Royal Leamington Spa Bach Choir

This season we explore the power of music to move and transform, and its role in celebrating great occasions. In November, we pay homage to St Cecilia, the patron saint of music and musicians, with a selection of works written in her honour. We celebrate Christmas with a rich and varied feast of seasonal music. Our spring concert marks the third anniversary of the coronation of King Charles III, with works performed to celebrate historic royal coronations. We end the season in the summer with a concert of contrasting moods, including joyful psalms and a reflective requiem.

Our first concert of the season, DIVINE MELODIES on 8th November 2025 in All Saints’ church, Leamington Spa, explores the legacy of St Cecilia through music written in her honour by Britten, Handel, Finzi and Dyson. It also includes a mass by Rheinberger which overtly rejects the aims of the 19th century Cecilian movement, which sought to return the liturgy of the Roman Catholic church to an older, simpler style.

We celebrate CHRISTMAS OLD AND NEW with our family friendly Christmas matinée concert on 6th December 2025 in Holy Trinity church. This will feature excerpts from Handel's ever popular Messiah, selections from the choir's own heritage collection, and of course some audience favourites.

THRONES IN HARMONY: A Musical Coronation, on 28th March 2026 in All Saints' church, will mark three years of our present king’s reign. We will perform Handel’s well known Coronation Anthems which were composed for the crowning of King George II in 1727. W A Mozart’s Coronation Mass was not originally written for a coronation, but acquired its nickname after it was adopted by the Habsburg family in Vienna for royal state occasions. There will also be a concerto grosso by Corelli with a royal theme.

Our annual 'COME AND SING' on 6th June 2026 in Holy Trinity church will explore Mozart's much loved Requiem in a full day workshop with our Musical Director Jim Bate and accompanist Colin Druce.

Our final concert of the season, O WAKE PSALTERY AND HARP! will take place on 11th July 2026 in All Saints' church. The exuberance of Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, a setting of six psalms in Hebrew commissioned by Chichester Cathedral in 1965, will be contrasted with the tranquillity of Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem, in which the composer skilfully combines ancient plainsong with sensuous French harmonies. The concert will also include a piece for solo harp. We will be joined for this concert by members of the German-American Community Choir from Frankfurt.