Rotherhithe & Bermondsey Choral Society was launched in November 1998 by distinguished local musician Sue Heath-Downey with the support of Time & Talents. More than a decade later, we're still going from strength to strength and pushing the boundaries of what a community choir can do. 

We are a friendly, supportive group of singers of all abilities and experience, from many different backgrounds. At present there are about 35 of us. There are no auditions. You don't have to be able to sight-read to join. The only criteria are that you should enjoy singing and be able to sing in tune.

Our repertoire includes well-loved choral classics both sacred and secular, as well as more modern and rarely performed works, madrigals and partsongs, songs from the shows, rounds, folk song arrangements, and even music specially written for us by Sue and friends.

We generally work towards three main public performances each year. We also sing at local festivals and community events.

Over the past few years, we have performed Vivaldi's Gloria, Robert Chilcott's Making of the Drum, excerpts from the Brecht/Weill Threepenny Opera, sequences of Christmas music by Schütz, Charpentier and Britten, Karl Jenkins' moving and accessible Armed Man mass, and Carl Orff's lively, energetic Carmina Burana, to mention just a few.

At Christmas 2008 and 2009, we sang carols in Trafalgar Square in aid of the Anthony Nolan leukaemia charity. This led to our being featured in a France3 television report on Christmas traditions around Europe (23 December 2008).

Spring 2009 saw the formation of the RBCS Chamber Orchestra, who accompanied us in an exciting performance of Feel the Spirit (a cycle of gospel settings by John Rutter) and Handel's stirring Zadok the Priest. In Summer 2009, we again joined forces with the RBCS Chamber Orchestra in Mozart's Solemn Vespers. 

Our Winter Concert 2009 featured two twentieth-century works - Benjamin Britten's festival cantata Rejoice in the Lamb and John Tavener's The Lamb - alongside seasonal music including carols from around the world.

We were one of three South London choirs chosen to perform at the Christmas Carol Concert for Guy's and St Thomas' Charity at Southward Cathedral on 14 December.

For our Spring Concert 2010, we performed Cherubini's moving Requiem in C Minor accompanied by the RBCS Chamber Orchestra, flanked by lighter choral pieces including Grayston Ives' humorous medley Name that Tune. Also in Spring 2010, we sang at the AGM of Southwark Arts Forum, and at the John Bull Arch and Blue Market community festival in Bermondsey.

From 20th to 24th April 2010, we took on the role of on-stage choir in Spymonkey's acclaimed touring production of Moby Dick during its run at the Lyric Hammersmith.

In Summer term 2010, we focused on two of the best loved works in the choral repertoire: Samuel Barber's hauntingly beautiful Agnus Dei, familiar to many people from the BBC TV series 'The Choir' and Oliver Stone's Platoon, and Monteverdi's colourful, dramatic Beatus vir, one of the jewels of Italian baroque music. We also practised and performed a selection of folksongs in traditional and contemporary settings.

At our gala concert on Saturday 9 April 2011, we were privileged to undertake the UK première of the Percussion Mass by London-based contemporary Australian composer Paul Sarcich. We also performed Mozart's iconic Requiem. We were joined in this special event by RBCS Chamber Orchestra and the RBCS Percussionists.

We meet every Tuesday in term-time from 8.00 to 9.45 pm at Time & Talents, The Old Mortuary, St Marychurch Street, Rotherhithe, SE16 4JE (see map).

If you are interested in joining us or would like to find out more, please email us by clicking here, or just come along to a rehearsal and see for yourself.

Summer term 2011 begins on Tuesday 3 May.

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Rotherhithe & Bermondsey Choral Society