Black Dyke Band – Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus

News

Season ends with triumphant and joyous Creation!

9 June 2025

The audience for the final concert of the International Concert Season were treated to a marvellously uplifting performance of Haydn’s joyful Creation with Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus and the Halle under the enthusiastic baton of Matthew Hamilton. Listeners leapt to their feet as the final tumultuous chord died away, having been treated to rousing choral and expressive solo singing and of course wonderfully exuberant playing by the City Hall’s Resident Orchestra.

“Congratulations to the choir – I thought they were terrific” said Matthew Hamilton, who conducts the Halle Chorus and the Liverpool Philharmonic Chorus. “They were so confident, and sang with bags of energy and clarity.”

Chorus members now have a well-earned rest until September when the 2025-26 season starts. That is, except for a short summer concert in the Rose Garden at Chatsworth on Saturday 12 July 2025 and an informal get together to sing just for pleasure in the garden of one of the members.

“Everyone enjoys singing so much that we always plan a Summer Sing so we can meet to share food and sing some madrigals and other favourites” explained Chorus Chair Jo Briddock.

The new season is previewed at Current Season; details will be added over the summer.

Previous News Items

9 June 2025 Season ends with triumphant and joyous Creation!

26 May 2025 Chorus welcomes visitors in a successful day of singing

25 March 2025 Fantastic concert closes successful weekend festival

20 February 2025 Young Composer Competition Winner!

02 February 2025 Young Composer Competition Shortlist announced

5 January 2025 Chorus moves to new rehearsal venue

31 December 2024 Competition for young composers going well

14 October 2024 Exciting competition for young composers

08 September 2024 Book about Chorus world tour in 1911

01 September 2024 Chorus broadcast chosen in BBC’s Pick of the Week

26 August 2024 Chorus shines in behind-the-scenes BBC Radio 4 programme

14 August 2024 Chorus to feature in behind-the-scenes BBC Radio 4 programme on Bank Holiday Monday

28 June 2024 Stunning reviews for Mozart Requiem mini-tour

26 June 2024 REVIEW Flanders Symphony Orchestra

23 June 2024 REVIEW Safe, solid, super: Flanders Symphony finishes UK tour in Edinburgh

21 June 2024 REVIEW Vienna comes to London via Ghent and Sheffield

06 March 2024 Chorus diversity work celebrated at the 2024 Royal Philharmonic Society Award evening

2023

12 December 2023 Chorus nominated for prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Inspiration Award

15 November 2023 Chorus record with Black Dyke Band

30 October 2023 Two more world premieres!

27 September 2023 Chorus project shortlisted for Making Music Award

26 September 2023 Mahler 2 in Monte Carlo

18 September 2023 Chorus members sing Mahler 2 in Monaco

20 June 2023 Fantastic Verdi Requiem with Sofi Jeannin

25 March 2023 Fantastic Mahler 2 brings Classical Sheffield Festival to a triumphant close

20 March 2023 World premiere of young composer winning compositions

20 February 2023 Young composers share first prize

27 January 2023 Chorus announces competition shortlist

2022

10 November 2022 CLASSICAL MUSIC: Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus Launches Competition

01 November 2022 CLASSICAL SHEFFIELD: Exciting Competition for Young Composers

31 October 2022 RMCMEDIA: Local Choir Launches New Competition For Young Composers

28 Oct 2022 Chorus launches new competition for young composers

11 June 2022 REVIEW Belshazzar’s Feast a tremendous wall of sound – SHEFFIELD TELEGRAPH

22 April 2022 Chorus hosts French and German singers

20 April SHEFFIELD STAR: World famous Black Dyke Band and Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus to perform brass arrangement of Handel’s Messiah at City Hall

16 April 2022 BRITISH BANDSMAN: Black Dyke set for choral collaboration

02 April 4BARSREST: European links for Messiah

29 March 2022 Chorus welcome French and German visitors

14 March 2022 Chorus collect almost £2,000 for Ukraine Appeal

05 March 2022 Russian concert in aid of Ukraine

2020

Tuesday 15 December 2020 ‘Tis the season…..

