Claire Meghnagi soprano, Hannah Pedley mezzo, Andrew Rees tenor, Paul Carey Jones baritone
Warsaw Philharmonic, Jacek Kaspszyk conductor
Tuesday 9th June 2015, Doc/Fest, Crucible Theatre, 8.30pm
Holst The Planets
Paul Crowther – commentary;
Sheffield Rep. Orchestra, George Morton – Conductor
Women’s voices from Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, Darius Battiwalla – Conductor
Embark on a breathtaking voyage to the outer limits of the universe as Gustav Holst’s The Planets is performed by the Sheffield Rep. Orchestra conducted by George Morton and accompanied by images of interplanetary odysseys and newly commissioned visuals by Sheffield creative design agency Human and a commentary from astronomer Paul Crowther. Brought to you by the University of Sheffield Departments of Music and Physics/Astronomy, Festival of the Mind.
A special celebration concert to mark the Chorus’s 80th Birthday and the 60th Birthday of our former Chairman, Julie Smethurst, and to celebrate the music of Vaughan Williams:
O Clap Your Hands
Fantasia on Greensleeves
Dona Nobis Pacem
The Lark Ascending
Serenade to Music
Let All the World in Every Corner Sing
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Darius Battiwalla (conductor)
Jenny Rust – Soprano, Joshua Ellicott – Tenor, Oliver Dunn – Baritone
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus and Sheffield Bach Choir
Anna Patalong – Soprano, Frances Bourne – Mezzo-soprano, Timothy Robinson – Tenor, David Soar – Bass
James Burton, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus and a fine line-up of soloists performed the ‘Nelson Mass’. This great late work of Haydn’s is widely regarded as one of the composer’s supreme achievements. Originally conceived as a response to Napoleon’s aggressive and acquisitive foreign policy, it gained its nickname after Admiral Nelson defeated the French navy at the famous Battle of the Nile.
Following the concert in the Irwin Mitchell Hall which featured Sibelius – Symphony 5, this special ‘After Hours’ concert, free to main concert ticket-holders, featured:
Sibelius – Rakastava
Arvo Pärt – Magnificat
Ēriks Ešenvalds – Vakars (Evening)
Ēriks Ešenvalds – Lielupe (The River Lielupe)
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, Darius Battiwalla (conductor)
The annual Christmas Concert featured the Black Dyke Band, one of the world’s most celebrated brass bands, joining forces with Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus for the fifth year in a row. This pairing delighted the audience with their seasonal offering of carols and yuletide favourites for all the family.
Annual Christmas Carol Concert – 7pm on Saturday 12th December 2020
Sadly, our much-loved carol concert with the world-famous Black Dyke Band at Sheffield City Hall had to be abandoned because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Christmas Carols in the City Hall
However, Chorus and band have been working on a virtual Christmas carol concert, recorded from our own homes. The concert will feature a new version of the 16th century carol Resonet in Laudibus, arranged for brass band and chorus by our Music Director Darius Battiwalla, and the beautiful traditional Welsh lullaby Suo Gan, sung in Welsh with violin, harp and organ.
We are thrilled that our new Patron, BBC Radio 3’s Petroc Trelawny, has kindly agreed to present the concert, something he has done at the City Hall a number of times over the last few years.
With the Chorus accompanist Rachel Fright on the piano, and Music Director Darius Battiwalla on the Leeds Town Hall organ, this will be a virtual concert not to be missed!
Resonet in Laudibus arr. D. Battiwalla. Chorus, Black Dyke Band, Darius Battiwalla (organ)
Suo Gan (Welsh traditional) Chorus, Susan Voss (violin), Eira Lynn (harp), Darius Battiwalla (organ)
Deck the Hall arr. Langford. Chorus (a capella)
Gaelic Blessing John Rutter. Chorus, Rachel Fright (piano)
The Holly and the Ivy John Gardner. Chorus, Rachel Fright (piano)
Hark the Herald Angels Sing Mendelssohn. Chorus, Black Dyke Band, Darius Battiwalla (organ)
‘Awake Arise’ – our Christmas CD – an ideal Christmas gift
Our Christmas CD
Buy our Christmas CD ‘Awake, Arise! A Yorkshire Christmas Carol Collection for Brass and Voices‘, recorded with the world-famous Black Dyke Band. This collection has a real Yorkshire flavour and includes some of the Sheffield carols, traditionally sung in Sheffield pubs over the Christmas period.
