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Feltham, Middlesex, UK. Registered Charity No.290120
Musical Director: Philip Buckmaster
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Site last updated: 27th May, 2009. Please scroll down to see the rest of the page. Underlined words are hyperlinks and clicking on them will take you to other pages or other places on this page. (Best viewed at 1024x768 or higher.)
Please note: the information given on this site may need to be changed or updated from time to time. Please re-visit this page from time to time to ensure you have the latest details, especially regarding concert details.
Number of visitors since 15/04/2004:
Contents
The Choir / Hear us / See us / Find us / Our Musical Director / Choir Contacts / Box Office / Works Performed /
Forthcoming Concerts / Members' Information / Prospective Soloists' Information
Feltham Choral Society was formed in 1973, when a group of singers got together to perform Handel's Messiah. Since then many types of music have been performed, from Renaissance right through to contemporary commissioned works. We are a friendly choir, currently with around 30 members, and are affiliated to Making Music (formerly the National Federation of Music Societies). We rehearse on Wednesdays at St. Dunstan's Church, St. Dunstan's Road, Feltham, from 7.30 to 9.30pm, with a break for refreshments and a chat.
We perform 3 or 4 concerts per year, although there are usually other opportunities to sing, eg. Christmas Carols at local venues. As often as we can afford it, we employ professional soloists and orchestral players to enhance our concerts. For Baroque concerts, we usually engage an Early Music specialist orchestra. For details of our future concerts, click here: Forthcoming Concerts
To help cover running costs (eg. hire of church, musical director's, accompanist's, soloist's and orchestral players' professional fees) there is an evening class type subscription fee, which is currently £100 for the year September 2005 to July 2006, with a concessionary rate of £75 for students, senior citizens and unwaged. However, a £5 discount applies if full payment is received before the end of October, and arrangements can be made to pay in instalments if preferred. New members joining during the year pay the remaining proportion of the fee. When you consider that the full fee works out at less than £3 per evening, it is extremely good value for money; also bear in mind that concerts with an orchestra and soloists can cost in the region of £3,000. We also arrange social and fund raising events throughout the year to help cover costs.
There is no formal audition to join the choir - our Musical Director will assess your ability and progress during the first rehearsals and advise you accordingly. Although the ability to read music is obviously an asset, a quick ear and a willingness to learn and to fit in, both vocally and personally, are equally important. You can sing with the choir for up to 3 weeks before committing yourself.
Choose one of the files below according to your connection speed:
Faure-Sanctus-HighQuality.mp3 (2Mb)
Faure-Sanctus-LowQuality.mp3 (0.4Mb)
Note: If clicking these links doesn't work on your computer, you can right click, choose "Save Target As...", select a folder to save in, and download the file. You will then be able to play it. (You can then delete the file after use.)
Photo Album (These pages may take some time to load, especially if you have a slow connection. Please be patient!)
Go to a Map showing the location of St Dunstan's Road and Church, where we rehearse and hold most of our concerts. St Dunstan's is in the centre square. You can click on the arrows to move the map in any direction. Alternatively, if you click on the words Large Map just below, you can see a wider area. Finally, if you click on the - (minus) sign underneath the map (towards the right hand corner) you can zoom out to see a less detailed map which covers the whole of West London out as far as Bracknell. And so on! The nearest postcode is TW13 4JY.
N.B. Clicking on this link will take you to streetmap.co.uk - to return to FCS, just click on your browser's 'back' button.
Philip Buckmaster studied music under Tony Russell and Gillian Ward Russell before attending the Colchester Institute School of Music, where he was awarded an honours degree, studying the organ under John Cooper and Harrison Oxley and gaining the ARCO diploma, the piano under Ruth Harte, conducting under Chris Phelps, harmony and counterpoint under Alan Bullard, also playing the violin in the orchestra and singing in the chamber choir (conductor Ian Ray). He then followed a specialist course for music teachers at Kingston University, and now enjoys a varied career in and around London, playing, teaching, directing, composing and arranging. He has taught music to A level in secondary schools, including at the Elmhurst School of Dance and Performing Arts, where he worked part time for many years in various capacities, both as a musician and as a computer expert, until their relocation to Birmingham in 2004. He currently teaches piano and violin at Gumley House Convent School in Isleworth, music theory with Richmond Music Trust, and leads children's ensembles using his own specially tailored compositions, in addition to teaching privately at home. He has directed music at local churches, (currently St Matthew's, Ashford) and has arranged, recorded and produced a collection of songs for foreign children learning English. He has been Musical Director of Feltham Choral Society since 1991 and with them has performed several of his own arrangements and compositions. He is a member of the composers' web site "compositiontoday.com", and can be found at http://www.compositiontoday.com/philip_buckmaster/. In September 2005 he founded the Ashford Baroque Ensemble, a specialist ensemble playing music from c.1575 - 1775 to a high standard. Always guilty of "spreading himself too thinly", from 1993 until recently he also ran a part time business in building, maintaining and upgrading computers - naturally with music applications a speciality - and now supports ICT at St Ignatius RC Primary School in Sunbury. He is married with two children.