20 October 2020 Chorus CD tops the charts!

21 July 2020 Music Director gives on-line recital for Yorkshire Day

21 July 2020 SHEFFIELD TELEGRAPH: Lockdown performance of Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus music director’s new arrangement for Handel’s Messiah

6 July 2020 Music Director’s beautiful Messiah arrangement

28 June 2020 Chorus starts on-line rehearsals

18 June 2020 Music Director joins choral greats in highlighting challenges faced by choirs

16 June 2020 The Guardian – Covid-19 has silenced choirs

18 May 2020 Chorus supports its locked-down musicians

23 March 2020 Concerts postponed and rehearsals cancelled

2 February 2020 Chorus to sing Messiah with French and German visitors

2019

17 December 2019 REVIEW: Sheffield’s Christmas concert tradition

16 December 2019 Carol wins Classic FM competition

15 December 2019 Sheffield Telegraph – Chorus in finals of national carol competition

14 November 2019 REVIEW – ‘Beautifully and intricately rendered by the choir’

8 November 2019 Bring a Man Night

2 November 2019 Chorus to present Bochum gift to Lord Mayor

22 October 2019 Chorus feature on Black Dyke Band CD

28 September 2019 Chorus kicks off BBC Music Day

23 Sept 2019 Chorus kick off BBC Music Day on Fargate

12 June 2019 REVIEW Holy Face Sheffield Telegraph

8 June 2019 Composer to hear Black Dyke Band and massed voices perform his new work

23 May 2019 Adventures with city choir on 1911 world tour

07 April 2019 Bach’s compendium; SPC /Royal Northern Sinfonia, City Hall

14 March 2019 Women centre stage – Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus /Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City Hall

5 Feb 2019 Press release from Bochum, Germany: Mayor Erika Stahl receives Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus

1 Feb 2019 Chorus members sing Messiah in Germany

2018

28 Dec New Year’s Honour for local choir President

13 Dec 2018 Chorus Hat trick

6 Dec 2018 Excellent programme from the Chorus

26 Oct 2018 Composer thrilled with recording

28 July 2018 Yorkshire Post celebrates publication of 1911 World Tour Book

23 July 2018 Chorus members sing in France during World Cup

20 July 2018 Tour de France for Sheffield Choir

03 July 2018 Chorus prepares to deliver French mini tour

14 June 2018 Up Close and Personal

11 June 2018 Audience thrilled by Rossini and original Mustel harmonium

31 May 2018 Chorus and harmonium in perfect harmony

11 May 2018 ‘Outstanding’ – Chorus ends Mahler tour on high note

30 April 2018 Review: Bruckner Orchester Linz, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, four stars

30 April 2018 Chorus sing a ‘blazing’ Mahler 2 in Edinburgh

29 April 2018 ‘Assertive Mahler’ Simon Thompson, Seen and Heard International

12 Feb 2018 Chorus sings with Sheffield mezzo soprano

3 Feb 2018 World premiere ‘an emotive journey’

12 Jan 2018 Chorus on journey to Paradise

2017

11 Dec 2017 Calypso Carol on Classic FM

15 Oct 2017 Composer thrilled with premiere of his new work

3 July 2017 Chorus records new CD

6 April 2017 Stairs? No problem!

24 April 2017 Open Letter from the Chair: The relevance of classical music.

20 March 2017 It’s a fact – Singing is good for you!

pre-2016

16 May 2016 140th birthday celebrations

16 Feb 2016 What’s your ‘Fantasy Concert’?

18 Oct 2015 Sisters Steal Away

15 May 2015 Now on sale: ‘Awake, Arise! A Yorkshire Christmas Collection for Brass and Voices‘, our exciting CD of Christmas music

