THE CHOIR
We are always happy to hear from singers who would like to join The Scottish Chamber Choir.
We invite all interested newcomers to a rehearsal to let them experience the way we work. If they then would like to join the choir, an audition will be arranged with our musical director. We are currently actively looking for new tenors and basses but would welcome applicants from all voice parts.
If you are interested in joining the choir, please email our membership secretary
REHEARSALS, WORKSHOPS & CONCERTS
The choir rehearses once a week on Monday evenings at Stewart’s Melville College, Queensferry Road, Edinburgh EH4 3EZ in the Wallace Dunlop Hall which is part of the college’s music department. Rehearsals start at 7.15pm and finish at 9.30pm. We have a break at half time for tea, biscuits and chat – bring your own mug!
We have an annual full-day vocal workshop – working together on particular ensemble techniques or new ways of approaching repertoire. We have worked with Edward Caswell, Alan Tavener and Scott Inglis-Kidger.
Usually we have around 10 rehearsals for each concert and sing three main concerts each season in venues around Edinburgh and beyond. The choir is keen to seek out venues appropriate to particular concert repertoire and which are lovely to sing – and listen – in. Recently we have performed Carver in St John’s Kirk in Perth, and Palestrina in Rosslyn Chapel and in The Priory Church, South Queensferry.
We sing in other settings – this season we will perform a a Christmas Concert for the British Heart Foundation, and small groups of singers from the choir sing at weddings and other celebrations across Scotland.
Next season will be our 50th, and we have commissioned Tom Harrold to write a piece to celebrate this milestone.
REPERTOIRE
Over its long history the choir has commissioned choral compositions from some of Scotland’s finest composers: John McLeod, James MacMillan, Edward Harper and Kenneth Dempster. As we approach our 50th anniversary as a choir, we hope to commission another new work in celebration.
The Scottish Chamber Choir approaches a wide-ranging repertoire with fresh ideas and an enthusiasm for making new musical connections. Since its formation in 1968 the choir has performed throughout Scotland to great acclaim. The SCC takes pride in singing a broad spectrum of music: ancient to contemporary, sacred and secular, accompanied and a cappella. Do come and join us – as a choir member or in the audience for one of our concerts.
CONCERT ARCHIVE
2018
Sunday 19th August
Festival Morning Service (live on BBC Radio 4) at 8.10am from Greenbank Parish Church, Braidburn Terrace, Edinburgh
including
James MacMillan – Kyrie from Galloway Mass
Psalm 113 (Setting in Reports: Scottish Psalter 1635)
Sunday 3rd June 2018 at 6pm in Crail Church
Renaissance Splendour
John Nesbett – Magnifcat
Guillaume Dufay – Missa L’homme arme
conducted by Iain McLarty
Saturday 9th June 2018 at 7.30pm in Rosslyn Chapel
Renaissance Splendour
John Nesbett – Magnifcat
Robert Fayrfax – Ave Dei Patris filia
Guillaume Dufay – Missa L’homme arme
conducted by Iain McLarty
Our Spring Concert had to be cancelled because of heavy snow!
2017
Tuesday 12th December 2017 at 7.45pm in The Hub, Edinburgh
conducted by Iain McLarty
Celebration of Life service for British Heart Foundation Scotland
Saturday 25th November 2017 at 7.45pm in Inverleith St Serf’s Church, 280 Ferry Road, Edinburgh EH5 3NP
conducted by Iain McLarty
Joint concert with the Meadows Chamber Orchestra, including Mozart’s Requiem
Sunday 4th June 2017 at 3pm in Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church, Saltoun Street, Glasgow
and
Saturday 10th June 2017 at 7.30pm in The Priory Church, Hopetoun Road, South Queensferry
both conducted by Iain McLarty
Voices a Capella – a programme of glorious unaccompanied music from early madrigals to contemporary writing.
