About Us: The Bradford Chorale is a leading Bradford choir. It started life as The James Ashworth Singers giving its first concert in Thornton Parish Church in April 1976. After some years the base moved to the Unitarian Church near St Luke’s Hospital to be more ce... moreThe Bradford Chorale is a leading Bradford choir. It started life as The James Ashworth Singers giving its first concert in Thornton Parish Church in April 1976. After some years the base moved to the Unitarian Church near St Luke’s Hospital to be more central for members coming from all parts of Bradford and the surrounding area.
In 1979 James Ashworth moved on to projects new and was succeeded by Douglas Robinson who had recently retired as Chorus Master at Covent Garden and who held the post until ill health forced his retirement. During this period the name was changed first to The Ashworth Singers and later to The Bradford Chorale.
John Coates took over as Musical Director in 1984 and was followed by Tricia Platts in 1991. Since Tricia’s departure the Chorale has been led by several Musical Directors including Carleton Etherington, Andrew Dibb, Elizabeth Altman, John Griffiths and Christopher Rathbone. Our new Musical Director, Paul Dewhurst took us into the second quarter century of musical life and Jonathan Eyre is now at the helm and helping us bring good music to the community.
Repertoire is wide and varied, from a backbone of the traditional oratorio and masses of composers such as Haydn, Vivaldi, Faure, Mendelssohn and Mozart, to madrigals, part-songs, opera choruses and arranged pieces spanning the centuries and embracing a variety of styles. The choir performs regularly in various venues in and around Bradford, including Bradford Cathedral, Bradford Grammar School, Bradford Girl's Grammar School, St. Paul's Church in Shipley, and Victoria Hall in Saltaire. The choir has enjoyed collaborating with great soloists and orchestras, such as James Laing (counter tenor), Wendy Goodson (soprano), The Mowbray Orchestra, The Sinfonia of Leeds, Airedale Symphony Orchestra, and many more.
The choir has maintained a singing strength of around 55 voices (a sizeable core of whom have been members since the founding of the choir), but recently has grown to over 80. It is always keen to recruit new voices in all parts and applications from new singing members will always be welcomed. less
Location: Northcliffe Church, Bradford Road, Shipley, BD18 3ED, Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom [map]
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