18 Feb 2013 Rachmaninov – will Chorus be reaching for the vodka?

8 Oct 2012 Free choral workshops and a welcome return for Handel’s Messiah

8 Aug 2012 Free choral workshops and a year full of singing

17 June 2012 Olympic Dreams – Will it be Singin’ in The Rain or Mr Blue Skies?

16 Apr 2012 Contemporary composers take centre stage

16 Apr 2012 New community links in Sheffield

3 April 2012 Bronte Mass ‘impressive’

12 Feb 2012 Alight: Eclectic music lines up to take centre stage as part of the Cultural Olympiad

13 Jan 2012 Scaling The Heights – Singclude Breaks Down Barriers For Disabled Singers

24 Feb 2011 Three-fold choral debut

22 Nov 2010 Songs of Praise – Chorus celebrate 75th Anniversary year with audience of over 2 million

28 Oct 2010 The Dream of Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus

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Chorus welcome French and German visitors

29 March 2022

Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus are looking forward to welcoming choirs from France and Germany for a mini-tour of Yorkshire in April, culminating in a joint performance of Handel’s Messiah with the world-famous Black Dyke Band on St George’s Day, in the presence of the Lord Mayor.

‘This long-awaited trip was planned two years ago, but we had to postpone it when the pandemic struck’ explained bass Matthew Morgan, who sings with both French and Sheffield choirs and organised the visit. ‘Fingers crossed that nothing stands in the way of it happening this time!’

The three choirs will come together at the City Hall on Saturday 23 April for this very special performance of the brass version of Handel’s Messiah. ‘We are thrilled to be working with Black Dyke on this multi-national project’ said Chorus Chair Paul Henstridge, ‘The brass Messiah isn’t often performed, and it’s such a privilege to be able to sing it with one of the best bands in the world, fresh from their recent win at the Yorkshire Championships, and with our friends from France and Germany’.

The joint concert echoes a similar visit made by the Sheffield choir a few years ago, when they joined the Philharmonischer Chor Bochum in a performance of Messiah to celebrate the opening of Bochum’s brand new concert hall. ‘The sister city partnership with Sheffield is our oldest’ said Mayor Erica Stahl, ‘It was founded just five years after the end of the war and … many friends have been formed thanks to it’.

Members of the French choir, with whom the Chorus enjoyed a mini-tour of France in 2018, are driving to Sheffield ‘Just in case Covid messes up air travel’ explained Matthew. ‘We’re looking forward to bringing a mostly French programme, including choral and organ works by Faure, Gounod and Charpentier, to Malton in Yorkshire and Buxton in Derbyshire’.

The visit includes a tour of Sheffield Town Hall, hosted by the Lord Mayor, as well as trips to York and Haddon Hall. Visiting choristers will stay with members of the Sheffield Chorus, who are looking forward to returning the superb hospitality enjoyed during their trips to France and Germany.

Tickets for this very special Messiah on Saturday 23 April at 7pm, are available from the City Hall. Catch the French Choir, Musical Director Patrick Hilliard and organist Christopher Hainsworth, at St Michael’s Church, Malton, Yorkshire on Friday 22^nd April, and St John The Baptist Church, Buxton, Derbyshire, on Sunday 24^th, both at 7pm, paying at the door.

For details see www.sheffieldphil.org or https://www.sheffieldcityhall.co.uk/event/messiah-23April2022 and https://ensemblevocalperigueux.fr/tduk2022

Anthems, Hymns and Gloria for Brass Band

In 2019 the Chorus recorded John Rutter’s Gloria with Black Dyke Band – and the CD on which it is features reached the Number One spot in the Classic FM Specialist Classical Albums charts in October 2020, only two weeks after it’s release by Naxos.