It also includes arrangements by the Chorus’s gifted Music Director, Darius Battiwalla, of such Christmas classics as Joy to The World and O Holy Night, a firm favourite at our annual Christmas concerts at Sheffield City Hall. Other favourites include I Saw Three Ships and Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and the band playing the March from Tchaicovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and the wonderful Sleigh Ride from Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé.
To order your copy for £12 including postage and packing, please contact
You might also like to check out our most recent CD Anthems, Hymns and Gloria for Brass Band, which reached Number One in Classic FM’s specialist classical albums recently, as well as being Album of the Week. The CD, directed by Professor Nicholas Childs and Chorus Music Director Darius Battiwalla, was recorded in St Oswald’s Church on Bannerdale Road in Sheffield. It features eleven tracks composed by Rutter and arranged for brass band by Belgian conductor Luc Vertommen, including the Pie Jesu from his 1985 Requiem, and This is the Day composed for the wedding of HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011. For further details and how to purchase, see Anthems, Hymns and Gloria for Brass Band
Carol Singing
Each year members of the Chorus volunteer to sing Christmas carols at a range of venues around Sheffield. Sadly none of the singalongs proved possible this year. However, the Chorus has contributed music from the ‘Awake Arise’ Christmas CD with the world-famous Black Dyke Band, to a virtual carol concert in aid of youth homelessness charity Roundabout.
Also, St Luke’s Festival of Light Service of Remembrance will be virtual rather than a live service this year. We were very keen to contribute to this very special event, as we do every year, and you can hear us sing ‘We Saw Three Ships‘ from our Awake Arise CD on the St Luke’s website
Look out for special offers! Some concerts are FREE for under 12s, or for under 16s. See individual concert details.
For Sheffield International Concert Season concerts at the City Hall, you can get 10 tickets for just £10 each, no matter where you sit – a great opportunity to get together with friends and family in the best circle seats for a third of the standard price!
by telephoning the City Hall Box Office on 0114 2 789 789 Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 6.00pm and Saturday from 10.00am to 4.00pm.
in person from the City Hall Box Office, open Monday to Saturday from 9.00am to 5.30pm, or up to one hour prior to the start on the day of the concert
Self promoted concerts
We also present self promoted concerts, which may take place at a range of venues, including the beautiful Art Deco ballroom at Sheffield City Hall, in the gorgeous acoustic of Sheffield Cathedral, at St Mark’s Church Broomhill, at the Victoria Hall or in the lovely Upper Chapel. We are committed to encouraging young people to enjoy creating, making and listening to all kinds of music including classical, so we make sure that tickets are free for under-16s.
Come and Sing in Upper Chapel, Norfolk Street, Sheffield
Darius Battiwalla – Conductor
Peter Shepherd – organ
Rachel Fright – piano
Following the success of our first Come and Sing event in Upper Chapel last year, we are returning to this wonderful venue to host another. This time visitors are invited to join us in a day’s workshop featuring English Anthems. On the programme will be popular delights including Toward the Unknown Region by Vaughan Williams, A Blest pair of Sirens and I Was Glad by Parry, and Faire is the Heaven by Harris. With no solo performances, choral singing will be the order of the day, so do come along and sing your heart out!
Chorus members enjoying a rehearsal
The workshop will be led by our fantastic Musical Director Darius Battiwalla. Darius has conducted choral performances with leading orchestras including the Halle, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Manchester Camerata, and he has prepared the Chorus for appearances at the Proms and for recordings with the BBC Philharmonic for Chandos. He has worked regularly as guest chorusmaster or conductor with many other choirs including the Northern Sinfonia Chorus, Leeds Philharmonic Chorus, Huddersfield Choral Society, CBSO chorus and Netherlands Radio Choir. Darius is Leeds City Organist and has appeared as organ soloist with the Halle, London Philharmonic Orchestras and the BBC Philharmonic, and he gives regular chamber concerts with members of the Manchester orchestras on piano and harpsichord. Despite this impressive record he is a very friendly conductor, encouragingly supportive and challenging in equal measure – qualities that were much in evidence on the very successful day he led last year.
The day will begin at 10.30 with registration from 10am, with the morning session running to 12.30 including a break for tea or coffee and cake (included in the admission price). We will re-commence at 2pm, giving time for participants to have lunch in one of the many varied eateries in the city centre. The afternoon session will run until 4.30pm, with another generous break for tea in town, until the performance for family and friends at 6pm.
