A Classical Christmas 20th December 2025

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Another unforgettable evening with our friends the Capriol Chamber Orchestra and what a spectacular start to Christmas with a wonderful audience and not a spare seat in the house.

The programme included Vivaldi’s Kyrie, a rare treat requiring two choirs and two string orchestras. This was followed by his much loved Gloria with beautiful solo’s from members of the choir.

After the interval the Capriol treated us to a magical rendition of Corelli’s Christmas Concerto and there were a host of carols including Jonathan Trim’s arrangement of Away in a Manager (a favourite of the choir) and Bob Chilcott’s epic version of the 12 Days of Christmas which is definitely not for the faint hearted!

The performance was directed by Andrew Hopwood and Jonathan Trim and accompanied by Julian Elloway.

We also raised £700 for our charity, Mindsong, which reaches out to people with dementia through music and song.

A Night at the Opera – 28th June 2025

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This really was a magical evening and one of our most memorable concerts. We were joined by four fantastic soloists to perform an exhilarating selection of choruses and arias from the great composers, including Verdi, Bizet and Tchaikovsky.

Holy Trinity Church, Minchinhampton – what an audience!

All togged up in evening dress we even did a bit of acting to bring the music to life! It was a lot of fun and judging by the comments, our audience enjoyed it as much as we did.

We were accompanied through some very challenging pieces by the wonderful Julian Elloway and directed by Andrew Hopwood – who also demonstrated his

The Thames Head Singers – dressed for the occasion!

own operatic skills with a wonderful rendition of The Pearl Fisher’s
Duet with Tenor, Thomas Wood.

Thomas Wood and Andrew Hopwood perform The Pearl Fisher’s Duet

We were also treated to wonderful performances from Grace Maria Wain and Susan Coates – including an incredible rendition of ‘The Cat Duet’ which will stay with us for years to come!

The to add to the occasion we were celebrating the 5th anniversary of local children’s literacy organisation ‘Read with Me’ who told us about their wonderful work and achievements.

Come and Sing Day – Opera Choruses, 10th May 2025

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We spent a very warm day at Holy Trinity Church, Minchinhampton performing some of opera’s greatest choruses under the expert guidance of Piers Maxim, one of the finest chorus masters in the field.

During the day we were guided a through a selection of pieces, learning some great new techniques in the process and really developing our ‘operatic style’.

Piers Maxim guides us through some challenging opera choruses!

 

 

Julian Elloway, also one of the finest in his field, did a fantastic job of accompanying us through some really demanding pieces! Periodic tea breaks with copious cakes kept us going – thanks to our wonderful volunteers.

The day culminated in an informal performance which was fast-paced and great fun, if not entirely perfect!

Piers Maxim, Julian Elloway and Andrew Hopwood (THS Choral Director)

 

Cherubini – Requiem in C Minor, 5th April 2025

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For our spring concert we had a fantastic evening singing this gorgeous requiem, accompanied by The Capriol Chamber Orchestra.

This piece is rarely performed, although Schumann praised it as ‘without equal’ and Beethoven requested it for his own funeral. We certainly think it deserves a revival!

The orchestra’s performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 was hugely engaging and full of energy and was followed by Jonathan Trim’s own composition ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’.

This piece was originally commissioned by choir members Alison and David Wood as a special way to celebrate their 70th birthdays.  The first private performance was in 2021 at a belated 70th birthday tea concert with David singing the tenor melody accompanied by Alison’s string quartet.

David very sadly passed away in 2024, and in his memory, we were honoured to perform The Lake Isle of Innisfree in public for the first time – beautifully adapted by Jonathan for choir and orchestra.

 

 

Hark! Christmas concert, 21st December 2024

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Holy Trinity Church in Minchinhampton looked wonderfully festive for our Christmas concert this year.

It began with an a capella rendition of Weelkes’ ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’, sung from the Lady Chapel and then followed a seasonal mix of carols, old and new to get everyone into the festive spirit.  The audience did a fine job of joining in with a number of favourite carols too.

Beautifully accompanied by Julian Elloway on the organ – what a lovely way to start the Christmas week!

The concert also raised £260 for the Trinity Rooms Community Hub in Stroud.


Ding Dong Merrily on High


Deck The Halls


Ukrainian Alleluia

 

 

Fauré Requiem – 3rd November 2024

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It was lovely to be back at St Laurence Church to sing this serene and uplifting mass to celebrate 100 years of Gabriel Fauré.  We also performed his Cantique de Jean Racine – a sublimely beautiful setting of words by the 17th century dramatist and poet Jean Racine. It was Fauré’s first significant composition, written in 1865 whilst he was in his final year at the École Niedermeyer, the ‘École de musique religieuse et classique.

This beautiful requiem is always a very popular piece and we were overjoyed to have such a wonderful audience in the heart of Stroud.

Thanks to Julian Elloway for his wonderful accompaniment.

Time and Tide – Songs of Summer and the Sea. 29th June 2024

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This was an enchanting evening celebrating 100 years of Stanford and Fauré, also featuring pieces by Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Sting and Diemer.

Our Musical Director, Andrew Hopwood fulfilled his ambition to perform the wonderful solo in Stanford’s ‘Songs of the Sea’ accompanied by the choir and directed by Peter Tims. (Clip from final rehearsal below).

 

23rd March 2024, Come and Sing Day

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We were joined by lots of wonderful singers to rehearse and perform Stainer’s Crucifixion in the lead up to Easter.
There was some great vocal coaching from Andrew and fantastic refreshments were served up by ‘The Two Carols’ throughout the day.
Julian Elloway did a grand job of accompanying us and the day culminated in a very credible performance in St. Mary’s Church, Painswick.
Thanks to everyone who joined us for this very enjoyable day.

Under a Christmas Star 23rd December 2023

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This year’s Christmas concert felt very special, being so very close to the big day!  The sell out audience at Holy Trinity, Minchinhampton enjoyed a sparkling selection of music including Rutter’s Gloria, Rachmaninov, Darke and Todd as well as joining in a series of roof-raising traditional carols which really got the Christmas spirit going.

There was a talk and retiring collection for NoSH (Network of Stroud Hubs) and over £800 was raised to support their work providing food and warm spaces for those in need.

Bogoroditsye Dyevo (Rachmaninov)