The CD Anthems, Hymns and Gloria for Brass Band , was recorded in St Oswald’s Church on Bannerdale Road in Sheffield. Directed by Professor Nicholas Childs and Chorus Music Director Darius Battiwalla, the CD was featured as Album of the Week on the Classic FM radio station, and rapidly moved up the chart over the following week.

The CD features eleven tracks composed by Rutter and arranged for brass band by Belgian conductor Luc Vertommen. It includes many of the English choral composer’s most famous works, 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.

John Rutter’s Gloria was composed in 1974 for choir, brass, percussion and organ, with an alternative version for choir and orchestra. Described as “exalted, devotional and jubilant”, it was Rutter’s first commission from the US. Structured in three movements and based on the Gloria from the Latin mass, it was always intended as a concert piece.

Listen to the Domine Deus on YouTube

Buy Anthems on Black Dyke Band website

Buy Anthems via Naxos

Chorus CD tops the charts!

Tuesday 20 October 2020

The CD recorded by the Chorus with Black Dyke Band has reached the Number One spot in the Classic FM Specialist Classical Albums charts, outselling recordings by Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra, the Halle, the Sixteen and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

Friday’s @officialcharts #SCTop30 🎉

🔹#3 @blackdyke @SheffPhilChorus @naxosrecords
🔹#14 @the_halle
🔹#18 @ChandosRecords @JenniferPikeVLN
🔹#24 @SinfoniaOfLondn
🔹#25 @TheSixteen
🔹#26 @VasariSingers
🔹#28 @hyperionrecords @mozartplayers
🔹#29 @BIS_records
🔹#30 @HewittJSB pic.twitter.com/u2BfrneXeY

— Naxos UK (@naxos_uk) October 24, 2020

The Chorus recorded the new Naxos CD release of music by composer John Rutter with the world-famous Black Dyke Band one chilly October evening last year, in St Oswald’s Church on Bannerdale Road in Sheffield. Directed by Prof Nicholas Childs and Chorus Music Director Darius Battiwalla, the CD Anthems, Hymns and Gloria for Brass Band was recently featured as Album of the Week on the Classic FM radio station. The impact on sales from around the world was immediate, and the CD rapidly moved up the chart over the following week.

Chorus and band recording the *Gloria* in St Oswald’s Church

‘We joined the band to record Rutter’s concert work ‘Gloria’, which was commissioned in 1974 by The Voices of Mel Olsen in Omaha, Nebraska, when Rutter was making his first trip to the United States.’ explained Chorus Chair Paul Henstridge. ‘We love collaborating with this amazing band of consummate musicians, who join us for the annual carol concert in the City Hall each year. We had a wonderful evening at St Oswald’s and are absolutely delighted that it has led to an Album of the Week and the Number One slot!’

The Chorus has collaborated with the Black Dyke Band on numerous occasions, including two world premieres, Philip Wilby’s oratorio Holy Face with Leeds Philharmonic Chorus in 2017 and Paul Mealor’s beautiful Paradise in 2018. Joint recordings include Wilby’s Holy Face and Awake Arise, a Christmas CD full of festive music from Yorkshire. Chorus Music Director and Leeds City Organist Darius Battiwalla is no stranger to brass band music, regularly composing and arranging works for brass and chorus.

Recording with Black Dyke Band in St Oswald’s Church Bannerdale Road Sheffield

‘Darius most recently arranged two pieces for brass band and chorus during the coronavirus lock-down’ said Chorus Administrator Anne Adams, ‘One is an beautiful soprano aria from Handel’s Messiah, which we were planning to present with Black Dyke in Sheffield cathedral but sadly had to postpone, and the other is a 16th Century German carol which we and Black Dyke are going to record from our homes as part of a virtual Christmas carol concert in December.’

Chorus and band hope to present the brass Messiah in 2021, alongside choirs from France and Germany, and the Chorus is still hoping to be able to present Rachmaninov’s Vespers and Faure’s Requiem at the City Hall in May and June 2021.