Scores will be provided for those who don’t have their own; any version is acceptable so do bring your own if you feel comfortable with it.
The short performance from 6pm is free to family and friends.
Tickets for visiting singers will be available online from 1st December 2024, costing £25 including score and refreshments. NB. There won’t be much note-bashing, so prior knowledge of the pieces or a reasonable ability to read music will help participants make the most of the day.
Tickets for the performance are FREE, but tickets will be required as our Chorus is a large one (we expect around 100 of us to be there) so space is limited.
Sunday 8 June 2025 Sheffield City Hall at 4pm
Haydn Creation
The Sheffield International Concert Series season finale will leave you in awe of the wonders of creation. Under the baton of the Hallé’s charismatic Choral Director, Matthew Hamilton, the massed forces of the Hallé and the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus will be joined by a trio of exceptional soloists to breathe hope and joy into Haydn’s divine masterpiece, The Creation. The composer dreamt of a big sound with this oratorio – around 180 musicians and singers took part in the Viennese premiere – and this life-affirming work takes you on a musical journey from chaos and darkness to the creation of a new world. The perfect antidote to a world of despair and tyranny, this concert is a celebration of the beauty of life and the power of music.
The Hallé
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus
Matthew Hamilton conductor
Rowan Pierce – soprano – Gabriel/Eve
James Way – tenor – Uriel
Matthew Brook – bass-baritone – Raphael/Adam
Pre-Concert Talk with BBC Broadcaster Trisha Cooper & Guests: 6pm
Tickets available from the City Hall box office, online, or on the door on the night.
Special offer – gather 10 friends and family together and book at the same time for just £10.50 per ticket – no matter where you sit!
BOULANGER Psalm 130: De Profundis (Out of the Depths)
SAINT-SAЁNS Fantaisie in Eb major for organ
SAINT-SAЁNS Symphony No.3, “Organ”
Our season in Sheffield started with a fantastic concert featuring works by French composers, in the City Hall with Resident Orchestra the Halle, award-winning conductor Delyana Lazarova and our own Darius Battiwalla playing contrasting pieces by Saint-Saens on the magnificent City Hall organ.
Delyana Lazarova, winner of the inaugural Siemens Hallé International Conductor’s Competition, began this concert with Debussy’s sensuous evocation of the poet Mallarmé’s dreams and desires of a faun. Delyana then directed the massed forces of the Hallé, Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, a rising RNCM star and the stunning mezzo-soprano, Hanna Hipp, in Lili Boulanger’s ominous setting of Psalm 130, widely believed to be a reaction to the outbreak of World War One. Written from her sickbed in the year before her untimely death aged just 24, the work formed her own personal requiem and reflects her grief, anger and despair.
In the second half Chorus Musical Director and leading organist Darius Battiwalla pulled out all the stops in music by Saint-Saёns. His first published organ work, Fantaisie, has two contrasting movements: one, full of elegance and charm and the other, strong and confident. The concert concluded with his monumental, fascinatingly-textured “Organ” Symphony. – a very popular work that left the audience uplifted and exhilarated in equal measure.
The Hallé
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus Delyana Lazarova conductor Hanna Hipp mezzo-soprano RNCM vocalist tenor Darius Battiwalla organ
Saturday 14 December 2024 Sheffield City Hall at 2.30pm
Christmas Concert with Black Dyke Band
Christmas Carols in the City Hall
A Christmas tradition like no other! The Black Dyke Band and Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus returned once again for this wonderful seasonal celebration with carols for choir, singalongs for the audience and gems for the band. Presented by the multi-talented broadcaster, presenter, actor and author, Zeb Soanes, who led an almost full City Hall through a programme that included perennial favourites such as Sleigh Ride, Winter Wonderland and O Holy Night as well as newly-arranged pieces by one of the most successful of all living composers, John Rutter. There were also local Sheffield carols, including Hail Smiling Morn, a long-neglected carol by Barnsley composer, Arthur Godfrey, entitled Christmas Eve, and a new arrangement of Christus Natus Est by African-American composer Rosephayne Powell.