Saturday 25th March 2017 at 7.30pm in Old St Paul’s Episcopal Church, 39 Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh
conducted by Iain McLarty
Johannes Brahms – Ein Deutches Requiem
2016
Saturday 17th December 2016 at 7.30pm in Broughton St Mary’s Parish Church, 12 Bellevue Crescent, Edinburgh
conducted by Iain McLarty
Joy to the World – a concert of seasonal music, readings and carols in aid of Waverly Care and The Soko Fund
with Richard Holloway, Michael Bonaventure (organ) and a brass quintet
Saturday 19th November 2016 at 7.30pm in the City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25, Nicholson Square, Edinburgh
conducted by Iain McLarty
with Edinburgh University Theatre Group and Edinburgh University Shakespeare Society
“Something Rich and Strange”
including songs by Richard Allain, Will Todd, Owain Park, Mantyjarvi, Jussi Chydensius, William Walton, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sarah Quartel and Bob Chilcott
Friday, 24th June 2016 at 7.30pm in Priory Church, Hopetoun Road, South Queensferry
conducted by Walter Thomson
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina – Motet: Tu es Petrus
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina – Mass: Tu es Petrus
Anton Bruckner – Locus iste
Anton Brucker – Virga Jesse
Anton Bruckner – Christus factus est
Giuseppe Verdi – Ave Maria
Giuseppe Verdi – Pater Noster
Saturday, 11th June 2016 at 7.30pm in Rosslyn Chapel, Chapel Loan, Roslin
conducted by Walter Thomson
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina – Motet: Tu es Petrus
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina – Mass: Tu es Petrus
Anton Bruckner – Locus iste
Anton Brucker – Virga Jesse
Anton Bruckner – Christus factus est
Giuseppe Verdi – Ave Maria
Giuseppe Verdi – Laudi alla Vergine Maria
Giuseppe Verdi – Pater Noster
Saturday, 12th March 2016 at 7.30pm in St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church, George Street, Edinburgh
conducted by Steven Griffin
with Caritas Stringsfrom George Watson’s College
Bob Chilcott – The making of the drum
Benjamin Britten – Hymn to St Cecilia
Eric Whitacre – Three flower songs
Jacques Arcadelt – Il bianco e dolce cigno
Adriano Banchieri – Capricciata
Orlando Gibbons – The silver swan
Josquin des Prez – El grillo
C H H Parry – Music, when soft voices die
Henry Purcell – If music be the food of love
Thomas Tomkins – Music divine
Thomas Weelkes – O care, thou will despatch me
2015
Saturday, 21st November 2015 at 7.30pm in Old Saint Paul’s Scottish Episcopal Church, 63 Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1DH
conducted by Iain McLarty
with John Kitchen (organ)
Maurice Duruflé – Requiem Op 9
Francis Poulenc – Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël
Rory Boyle – A Year’s Carols – e
James MacMillan – In Splendoribus Sanctorum, from Strathclyde Motets
Stuart MacRae – Adam lay y-bounden
Monday, 15th June 2015 at 8.30pm in Wallace Dunlop Hall, Stewart’s Melville College
conducted by Scott Inglis-Kidger
Flickering Light – A short concert of choral colour and light including:
Thomas Weelkes – O how amiable are thy dwellings
Thomas Tallis – Salvator mundi
Charles Villiers Stanford – Beati quorum via, opus 38 Nº 3
Heinrich Schütz – Selig sind die Toten, SWV 391
Sergei Rachmaninov – Bogoróditse Dyévo, opus 37 Nº 6
Orlando Gibbons – Almighty and everlasting God
Jacobus Clemens non Papa – O Maria, vernans rosa
William Byrd – Justorum animae
Pierre Passereau – Il est bel et bon
Eric Whitacre – Sleep
Saturday, 25th April 2015 at 7.30pm in St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church, George Street, Edinburgh
conducted by Mark Hindley
Songs of Springtime: Seasonal choral music by Moeran and Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn – Der erste Frühlingstag, opus 48
Peter Warlock – The Spring of the Year
