Christmas 2022 Concert!

We’ll be performing a gorgeous set of music for this special concert.

Join us for this festive feast of music and celebration of two larger works on a Christmas theme. The Holst is a joyful and stirring choral fantasy on old carols; Cecelia McDowall’s is a cantata which runs as a sequence of five popular carols.

Duruflé Requiem
McDowall Christus Natus Est
Holst Christmas Day

This concert is held at the Wincanton Parish Church, and tickets will be available in advance as well as on the door.

Spring Concert 2022

We are looking forward to our Spring Concert 2022!

We’ll be performing the beautiful, dramatic and challenging ‘Petite Messe Solennelle’ – Rossini’s last major composition.

The performance takes place on Sunday 15th May 2022 at 19:30, in the atmospheric church of St Peter and St Paul, Wincanton. Tickets are £12.50 and can be purchased on the door, via a choir member, or online here: www.ticketsource.co.uk/wincanton-choral-society

Keeping the concert Covid-free: advice for both choristers and audience

Please do not attend the concert if you have had a positive first LFT result or have developed symptoms (whichever is the sooner) within the last ten days.
Please do not attend if you have COVID-19/respiratory illness symptoms i.e., cough, cold, flu-like symptoms.
Those recently infected with the COVID-19 virus may attend as long as either ten days have elapsed since the start of their infection, or they have had a negative LFT test result since the start of their infection.
Refunds: To encourage anybody not meeting any of the Covid advice above after buying their ticket to ‘do the right thing’, we are very happy to refund tickets OR transfer them to someone else OR transfer them to a future concert.
Please be sensitive to other concert attendees and leave plenty of space between you and people sitting in other groups. Wincanton Choral Society advises that you leave a space equivalent to at least that taken up by one person.
Face coverings may be worn but the choice of whether to do so is left to individual discretion.
To provide a well-ventilated area, both Church doors will be open until immediately before the concert and during the interval. Please note that despite warm temperatures being forecast for Sunday 15^th May, the Church may be on the cool side.
Please be aware that this event involves choral singing in an indoor setting which generates an increased risk of COVID-19 transmission and consequently attendance by the clinically vulnerable or unvaccinated persons is at personal discretion. Wincanton Choral Society has attempted to minimise these risks in accordance with the latest government advice but the risk of catching COVID-19 is not extinguished. A risk assessment is available on our website.
It is possible that this event may be cancelled at short notice in the unlikely event of an outbreak of COVID-19 among choir members or key concert personnel.

Other practical information for audience

Both the South Door and the North Door of the Church will be in use for entry and exit.

Programmes, priced at £3, will be available at each entrance.
Electronic (contactless) payment will be accepted at each door.
WC facilities: go before you come! There are no toilet facilities in the Church, but there are two ‘public conveniences’ run by South Somerset District Council in a small freestanding brick block at the junction of Churchfields and the High Street, beyond the top end of the churchyard [about 30 yards from the church door]. We will have provisioned them with sanitiser and a roll of paper towel for hand drying, but Wincanton Choral Society cannot take responsibility for the cleanliness of this facility, nor for the existence of any COVID aerosols or droplets which may be there.
Beware of the floor gratings in the church if you’re wearing narrow-heeled shoes!
consider bringing a cushion for the pews!
There will be an interval of about twenty minutes at the concert. We won’t be operating a bar, so regret no refreshments.
there will be a Retiring Collection for Somerset Wellbeing, a local mental health charity – May being Mental Health Awareness Month.

Wincanton Choral Society Christmas Concert 2021

Wincanton Parish Church (nearest Postcode BA9 9AF)

Saturday 4^th December, from 5.00pm to 6.00pm

Price: £5.00 and £2.50 for under-18s

(Subject to COVID-19 Restrictions)

We very much hope to see you at our afternoon Christmas Concert on Saturday 4th December at our new venue – the Wincanton Parish Church, Church St. BA9 9AF.

The main work in our short concert will be excerpts from Haydn’s The Seasons, sung in English: Joyful the Liquor Flows, the finale of Autumn; No.40 Let the Wheel move gaily, No.42 A wealthy lord who long had lov’d (both from Winter) and No.46 Then comes the dawn, the final stirring chorus, with a fugue, of Winter.