In the meantime you can hear the new arrangement of Handel’s ‘How Beautiful are the Feet‘ on the Chorus website at sheffieldphil.org / records-and-books / how-beautiful-are-the-feet , you can buy our buy our Christmas CD – and of course you can help to keep the John Rutter Anthems CD at the top of the charts by buying it from the Black Dyke Band website at www.blackdykeshop.co.uk

2019-20 season

It was with deep regret that we had to announce the postponement or cancellation of a number of concerts for this season, due to the need to protect our members, musicians and audiences and in light of Government advice regarding the Coronavirus.

2019-20 saw the Chorus planning to present concerts in Manchester and Sheffield, with the Halle, the Black Dyke Band, Wrexham Symphony Orchestra and with choristers from Wrexham, Liverpool, France and Germany. We recorded with the Black Dyke Band for their next CD, presented works from Scandinavia and the Baltic, and planned to sing choral favourite Messiah, Verdi’s wonderful Requiem and Mahler’s magnificent Symphony No. 8, known as the Symphony of the Thousand.

Saturday 9th November at 9.15pm City Hall

After Hours Choral Concert

We were pleased to present another short concert in the popular ‘After Hours’ series in the City Hall’s beautiful ballroom at 9.15pm. At 7pm in the main hall Tabita Berglund conducted the Halle in a programme of Grieg and Sibelius, and the Chorus followed in the ballroom with a programme of choral works from Scandinavia and the Baltic.

Audiences will be familiar with the Norwegian Romantic composer Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1947), but maybe not his countyman Ola Gjeilo, born in Norway in 1978, or Eric Ešenvalds, born in Latvia a year earlier. Gjeilo, who now lives in America, studied in Norway and at the Julliard School and the Royal College of Music in London. Award-winning composer Ešenvalds studied in Latvia and at Trinity College Cambridge, and composed the official anthem of the World Choir Games when Riga was the European Capital of Culture in 2014.

A packed audience included Sheffield’s Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, who were presented with a gift from Bochum, Sheffield’s twin town in Germany; read about this here. After the presentation the audience heard the Chorus sing the following works ‘up close and personal’:

Grieg – Hvad est du dog skjön (sung in Norwegian)

Esenvalds – Amazing Grace

Esenvalds – Evening

Ola Gjeilo – Ave Generosa

Ola Gjeilo – Tota Pulchra es

Grieg – Ave Maris Stella

The concert was free, and received a very favourable review in the Sheffield Telegraph.

Saturday 14th December 2019 at 2pm and 5.30pm, City Hall

Christmas Carol Concerts

Once again we joined with the world famous Black Dyke Band for a festive celebration featuring family favourites and sing-along carols. The award-winning and internationally renowned Black Dyke Band, led by Dr Nicholas Childs, is one of the most celebrated brass bands in history and has toured the world winning international and national competitions.
Presenting this year’s concerts was Tom Redmond, presenter, horn player and animateur specialising in music education. He’s a regular voice on BBC Radio 3 presenting live concerts, studio programmes and the BBC Proms.

This was a wonderful concert for all the family to join in singing some of the most loved Christmas music old and new, experiencing a live brass band and chorus in the beautiful setting of the Oval Hall. On the programme was Ring the Bells, a new carol by Paul Fincham, the royalties for which are being donated to homelessness charity Crisis. There were also three local carols, Egypt, Tyre Mill and Hail Smiling Morn, as well as perennial favourite O Holy Night, which was selected as a winning carol in the Making Music / Classic FM Drive carol competition. This is the fourth time one of the carols from our Christmas CD has been selected by Classic FM, and we’re thrilled that this time it was our favourite O Holy Night!

Tom Redmond presenter

Black Dyke Band, Dr. Nicholas Childs conductor

Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, Darius Battiwalla conductor

Saturday 18th April at 7pm Sheffield Cathedral (NOTE REVISED VENUE)

Messiah

It was with deep regret that we had to announce the postponement of this concert, due to the need to protect our members, musicians and audiences and in light of Government advice regarding the Coronavirus. The concert was re-scheduled to Saturday 23 April 2022.