Ernest Moeran – Songs of Springtime
Felix Mendelssohn – Sechs Lieder in Freien zu singen, opus 59
Peter Cornelius – Die drei Frühlingstage, opus 11 Nº 3
Benjamin Britten – Flower Songs, opus 47
Sunday 15th February 2015 at 3.00pm in St John’s Kirk, St John’s Place, Perth
and
Saturday, 7th February 2015 at 7.30pm in St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church, George Street, Edinburgh
conducted by Mark Hindley
L’homme armé: Robert Carver’s Mass and contemporary music from the Wode Psalter
Robert Carver – Missa L’homme armé
Anonymous – Descendi in hortum meum
Robert Johnson – Domine in virtute tua
David Peebles – Si quis diligit me
Jean Maillard – Omnes gentes attendite
Saturday, 15th November, 2014 at 7.30pm in Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh
Haydn and Mozart Masses
W A Mozart – Venite Populi (K.260)
Joseph Haydn – Missa Brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo (Hob.XXII:7)
W A Mozart – Alma Dei Creatoris (K.277)
W A Mozart – Mass in B flat (K.275)
2014
Saturday, 7th June, 2014 at 7.30pm in Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh
Into the Light
Randall Thompson – Alleluia
Morten Lauridsen – Lux aeterna
Eric Whitacre – Lux Aurumque
Randall Thompson – The Peaceable Kingdom
Saturday, 15th March, 2014 at 7.30pm in St Andrew’s and St George’s West, Edinburgh
Out of the Deep
Dietrich Buxtehude – Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr (BuxWV41)
Dietrich Buxtehude – Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott (BuxWV78)
Dietrich Buxtehude – Alles, was ihr tut mir Worten oder Werken (BuxWV 4)
Johann Sebastian Bach – Cantata 131 “Aus der tiefe” (BWV131)
Sunday, 8th December, 2013 at 7.30pm in St Andrew Blackadder, North Berwick:
There Is No Rose
2013
Saturday, 7th December, 2013 at 7.30pm in Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh
There Is No Rose
Francisco Guerrero – Canite Tuba/Rorate Coeli
Anton Bruckner – Virga Jesse
Peter Erasmus Lange-Müller – Tre Madonnasange (Op.65)
Cristóbal de Morales – Salve Regina/Eia ergo
Thomas Wilson – There is no rose
Sergey Khvoshchinsky – Bogoroditse Devo
Peter Philips – Alma Redemptoris Mater
Arvo Pärt – Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Dostoyno yest (Liturgy of St John Chrysostom)
Tomás Luis de Victoria – Magnificat Primi Toni
Sunday, 22nd September, 2013 at 7.30pm in Stirling Castle
Ancient and Modern Music to Celebrate the Accession of James V
To celebrate the accession of James V, the Scottish Chamber Choir presents a varied programme of music, sponsored by Historic Scotland, comprising works by contemporary composers such as James MacMillan as well as works from the 16th century by composers such as David Peebles and Robert Johnson.
Director: Roderick Bryce
Saturday 8th June, 2013 at 7.30pm – Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh
J S Bach: Mass in B Minor
Saturday 9th March 2013, 7.30 pm – Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh
Master and Pupil: Benjamin Britten and Arthur Oldham
Arthur Oldham – Missa in Honorem Sancti Thomae Mori
Benjamin Britten – A Hymn to the Virgin
Benjamin Britten – Deus in adjutorium meum
Arthur Oldham – Tantum Ergo
Arthur Oldham – Stabat Mater
Benjamin Britten – Five Flower Songs (Op.47)
Arthur Oldham – Quem vidistis
Benjamin Britten – I Lov’d a lass
Benjamin Britten – Lift Boy
2012
Saturday 1st December, 2012 at 7.30pm in Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh
Messiah – 1742 Dublin version
Saturday 22nd September, 7.30 pm – St Machar’s Cathedral, Aberdeen
‘Sang Scule – an auld sang and a new’ – St Machar’s Festival
MacMillan’s Missa Brevis and works by Carver, Peebles and Johnson
Saturday 9th June 2012, 8pm – Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh
Handel Carmelite Vespers
Dixit Dominus, Laudate pueri and Nisi Dominus. Accompanied by Sospiro Baroque.