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus
Darius Battiwalla – conductor
Black Dyke Band
Nicholas Childs – conductor
Zeb Soames – presenter
The concert was recorded by World of Brass and can be watched again by those with a subscription, at https://wobplay.com
Composer Rosephayne Powell sent this message: “I just listened to [the concert]. Your arrangement and performance of “Christus Natus Est” is wonderful! ……The power, beauty, and sensitivity of this arrangement cannot be missed. It is most effective and captures the essence and heart of the work. Thank you and have a safe and Merry Christmas! Best, Rosephayne”
World of Brass reported: “We had a great time filming and recording Black Dyke Band and Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus at Sheffield City Hall on Saturday. Capturing their performances for the Yorkshire Christmas Extravaganza was a lot of fun! From Sleigh Ride and Winter Wonderland to local Sheffield carols, this concert is packed with classic Christmas music. Big thanks to Darius Battiwalla, Nicholas Childs, and Zeb Soanes for helping bring it all together.”
Zeb Soames enthused as follows: “…Queue backstage for mince pies (and a SMALL sherry) as the @sheffphilchorus come offstage at the interval during our YORKSHIRE CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR at a packed @sheffieldcityhall They deserve it — singing to such a high standard is hungry work!”
Sunday 23 March 2025, St Marie’s cathedral, Sheffield at 8pm
Fauré Requiem
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus
Darius Battiwalla – conductor
Neil Taylor – organ
Jane Burnell – soprano
Charles Murray – baritone
The Chorus was pleased to be closing the Classical Sheffield Festival Weekend 2025 with a programme featuring four world premieres and Fauré’s beautiful Requiem in the wonderful acoustic of St Marie’s cathedral.
The first half started with Gerald Finzi’s rousing Lo, the full final sacrifice and featured three new compositions by composer and broadcaster Stephen Johnson with texts by poet Fiona Sampson MBE and Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 to 1926) translated by Stephen Johnson. Stephen has made hundreds of radio programmes, most notably as presenter of Radio 3’s critically-acclaimed Discovering Music, where he explored pieces of music in detail, playing extracts to help discover what makes them work. Stephen was there on the night to hear his compositions performed for the first time. Read more about Stephen on his website. Past programmes are available on the Discovering Music Archive.
The first half concluded with the world premiere of the winning work from the Stella Jockel Young Composer Competition, and the prize-giving for the five shortlisted composers; Stephen Johnson presented the prizes. Set up by the Chorus in 2022, the competition was open to young people from Sheffield, funded by a generous legacy bequeathed by Stella, who sang alto with the choir for many years. The young people had to compose a choral work to one of two poems, commissioned specially for the competition by poets Katharine Towers and Susie Wilson. Read more about the competition at Young Composer Competition 2024-25
The second half featured Gabriel Fauré’s much-loved Requiem, composed between 1887 and 1890. Fauré was extremely pleased with this work: “Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest.”
Gerald Finzi: Lo, the full final sacrifice
Stephen Johnson: three new works:
“The Miracle Tree”
“This going hence”
“Epithalamion in North Herefordshire “
Thomas Stearn: “for music like the sea (Curlew at Redmires)” – the winning work of the 2025 Stella Jockel Young Composer Competition
Interval
Gabriel Faure: Requiem
Tickets were £16, £6 (students), free for carers and under 16s.
The concert was extremely successful; a packed-out cathedral clearly enjoyed themselves enormously, with many saying how moved they were by the Curlew piece and by the Requiem.
From 2010 to 2020 the Chorus performed works spanning seven centuries and eleven nations, in English, German, French, Hungarian, Latin, Russian and Latvian. We sang works by stalwarts such as Monteverdi, Tallis, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Verdi, Vaughan Williams, Tippett, Schoenberg, Britten and Bliss, but also by contemporary composers such as Wilby, Mealor, Jenkins, Part, Gorecki and Esenvalds.
Click on the links to view details of our performances for each season:
Steve’s fantasy concert was a performance of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem in Sheffield’s City Hall in December 2011. The Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus (supplemented by singers from the CBSO Chorus), the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (conductor Michael Seal), Lindley Junior School Choir and three top-class soloists helped to create an extremely moving and memorable event.
Steve says “I chose the War Requiem in memory of my wife, who had died two years earlier, and my mother who died earlier that year, and because it was Britten’s centenary year and I’d worked with him in the 1960s and had admired his War Requiem since I first heard it in 1962. It is an expensive work to perform, but my mother had left me some money – and she’d have been glad that I put it to good use. The whole experience of helping to organise the concert and the emotions of the performance itself have left wonderful abiding memories.”