If you purchased your ticket from the cathedral or at rehearsal, please contact to obtain a refund. If you bought your ticket on-line, you don’t need to do anything; WeGotTickets will re-imburse you in due course.

For many people, Easter isn’t complete without hearing Handel’s wonderful oratorio Messiah, regularly performed at Christmas but more pertinently celebrating the Easter message of redemption, hope and joy. Messiah is probably Handel’s best-known and most-loved work for its beautiful solos and duets, rousing choruses and dramatic instrumental writing. A performance in the brass band format is very different and well worth coming along to hear.

Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus present this spectacular Easter Messiah in Sheffield Cathedral, accompanied by the world-famous Black Dyke Band. The Chorus last performed Messiah with a baroque orchestra in April 2017, and is pleased to be presenting the brass band version this Easter. Making it even more special, the Chorus will be joined by choristers from Sheffield’s twin town Bochum in Germany, and from Perigeux in France, following successful singing trips to both European cities over the last two years.

So do come along and hear this magnificent work as you’ve never heard it before!

Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus and choristers from Germany and France

Black Dyke Band

Darius Battiwalla (conductor)

Saturday 2nd May at 7pm City Hall

Verdi Requiem

It was with deep regret that we had to announce the cancellation of this concert, due to the need to protect our members, musicians and audiences and in light of Government advice regarding the Coronavirus. Ticket refunds were available from the City Hall.

Gianluca Marcianó, the Hallé and the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus are joined by a fine cast of soloists for Verdi’s remarkable Requiem. A response to the death of the great author Alessandro Manzoni – a figure Verdi revered – it is the most theatrical, agnostic and indeed popular work of its kind ever written. From the hushed beginning of its opening ‘Requiem’, to the tumultuous, apocalyptic vision of the ‘Dies Irae’ and the turbulent uncertainty of the ‘Libera Me’, Verdi brings his supreme skills as a dramatist to bear on the traditional liturgy to quite stunning effect. A Requiem not for the dead but for the living.

Gianluca Marcianó conductor
Claire Rutter soprano
Madeleine Shaw mezzo–soprano
Sam Furness tenor
David Shipley bass

Saturday 20th June at 7pm, Bridgewater Hall Manchester

It was with deep regret that we also had to announce the postponement of this concert, due to the need to protect our members, musicians and audiences and in light of Government advice regarding the Coronavirus. The concert will be rescheduled.

Mahler Symphony No. 8 ‘Symphony of the Thousand’

The season will end with a performance of Mahler’s magnificent Symphony No. 8, known as the Symphony of a Thousand, with the Liverpool Welsh Choir and the Cantorion Sirenian Singers, accompanied by the Wrexham Symphony Orchestra in the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

This very special concert will form the culmination of the orchestra’s groundbreaking Mahler Charitable Concert series, which has seen them perform all Mahler’s symphonies to increase awareness of the impact of Alzheimer’s and dementia. The Mahler 8 marks a return to the Bridgewater Hall, following the orchestra’s critically acclaimed debut there with the Resurrection Symphony in 2015. Sponsored by medical research company Cobalz Limited, who specialise in the field of Alzheimer’s, the Mahler Charitable Concert series has raised over £15,000 for Alzheimer’s and dementia charities.

Link to details of the 2018-19 season

See What’s On this week in Sheffield on the Classical Sheffield website

Go to next page: Tickets

Lockdown performance of new arrangement for Handel’s Messiah

Julia Armstrong, Sheffield Telegraph

Tuesday 21 July 2020

A Sheffield choir music director has been busy over lockdown, writing a new brass arrangement for Handel’s Messiah which world-famed musicians performed in their homes.