Saturday 10th March 2012, 8pm – Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh
Holy Week in Rome
Palestrina – Super flumina Babylonis
Scarlatti – Stabat Mater
Victoria – Tenebrae Responsories for Good Friday
Allegri – Miserere
Anerio – Christus Factus Est
2011
Saturday 19th November 2011, 8pm – St. Cuthbert’s, Lothian Road, Edinburgh
Improvisation!
David Briggs – Mass for Notre Dame
Bob Chilcott – Advent Antiphons
Sunday 14th August 2011, 8pm – Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh
Festival Concert
Rossini – Petit Messe Solenelle
Saturday 11th June 2011, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High St., Edinburgh
Totus Tuus – Old and New sounds from Eastern Europe
Jacob Handl – Missa super Sancta Maria ; a Renaissance masterpiece, framed by contemporary music in honour of Mary
Saturday 12th March 2011, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High St., Edinburgh
German Romantics
Brahms – Warum ist das licht gegeben, Bruckner – Three Motets and Ave Maria, Rheinberger – Abendlied and Mass in E flat for Double Choir
Saturday 13th November 2010, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High St., Edinburgh
French Classics
Vierne – Messe Solenelle, Durufle – Quatre Motets, Poulenc – Litanies a la Vierge noire, Fauré– Requiem
2010
Sunday 15th August 2010, 8pm – St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh
Festival Concert
Handel Let God Arise, Utrecht Jubilate
Mozart Mass in C K259
Saturday 12th June 2010, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High St., Edinburgh
J S Bach Cantatas 68 and 150, Lutheran Mass in G BWV236
Saturday 20th March 2010, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High St., Edinburgh
Renaissance Splendour
Music by Byrd, Gibbons, Peerson, Sheppard and Tallis
2009
Saturday 14th November 2009, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High St., Edinburgh
Ancient and Modern, Music from Scotland
Robert Carver Missa L’Homme Arme
Robin Orr Songs of Zion
James Macmillan Divo Aloysio Sacrum, Cantos Sagrados
Sunday 16th August 2009, 8pm – St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh
Festival Concert
Henry Purcell O Sing Unto the Lord
Joseph Haydn Missa Sancti Nicolai
Antonio Vivaldi Gloria
with The St Giles’ Chamber Ensemble
Saturday 6th June 2009, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High St., Edinburgh
Romantic Voices
Felix Mendelssohn Drei Motetten
C V Stanford Three Motets, Magnificat for Double Choir
C H Parry Songs of Farewell
Saturday 14th March 2009, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High St., Edinburgh
Handel Passion
Gregorio Allegri Miserere
John Sanders Reproaches
G F Handel Passion of Christ
2008
Saturday 22nd November 2008, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High St., Edinburgh
40th Anniversary Concert
J S Bach Singet dem Herrn
Heinrich Schütz Deutsches Magnificat, Singet dem Herrn
Kenneth Dempster Father and Son (new commission for 40th Anniversary)
Michael Tippett Five Negro Spirituals from ‘A Child of our Time’.
