30 years of song for county choir

The acclaimed choir will mark the milestone with the major work J S Bach’s Mass in B Minor which will be performed at St Mary‘s church in Warwick on April 18.

They will also attend a singing evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral on October 19 as they look back on 30 years.

Founded in 1984 by organist, Julian Harris,the Warwickshire group grew to become one of the leading ensembles in the region - with its founder still at the helm to celebrate all of their success.

The choir has since achieved success with a variety of pieces and performances with internationally renowned soloists including Carolyn Sampson, Andrew Kennedy, and Catherine Bott - now their president.

The choir has done much to raise funds for a range of local and national charities, helping to raise well over £50,000 in the past three decades.

The Singers’ popular Christmas concert has attracted high profile readers including Sir Nigel Hawthorne, John Nettles and Dame Judi Dench.

After performing with the choir in 2003, Dame Judi accepted an invitation to become their patron and has since been involved with fundraisers for churches.

Speaking about the choir’s success, Dame Judi said: “Who could have imagined when a small choir was formed in 1985 that it would grow to perform some of the greatest works of the choral repertoire - and with such distinction.

“Julian and the choir can look back on this tremendous achievement with pride.”

Back in 2009 the choir joined forces with Julian Shortman to form the Junior Saint James’s Singers -a choir of 11 to 18 year-olds which performs its own repertoire and with the Singers each year.