The Phoenix Singers, 'one of the pre-eminent musical organisations in Shropshire', was founded in 1965 and currently numbers between 40 and 50 voices.
Our conductor, David Thomas, took up his appointment in January 2023, succeeding Richard Walker who was Musical Director from 2012 until 2022. Previous conductors have included Richard White and John Naylor.
We usually perform three or four concerts each year, in November, December, March and June, at churches and other venues in and around Shrewsbury. Our repertoire encompasses a wide variety of music, including unaccompanied Renaissance motets and madrigals, major works from the Baroque and Classical periods, smaller-scale pieces from the 19th century, and a significant amount of music from the 20th and 21st centuries. Recent performances have included Bach's St Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio and Mass in B minor, Haydn's Harmoniemesse, Carl Rütti's Requiem, Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes, and Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb. Orchestral accompaniments are usually provided by the Phoenix Orchestra or, for Baroque programmes, we work with Noxwode Baroque, a professional period instrument ensemble. We are also fortunate to work with several excellent organists, pianists and other instrumentalists.
Apart from our staple diet of repertoire suitable for a choir of this size, we are keen to champion new music. We commissioned Birds by Sally Beamish in 2006 and Puer natus est nobis by Robert Sherlaw Johnson in 2000. In 2011 and 2016, we organised two composition competitions: the 2011 winner was Owain Park with Time was, while the 2016 winner was Kristen Halstead with Dans l’azur.
We also performed Carl Rütti's Requiem (written in 2007) in 2019 and 2021. The composer wrote to us, after seeing a video of part of the performance: What an outstanding performance: great soloists, brilliant organist, a wonderful choir conducted so carefully by a highly committed and sovereign conductor.
We have travelled abroad on many occasions, and had links with the Celle Streicherensemble (near Hannover) for 20 years, performing with them every two or three years. The most recent occasion was in 2017 with performances of Handel's Dixit Dominus and Mozart's Requiem.
For details of how to join the choir, please click here.
To listen to some extracts from our recent concerts, please click here.