Sunday 10th August 2008, 8pm – St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh
Festival Concert
G F Handel Coronation Anthems
J S Bach Magnificat in D
with The St Giles’ Chamber Ensemble
Saturday 7th June 2008, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High St., Edinburgh
Music by Maurice Duruflé, Frank Martin, Claude Debussy, Eric Whitacre, Benjamin Britten and Frank Bridge
Saturday 8th March 2008, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High St., Edinburgh
Ralph Vaughan Williams Mass in G Minor; Valiant for Truth
Benjamin Britten Rejoice in the Lamb; Te Deum
Arnold Bax Mater Ora Filium
2007
Tuesday 11th December 2007, 7.30pm – St Margaret Episcopal, Easter Road., Edinburgh
Music for Advent and Christmas
A programme of carols, seasonal motets and organ music
Saturday 17th November 2007, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High St., Edinburgh
J S Bach Jesu, Meine Freude; Fürchte Dich Nicht
Heinrich Schütz Motets from Geistliche Chormusik
Giovanni Gabrieli Jubilate Deo
Claudio Monteverdi Dixit Dominus; Beatus Vir
Sunday 12th August 2007, 8pm – St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh
Festival Concert
J S Bach Mass in F, BWV 233
Joseph Haydn Te Deum
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Coronation Mass, KV 317
with The St Giles’ Chamber Ensemble
Saturday 9th June 2007, 8.00pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street, Edinburgh
The Spanish Connection
Music by Jean Berger, Antonio Soler, Tomas Luis de Victoria, Francisco Guerrero and Ariel Ramirez
Saturday 10th March 2007, 8.00pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street, Edinburgh
The Way of the Cross
Franz Lizst Via Crucis
Herbert Howells Take him, earth, for cherishing; Requiem
2006
Saturday 2nd December 2006, 6pm – Lauder Parish Church
Christmas at Lauder
A programme of carols, seasonal motets and organ music
Saturday 18th November 2006, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, Edinburgh
Bach Inspired
J S Bach Komm, Jesu, komm; Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied
Gustav Holst Nunc dimittis
Giles Swayne Magnificat
Felix Mendelssohn Motets for double choir, Opus 78, a capella
Jonathon Harvey I love the Lord
Sunday 13th August 2006, 8pm – St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh
Festival Concert
Handel Dixit Dominus
Mozart Vespere Solennes de Confessore (K339)
with The St Giles’ Chamber Ensemble
Saturday 10th June 2006, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street, Edinburgh
Summer Nights: Motets, Chansons and Madrigals
Palestrina Tu es Petrus
Josquin des Prez Ave Maria
Passereau Il est bel et bon
Delius To be sung of a summer night on the water
Arcadelt Il bianco e dolce cigno; Ave Maria
Debussy Trois Chansons de Charles d’Orléans
Janequin Le chant de oiseaux
Guerrero Ave virgo sanctissima; Duo seraphim
Morten Lauridsen Madrigali
Saturday 25th March 2006, 7.30pm – Reid Memorial Church, West Savile Terrace, Edinburgh
Mendelssohn Richte mich Gott
Bruckner Motets: Locus iste; Christus factus est; Os justi
Brahms Three Festival Anthems, op. 109: Unsere Väter; Wenn ein starker Gewappneter; Wo ist ein so herrlich Volk
Parry (from the Songs of Farewell): My soul there is a country; Never weather-beaten sail; There is an old belief
Stanford The Bluebird
Vaughan Williams The Turtle Dove; Three Shakespeare Songs
Saturday 11th March 2006, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street, Edinburgh
Passion and Resurrection
Schütz Matthäuspassion
Schütz Historia de Auferstehung Jesu Christi (with the Squair Mile Consort of Viols)
2005
Saturday 19th November 2005, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street, Edinburgh
For all the saints
Britten Rejoice in the Lamb
Macmillan Christus vincit
Finzi Lo! the full, final sacrifice
Stanford Magnificat, Opus 164
Leighton Sequence for All Saints
Sunday 14th August 2005, 8pm – St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh
Festival Concert
Bernstein Chichester Psalms
Faure Cantique de Jean Racine
Tippett Five Negro Spirituals from A Child of our Time
Faure Requiem
Saturday 11th June 2005, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street, Edinburgh
Victoria Missa Dum complerentur
Byrd Gradualia for Whitsuntide
Gorecki Totus tuus
Poulenc Mass in G
Saturday 12th March 2005, 8pm – St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street, Edinburgh
Buxtehude Magnificat
Distler Totentanz op. 12 no. 2
Buxtehude Membra Jesu Nostri (with the Squair Mile Consort of Viols)