Festive numbers include O Holy Night (arranged by Adolphe Adam), Somerset Carol (‘traditional’ but harmonised), Gloucestershire Wassail (arranged marvellously by Vaughan Williams), plus other gorgeous carols, lullabies etc.

We hope the new venue and time will enable you to take in the Wincanton Lantern Parade and possibly a cafe or shop in Wincanton High Street, as many are open on Saturday afternoons. The concert will involve less effort on your part than dedicating a whole evening to the concert AND you should find something projected in bright lights on the exterior of the church as part of the Wincanton Town Festival (https://www.facebook.com/WincantonTownFestival/) that will be happening every Saturday 5-9pm from 27th November to 18th December.

IMPORTANT: People considering attending our concert, or that have already bought tickets, should be aware of the measures we’re putting in place to diminish the risk of COVID-19 infection. This is to reassure you that we take your safety very seriously.

COVID RESTRICTIONS IN PLACE

You must not attend if you have any symptoms of COVID-19 (or cold/flu type symptoms) or are self-isolating due to COVID-19
You must provide evidence of Double Vaccination either by way of NHS Covid Pass, or via NHS Appointment Card showing 2 vaccinations. Alternatively, evidence of a negative LFT test in last 48 hours will be acceptable.
Please allow time to register on arrival for NHS track and trace purposes (name/address or NHS Covid App QR Code). The registration desks will need to see your vaccination evidence, and you will be asked to sanitise hands and wear a face mask.
You must wear a face mask when walking to/from your seat in the church. Face masks can be removed when seated.
The church doors need to be left open for COVID ventilation during the concert. Please bring warm clothes, gloves, hat etc as the church (although heated) may be very cold and drafty as a result.
Please note that this concert involves choral singing by a choir in an indoor setting with consequential risk of COVID transmission and this event is not recommended for attendance by clinically vulnerable persons or unvaccinated persons. WCS has attempted to minimise these risks in accordance with government guidelines but the risk of catching COVID is not extinguished. A risk assessment is available on our website.
This event may be cancelled at short notice in the event of increased COVID transmission risk or change in government guidance. Please check this website for latest details.

Spring Concert 2019

On Sunday May 19th, Wincanton Choral Society will present their annual Spring Concert at Wincanton Sports Centre, conducted by our Musical Director, Simon Twiselton. The Society is now in its 29th year, having been founded in Autumn 1990, and continues its aim to provide high quality performances of classical music to the people of Wincanton and surrounding areas.

This year, the main work featured is Mozart’s Requiem, one of his best known choral pieces. This work remained incomplete at his untimely death in 1791, aged only 36, and was completed – at his wife’s request – by a pupil of his named Süssmayr.

In the first half, we will be singing a less well known work, the Missa Sancti Nicolai by Haydn. This was composed in 1772 in honour of his patron, Nicholas Esterhazy of Hungary, and performed on St. Nicholas’ Day at the Esterhaza palace. Haydn later made some revisions to the Mass in 1802.

Both works, in addition to chorus and orchestra, require four solo singers, and joining us on the evening will be Krystl Ride, singing soprano; Arabella Heaton, alto; Matthew Keighley, tenor, and James Geidt, bass. As always, we are grateful as an amateur choir to be able to sing with professional soloists and orchestral players.

Tickets for the concert will be sold on the door at £15, or are available for £13.50 if booked in advance from Netaticket, up until May 13th. Under 18s will be charged only £6. The booking number is 01749 813899.

Handel’s Messiah

Musical Director Simon Twiselton will lead the choir and musicians in a performance of Handel’s Messiah, an ever-popular christmas piece last performed by the Society four years ago. Advance tickets are £13.50 for adults and £6 for children. Tickets are now on sale at netaticket.co.uk, by calling Netaticket on 01749 813899, and from Society members. They will also be available on the door at £15.

Please be advised that as the concert takes place in a sports hall, we request no stiletto heels please. You are welcome to bring a cushion for extra comfort.