The arrangement by Darius Battiwalla of the soprano aria How Beautiful Are the Feet is actually one of three from the Messiah that he put together for Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus.

“Darius wrote the new arrangements for us in return for continued payment during the lockdown,” said chorus chair Paul Henstridge.

“We’re absolutely thrilled. It means that when we eventually perform the brass version with the wonderful Black Dyke Band, we can sing two more choruses than would otherwise have been possible”.

The chorus were set to perform a brass version of Messiah in April but the concert had to be postponed.

Soprano Catrin Pryce-Jones was to have appeared alongside the chorus, so she was delighted when Darius asked her to make a virtual recording of How Beautiful Are the Feet, along with members of the world-famous Black Dyke Band, all performing from their own homes during lockdown.

“The new arrangement is very light and delicate, which is just right for this aria,” said chorus dministrator Anne Adams. “Catrin sings it beautifully and the band accompany her with great sensitivity.”

You can judge for yourself, as the recording has been uploaded to the chorus website and can be enjoyed for free at https://sheffieldphil.org/how-beautiful-are-the-feet

In addition to the new Messiah arrangements, the chorus also commissioned Darius to write some Christmas music for them to sing at their popular annual carol concert at the City Hall in December.

He has created a new brass arrangement of Resonet in Laudibus, a 16th-century German carol. If that concert can’t go ahead, they plan to perform it virtually as part of an online carol concert, along with the Black Dyke Band, again recorded from their own homes.

The brass Messiah concert has been rescheduled for Saturday, April 23, 2022 in Sheffield City Hall. The 180 members of the chorus were going to be joined by more than 50 singers from Perigeux in France and from Sheffield’s twin city of Bochum in Germany.Happily, both choirs are planning to cross the Channel for the rescheduled concert.

Read the original article on the Sheffield Telegraph website

Lockdown performance of Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus music director’s new arrangement for Handel’s Messiah

A Sheffield choir music director has been busy over lockdown, writing a new brass arrangement for Handel’s Messiah which world-famed musicians performed in their homes.

By Julia Armstrong Sheffield Telegraph Tuesday, 21st July 2020

The arrangement by Darius Battiwalla of the soprano aria How Beautiful Are the Feet is actually one of three from the Messiah that he put together for Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus.

“Darius wrote the new arrangements for us in return for continued payment during the lockdown,” said chorus chair Paul Henstridge. “We’re absolutely thrilled. It means that when we eventually perform the brass version with the wonderful Black Dyke Band, we can sing two more choruses than would otherwise have been possible”.

The chorus were set to perform a brass version of Messiah in April but the concert had to be postponed. Soprano Catrin Pryce-Jones was to have appeared alongside the chorus, so she was delighted when Darius asked her to make a virtual recording of How Beautiful Are the Feet, along with members of the world-famous Black Dyke Band, all performing from their own homes during lockdown.

“The new arrangement is very light and delicate, which is just right for this aria,” said chorus administrator Anne Adams. “Catrin sings it beautifully and the band accompany her with great sensitivity.”

You can judge for yourself, as the recording has been uploaded to the chorus website and can be enjoyed for free at https://sheffieldphil.org/how-beautiful-are-the-feet/.

In addition to the new Messiah arrangements, the chorus also commissioned Darius to write some Christmas music for them to sing at their popular annual carol concert at the City Hall in December. He has created a new brass arrangement of Resonet in Laudibus, a 16th-century German carol. If that concert can’t go ahead, they plan to perform it virtually as part of an online carol concert, along with the Black Dyke Band, again recorded from their own homes.

The brass Messiah concert has been rescheduled for Saturday, April 23, 2022 in Sheffield City Hall. The 180 members of the chorus were going to be joined by more than 50 singers from Perigeux in France and from Sheffield’s twin city of Bochum in Germany. Happily, both choirs are planning to cross the Channel for the rescheduled concert.

