A B O U T U S
The 40-strong Salisbury Chamber Chorus, formed in 2011, is an ensemble with a difference. Spanning the operatic and choral repertoires, its hallmark is a committed, full-bodied sound that brings a varied programme of music excitingly to life.
Our concerts - at least three per year - take place in Salisbury and further afield, some by invitation. Imaginative programming spins audiences from evenings of opera (Wagner and Puccini, for example) to new works (McEnery’s Space Time Matter Energy), via choral classics (Verdi's Requiem) and charity fundraisers (A German Christmas).
We regularly engage soloists and instrumentalists, including singers from WNO and ENO, percussion ensemble Beaten Track, and the celebrated orchestra, La Folia.
Never predictable, never dull, Chamber Chorus concerts already have a regular - and growing - band of followers. If you’d like to hear about future events, please join our mailing list here. And if you’d like us to sing at your event, please contact us here.
Keen to help local charities, the Chorus has so far raised £2000 for the Sheriff of Wiltshire's chosen charity in 2017, Community First; nearly £1000 for the Alabaré Centre; £1000 for Salisbury District Hospital’s Pembroke Unit; £500 for the Breast Cancer Unit; over £700 for the Salisbury Hospice; over £500 for Morning Star Salisbury; and has supported other local charities including the Trussell Trust through ‘donating’ concerts.
If you’re interested in joining us, we’re often on the look-out for confident singers with at least a good basic technique, and at least competent sight-reading and general theory knowledge. To request an audition, you can contact us by clicking here. Please understand we generally have a waiting list.
Simon McEnery Musical Director
Simon has a background primarily as a singer. He has sung in many European opera houses (Paris, Frankfurt, Antwerp, Ghent) and with UK companies (ENO, Garsington, Grange Park), and has sung frequently with Welsh National Opera for over ten years.
As a composer, he has written dozens of songs, incidental music, and a number of choral works, including some for Salisbury Cathedral Choir.
He is also a singing teacher, and his desire to encourage singers to achieve their full potential is what led him to found the Salisbury Chamber Chorus. It is now a choir that offers Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset singers who don’t necessarily fit into a more traditional choral mould an opportunity to make music with a high level of ambition and expectation.
You can find out more about Simon on his website, including information about his singing teaching. mcenery.co.uk
Simon’s music, including Nine Angels, The Resurrection, Requiem, and 20 Collected Songs, is published by Red Rust Music Ltd. and scores are available at mcenery.co.uk.
John Cuthbert Repetiteur
John Cuthbert studied at the Royal College of Music, where he was also a Collaborative Piano Fellow.
He has worked as a repetiteur with English Touring Opera, Co-Opera Co., Intermezzo Opera, Ryedale Festival Opera, and Opera in Oborne. In addition he has worked with London Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Holland Park, and the City of London Sinfonia.
He is also an excellent tenor, singing with the Choir of All Saints’ Church, Margaret Street, London.