To join the choir or to come and try singing with us, just turn up at a rehearsal, or phone: 01932 783343 (Musical Director) for more information. To become a patron or to sponsor the choir, phone: 020 8894 1520. Or you can e-mail info@felthamchoralsociety.org.uk for any other information you require.
To purchase tickets for concerts, phone 020 8890 0238. Concessionary tickets are usually available for children, students, senior citizens and unemployed, and family tickets are available at some concerts - for example carol concerts with audience participation.
Some of the choral works we have performed (in chronological order by birth of composer):
Charpentier: Messe de Minuit
Purcell: Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, 1692; selections from The Fairy Queen
Vivaldi: Gloria in D
JS Bach: Magnificat; Cantatas no.131 & 140; Jesu, Meine Freude
CPE Bach: Magnificat
Handel: Messiah; Chandos Anthems: O Praise the Lord with one
Consent; My Song shall be Alway; Coronation Anthem: Zadok the Priest
Haydn: Creation; Theresa Mass in Bb; The Seven Last Words of
Christ (Passion), The 'Little Organ' Mass
Mozart: Requiem; Missa Brevis in F; Missa Brevis in D;
Spatzenmesse in C; Coronation Mass in C; Inter Natos Mulierum; Vesperae Solennes
de Dominica
Hummel: Mass in Bb
Beethoven: Mass in C
Rossini: Petite Messe Solennelle
Schubert: Mass in G, Mass in Bb
Mendelssohn: Elijah; St Paul
Liszt: Missa Brevis
Offenbach: Orpheus in the Underworld
Bruckner: Requiem & Motets
Brahms: Liebeslieder Waltzes; Gipsy Songs; Motets
Stainer: Crucifixion
Fauré: Requiem
Parry: Blest Pair of Sirens; I was Glad
Léhar: The Merry Widow
Kodaly: Pange Lingua
Armstrong Gibbs: The Turning Year
Duruflé: Requiem
Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb
Geoffrey Bush: Christmas Cantata
Bullard: This is
Our World (specially commissioned by the choir)
Buckmaster: Full Fathom Five; The
Christmas Collection
Also:
English part songs, folk songs and madrigals
Opera arias and choruses
Excerpts from shows: Pirates of Penzance, Oklahoma, Oliver, West
Side Story, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, etc.
Summer Concert 2009
Saturday, 27th June, 7.30pm
At: St Dunstan's Church, St Dunstan's Road, Feltham
An Evening at the Opera
Excerpts from your favourite operas, including Smetana's The Bartered Bride
with Buffet Supper, a glass of wine & soft drinks included!
Tickets: £12, concessions £10 in advance
£13 & £11 on the door
Please note: to help with the catering, please book in advance if possible.
Box Office: 020 8890 0238
Christmas Concert 2009
Saturday, 12th December, 7.30pm
At: St Dunstan's Church, St Dunstan's Road, Feltham
Haydn - Nelson Mass
Christmas Carols
with orchestra
Tickets: £9, concessions £7 in advance
£10 & £8 on the door
Box Office: 020 8890 0238
Half term break : Wednesday 25th February
(Ash Wednesday)
Prospective Soloists’ Information
We have had many e-mails from singers finding this site. At present we have several soprano and baritone soloists on our books, but we still interested in hearing from professional, semi-professional, student and good amateur contraltos, counter-tenors, high tenors and low basses looking for solo work with a smaller choir, and with this in mind we would like to provide the following information:
Being a smallish choir with limited funds, our fees for solo vocalists range from £50 to about £150.
A CV on its own gives little indication of vocal timbre or musical sensitivity, which are the qualities we are most interested in. A simple recording - even a sound clip on a web site - is likely to receive more attention. Baroque specialists are particularly welcome.
Due to pressures of time, we may not always be able to acknowledge receipt of information.
Thank you.
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