How Beautiful Are the Feet

In June 2020, during the coronavirus lock-down, our Music Director Darius Battiwalla produced brass arrangements of some movements from Handel’s Messiah that hadn’t up to then been arranged for brass band accompaniment. He did this in preparation for our performance of Messiah with the world-famous Black Dyke Band, originally scheduled for 2020 but which had to be postponed until April 2022.

Listen to one of the movements, the lovely soprano aria ‘How Beautiful Are the Feet’, sung by Yorkshire-born soprano Catrin Pryce-Jones accompanied by the Black Dyke Band.

Catrin Pryce-Jones

Yorkshire born Soprano Catrin Pryce-Jones studied music at the Royal Academy of Music, Chethams School of Music and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Catrin has been soprano soloist with many choral societies including the Edinburgh Choral Union, Oxford Harmonic Choir, Brighton Orpheus Choir, Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus and the Halifax Choral Society, singing solo soprano in numerous oratorios including the Fauré Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, the Vivaldi Gloria, Bach’s St John Passion, Mozart’s Requiem, Haydn’s Creation and of course Handel’s Messiah.

In 2017, Catrin appeared in the world premiere of Philip Wilby’s oratorio The Holy Face, along with Halifax Choral Society, Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus and the Black Dyke Band. She subsequently recorded the new oratorio along with the original world premiere participants.

Chorus supports its locked-down musicians

The Chorus continues to pay its three professionals during these strange times, which are proving to be very difficult for professional musicians, many of whom are self employed. In return for the continued payments, the three musicians are working for the Chorus in different ways.

For example, Music Director Darius Battiwalla is composing a new Christmas carol, and writing brass arrangements for the sections of Messiah that don’t currently have them. This will enable the Chorus to sing more of Handel’s work when it joins with Black Dyke Band in the re-scheduling of the brass concert which was postponed due to the coronavirus.

“We are pleased to be able to support our three professionals by commissioning alternative work from them at this time” said Chorus Chair Paul Henstridge. ” We are all missing live rehearsals, but at least we will gain a lasting positive out of this very difficult situation”.

Accompanist Rachel Fright and Voice Coach Maggie McDonald are working together to digitise Maggie’s vocal exercises, which are sent to the Chorus to enable them to continue to keep their voices in trim during the lock-down.

Carol wins Classic FM competition

16 December 2020

The Chorus version of O Holy Night has been selected as a winner of the Classic FM / Making Music carol competition, in which 5 carols are selected to be played in the Classic FM Drive slot in the week commencing Monday 16 December 2019.

O Holy Night, arranged by Chorus Music Director Darius Battiwalla, was recorded by Black Dyke and the Chorus in the City Hall in 2015 and released on our CD ‘Awake, Arise! A Yorkshire Christmas Carol Collection for Brass and Voices’.

The CD has a real Yorkshire flavour and includes some of the Sheffield carols, traditionally sung in local pubs over the Christmas period. Darius Battiwalla’s O Holy Night for chorus and brass band is a wonderfully uplifting arrangement which goes down a storm at our carol concerts each year.

This is the fourth time one of the carols from our recording has been selected for the Classic FM Drive competition, and we are thrilled that this time it’s our favourite, O Holy Night.

It will be played in the Classic FM Drive slot sometime between 5pm and 8pm on Monday 16 December 2019.

Of course the Chorus will be singing O Holy Night at the annual carol concert at the City Hall on Saturday 14 December 2019 at 2pm and 5.30pm. We are thrilled that the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Sheffield will attend the 2pm session.

Also on the programme will be Darius Battiwalla’s arrangements of three local carols – Egypt, Tyre Mill and Hail Smiling Morn – all also on the CD, along with Paul Fincham’s new carol Ring the Bells, the royalties from which will be donated to homelessness charity Crisis.

Tickets available online or from the City Hall box office. The CD will be on sale in the foyer for the special concert price of £10.

Find out further information about the carol project. or about homelessness charity Crisis.