Read why for Jo Briddock, 2nd Alto with the Chorus, her fantasy concert would have to include Brahms’ Requiem.
What’s your fantasy concert? If you have an occasion that you’d love to celebrate by supporting us to bring your fantasy concert to life, contact us now at
In 2016 Julie Smethurst lived her dream of creating a large-scale choral concert at the City Hall on 4 June, to celebrate her 60th birthday and the 80th anniversary of the Chorus. “I’d always dreamed of being able to sponsor a classical concert to the extent of being able to say what I wanted on the programme. Vaughan Williams became my favourite English composer in my teens, so the whole concert is made up of his music, including the mesmerising The Lark Ascending. The choices have been chewed over quite a bit but all the pieces I wanted have made it to the final line-up – with no compromises.”
Julie Smethurst
But even armed with extensive personal experience and supportive colleagues who have been organizing and promoting concerts for over 15 years, the financial and practical implications make for a long to-do list. Concerts of this nature can take between 2 – 5 years to plan, to allow for venue and performer diary dates to align and partnerships to be devised. These are the real keys to success due to the team of professionals and volunteers needed; members of the Chorus, orchestra, bands, soloists, conductors, music directors, and all the ‘behind the scenes’ personnel who are needed to deal with booking the venue, ticketing, contracting, stage management and publicity.
Is it daunting? “I’d be telling fibs if I said no, but it’s also such a thrill and a privilege to celebrate my birthday so collaboratively, and with a splendid, experienced, and friendly team of people.” Classical concerts on this scale are just about impossible to make commercially viable, hence the importance of finding sponsors. Julie explained “I certainly couldn’t afford this on my own. A full orchestra costs around £20,000, then there’s venue hire and soloists’ fees to name just a few items. So we are all clubbing together to get the event off the ground. This is the fulfilment of a long-cherished dream. I can’t quite believe that the wonderful Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestra, four soloists, and two large choirs will all be joining forces to create an unforgettable Birthday celebration. I can’t wait!”
Julie was prompted into making her dream a reality when fellow singer, Steve Terry, Bass with the Chorus, donned his ‘executive producer’ hat in December 2013. Read about his fantasy concert here.
So what would your concert be? Read why for Jo Briddock, 2nd Alto with the Chorus it would have to include Brahms’ Requiem.
What’s your fantasy concert? If you have an occasion that you’d love to celebrate by supporting us to bring your fantasy concert to life, contact us now at
Each year members of the Chorus volunteer to sing Christmas carols at a range of venues around Sheffield. Sadly none of the singalongs proved possible this year. However, the Chorus has contributed music from the ‘Awake Arise’ Christmas CD with the world-famous Black Dyke Band, to a virtual carol concert in aid of 
See What’s On this week in Sheffield on the 
The Sheffield International Concert Series season finale will leave you in awe of the wonders of creation. Under the baton of the Hallé’s charismatic Choral Director, Matthew Hamilton, the massed forces of the Hallé and the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus will be joined by a trio of exceptional soloists to breathe hope and joy into Haydn’s divine masterpiece, The Creation. The composer dreamt of a big sound with this oratorio – around 180 musicians and singers took part in the Viennese premiere – and this life-affirming work takes you on a musical journey from chaos and darkness to the creation of a new world. The perfect antidote to a world of despair and tyranny, this concert is a celebration of the beauty of life and the power of music.
Our season in Sheffield started with a fantastic concert featuring works by French composers, in the City Hall with Resident Orchestra the Halle, award-winning conductor Delyana Lazarova and our own Darius Battiwalla playing contrasting pieces by Saint-Saens on the magnificent City Hall organ.
The Chorus was pleased to be closing the Classical Sheffield Festival Weekend 2025 with a programme featuring four world premieres and Fauré’s beautiful Requiem in the wonderful acoustic of St Marie’s cathedral.
Steve says “I chose the War Requiem in memory of my wife, who had died two years earlier, and my mother who died earlier that year, and because it was Britten’s centenary year and I’d worked with him in the 1960s and had admired his War Requiem since I first heard it in 1962. It is an expensive work to perform, but my mother had left me some money – and she’d have been glad that I put it to good use. The whole experience of helping to organise the concert and the emotions of the performance itself have left wonderful abiding memories.”