Thames Head Singers

Four amazing soloists from Cardiff Cotswold Opera joined us for this wonderful piece by Rossini. It was everything it promised to be – flamboyant, energetic, dramatic and full of optimism and humour (quite the opposite of it’s title!).

We were accompanied by two wonderful pianists, Julian Elloway and Tim Ingold who did a grand job on an authentic, rather quirky harmonium which could easily have been around at the same time as Rossini himself.

The programme also included Ubi Caritas by Maurice Duruflé and Gabriel Fauré’s enchanting Cantique de Jean Racine, one of our favourites!

Thanks so much to all involved for creating such a beautiful performance, hopefully we’ll get to work with you again in future.

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.

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)

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

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).