War”

Justine Watts, Orchestra leader
Justine Watts studied at the Royal Academy of Music London where she lead all the orchestras and was one of the only two in her year to receive the Recital Diploma with distinction. She also lead the YMSO, and the Phoenix Chamber Orchestra and was selected to perform the Elgar Concerto with the RAM Symphony Orchestra and the first solo violin in Tippet's Fantasia for double string orchestra with Tippet conducting.

Canadian soprano, Barbara Cole Walton, holds an MMus in Opera (Distinction) from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She was on the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s 2016 30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30 and was a Finalist in the Bampton Classical Opera Young Singers’ Competition. As well as a busy career in Opera and Concert Barbara runs active singing studios in the southside of Glasgow and Helensburgh.

Judy Brown read music at the University of Edinburgh and received her Masters in Vocal Performance from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. In demand as a soloist and consort singer with a broad range and extensive repertoire, she has been described by Opera Magazine as singing with “steadiness, purity, dignity, and command”.

Robert Forrest, tenor
Robert Forrest is a current post-graduate student at the Royal College of Music, supported by the Douglas and Hilda Simmons Scholarship. He was born and educated in Cambridge, completed his schooling in Edinburgh and Aberdeen and graduated in 2016 with BMus (Hons) from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

James Corrigan, bass
Following the completion of a Law Degree at the University of Aberdeen James Corrigan trained in at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Since graduating in 2015, James has worked in various projects, including: singing the role of The Husband in the UK premier of Philip Glass and Robert Moran’s The Juniper Tree, performing as part of Janice Kerbel’s 2015/2016 Turner Prize entry, Doug, and singing Papageno in a new Scots language translation of The Magic Flute.

Justine Watts, Orchestra leader
Justine Watts studied at the Royal Academy of Music London where she lead all the orchestras and was one of the only two in her year to receive the Recital Diploma with distinction. She also lead the YMSO, and the Phoenix Chamber Orchestra and was selected to perform the Elgar Concerto with the RAM Symphony Orchestra and the first solo violin in Tippet's Fantasia for double string orchestra with Tippet conducting.

Canadian soprano, Barbara Cole Walton, holds an MMus in Opera (Distinction) from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She was on the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s 2016 30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30 and was a Finalist in the Bampton Classical Opera Young Singers’ Competition. As well as a busy career in Opera and Concert Barbara runs active singing studios in the southside of Glasgow and Helensburgh.

Judy Brown read music at the University of Edinburgh and received her Masters in Vocal Performance from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. In demand as a soloist and consort singer with a broad range and extensive repertoire, she has been described by Opera Magazine as singing with “steadiness, purity, dignity, and command”.

Robert Forrest, tenor
Robert Forrest is a current post-graduate student at the Royal College of Music, supported by the Douglas and Hilda Simmons Scholarship. He was born and educated in Cambridge, completed his schooling in Edinburgh and Aberdeen and graduated in 2016 with BMus (Hons) from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

James Corrigan, bass
Following the completion of a Law Degree at the University of Aberdeen James Corrigan trained in at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Since graduating in 2015, James has worked in various projects, including: singing the role of The Husband in the UK premier of Philip Glass and Robert Moran’s The Juniper Tree, performing as part of Janice Kerbel’s 2015/2016 Turner Prize entry, Doug, and singing Papageno in a new Scots language translation of The Magic Flute.

Justine Watts, Orchestra leader
Justine Watts studied at the Royal Academy of Music London where she lead all the orchestras and was one of the only two in her year to receive the Recital Diploma with distinction. She also lead the YMSO, and the Phoenix Chamber Orchestra and was selected to perform the Elgar Concerto with the RAM Symphony Orchestra and the first solo violin in Tippet's Fantasia for double string orchestra with Tippet conducting.

Canadian soprano, Barbara Cole Walton, holds an MMus in Opera (Distinction) from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She was on the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s 2016 30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30 and was a Finalist in the Bampton Classical Opera Young Singers’ Competition. As well as a busy career in Opera and Concert Barbara runs active singing studios in the southside of Glasgow and Helensburgh.

Judy Brown read music at the University of Edinburgh and received her Masters in Vocal Performance from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. In demand as a soloist and consort singer with a broad range and extensive repertoire, she has been described by Opera Magazine as singing with “steadiness, purity, dignity, and command”.

Robert Forrest, tenor
Robert Forrest is a current post-graduate student at the Royal College of Music, supported by the Douglas and Hilda Simmons Scholarship. He was born and educated in Cambridge, completed his schooling in Edinburgh and Aberdeen and graduated in 2016 with BMus (Hons) from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

James Corrigan, bass
Following the completion of a Law Degree at the University of Aberdeen James Corrigan trained in at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Since graduating in 2015, James has worked in various projects, including: singing the role of The Husband in the UK premier of Philip Glass and Robert Moran’s The Juniper Tree, performing as part of Janice Kerbel’s 2015/2016 Turner Prize entry, Doug, and singing Papageno in a new Scots language translation of The Magic Flute.
Conductor Jonathon Swinard
Leoncavallo: Bell Chorus from Pagliacci
Verdi: Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Nabucco
Mascagni, Easter Hymn from Cavalleria Rusticana
Puccini: Messe de Gloria
Sunday, April 23rd 7:30 pm
Helensburgh Parish Church.
Tickets: £12 adults, £6 children.
Available from Scandinavian Shop, Church office and at the door
Soloists
We are very fortunate to have three excellent young soloists performing with us.
Born in Birmingham, Christopher Turner read Music at the University of Hull, furthering his studies with Barbara Robotham at the Royal Northern College of Music and at the National Opera Studio, where he was sponsored by the Scottish Endowment Trust and The Friends of Covent Garden.
A former Head Chorister of Westminster Abbey, David Stout studied Zoology at Durham University, sang with the choir of St John’s College, Cambridge University and studied Opera at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Rudolf Piernay, where he was recipient of the Principal’s Prize.
Sioned Gwen is from Colwyn Bay, North Wales. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where she gained a MMus degree and in 2012 completed her post graduate studies on their Opera Course.
Sioned will be representing Wales in Cardiff Singer of the World 2017 after winning the Welsh Singer Competition 2016 in St. David's Hall Cardiff on the 25th May.
Big Saturday Sing
Our Big Saturday Sing was held on Saturday, January 21st, 2017 from 10:30 - 18:00, in the Helensburgh Parish Church.
As superb day was had by all. The free concert was very well attended. A retiral collection in favour of Alzheimer Scotland collected a total of £860.
On Tuesday January 31st at the choir's scheduled rehearsal our Chairman Alicia Tindal and our Music Director Jonathon Swinard presented a cheque for £1000 to Bronwyn O'Riordan of the local Alzheimer association.
Performance at 17:00
in aid of Alzheimer Scotland
Come and Sing some of the world's favourite choruses, including:
Handel: Zadok the Priest
Verdi: Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (Nabucco)
Bizet: Habenera (Carmen)
Plus - Choruses by Mozart and Purcell
HOC Member (no music) £10
Singer (includes music) £12
Student / full time education £5
