Let all the world

17th March, 2024

This spring-time concert featured sought-after rising star, Dominic Sedgwick, performing choral works including Vaughan Williams’ incomparable Five Mystical Songs and Butterworth’s nostalgic A Shropshire Lad. Complementing this were beautiful works by composers Eleanor Daly, Judith Weir, Becky McGlade, Lizzie Deane and Sarah Cattley, setting words from the Song of Solomon and George Herbert along with John Corigliano’s evocative Fern Hill, setting Dylan Thomas’s poem.

A Merry Little Christmas

5th December, 2023

Harlequin Chamber Choir presented their ever-popular seasonal concert at Holy Trinity Church, Guildford, joined by Nota Bene (the office choir of Stevens & Bolton) and the brilliant Senior Singing Squad from St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School. The concert was a harmonious blend of traditional carols and contemporary classics and filled the evening with heartwarming melodies and outstanding performances that left the audience in high spirits.

Harlequin Choir A Merry Little Christmas Poster

Appear & Inspire

14th October, 2023

Harlequin Chamber Choir celebrated some of the finest secular and sacred works from the early-mid twentieth century, including works by Harris, Parry, Finzi and Britten in the beautiful setting of Christ Church, Guildford

You’re the Voice

You're the Voice Concert Poster

1st July, 2023

Three very different ensembles united – Harlequin Chamber Choir, Nota Bene (Stevens & Bolton law firm choir) and Surrey Rainbow Choir (Surrey’s only LGBTQ+ choir) – to deliver some storming, show-stopping tunes from the 60s to the present day.

Come and Sing Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle

3rd June, 2023

A come and sing event held at Charterhouse School performing choruses from Gioachino Rossini’s most well-known 19th century choral works, full of extraordinary drama, pathos, colour and intensity.

Come & Sing
Music for Royal Occasions

18th April 2023

This open event brought together a large choir to perform iconic pieces such as Handel’s Zadok, Parry’s I was glad and Mealor’s Ubi Caritas at St Nicolas Church Guildford

Choral Conducting Masterclass

18th March 2023

Harlequin enjoyed being the featured choir in Amy Bebbington’s Choral Conducting Master class held in Onslow Village Hall, Guildford.

A Winter Day: Christmas 2022

17th December 2022

Our annual concert

celebrating the joy of Christmas this year  included a sumptuously stylish mix of festive choral music new and old, including beautiful new works by Elaine Hagenberg and Sarah Quartel for voices, piano and cello.

Harlequin’s Autumn Teatime Concert: A Sacred Paradise

9th July 2022

We sang a short concert of sacred music spanning the 16th to 21st Centuries, featuring well-loved favourites by Bruckner and Stanford, interspersed with little-known gems by Aleotti and Wheeler. 

Harlequin Summer Concert: Chansons Françaises

9th July 2022

We sang a wide selection of French songs, Chansons Françaisesranging from the sixteenth century to the present day, and also enjoyed some well-loved piano solos. Composers included Debussy, Ravel, Fauré, Saint-Saëns and Poulenc.

Brandenburg presents Harlequin and Chantage

11th June 2022

Music Directors James Davey and Amy Bebbington are long-standing friends and colleagues, having both sung in Choros Amici, are practitioners for the Association of British Choral Directors and co-creators of the London International Choral Conducting Competition. They were delighted to be bringing their own chamber choirs Harlequin and Chantage together for the first time at St Stephen Walbrook, singing sacred and secular works to salve the soul.

Photographs by Pamela Agar
 
Harlequin at St Stephen Walbrook
Harlequin and Chantage

Come & Sing Event — Vaughan Williams, Stanford and many more

14th May 2022

A wonderful time was had by all with delicious cakes, Come and Sing 2022fantastic repertoire and glorious weather! We explored Vaughan Williams’ lesser-known Sun, Moon, Stars and Man, alongside his Mystical Songs and Shakespeare Songs. We also enjoyed Stanford’s motets, Janet Wheeler’s Beati Quorum Via, new OUP composer Becky McGlade’s Come my way, my truth, my life, Sarah Cattley’s recent setting of Ursula Vaughan Williams’ text, Western Wind and music from Canadian composer Eleanor Daley.

Sound, Silence, Stillness

26th March 2022

Harlequin presented its first concert of 2022, Sound Stillness Silenceon the theme of sound, silence and stillness. As well as reflective pieces by Harris, Runestad, Hagenburg and Simon & Garfunkel, we were also very pleased to include compositions from the winners of our 2020 CoronaComposer competition. Click here for more information about the competition and the winning composers.

Harlequin Christmas Concert 2021

17th December 2021

Our Christmas concert, ‘Joy to the World!’ included carols Joy to the World!and classics for choir and trumpets directed by Amy Bebbington. The concert featured Harlequin Chamber Choir, world-famous trumpeter Crispian Steele Perkins, and Tillingbourne Junior School Choir directed by Louise Djadali.

On Windover Hill

7th March 2020
Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Harlequin Chamber Choir, Corra Sound

Harlequin recently gave the world premiere of a new cantata by composer, Nathan James. On Windover Hill was inspired by the Long Man of Wilmington, an ancient figure carved into the South Downs. The music, scored for SATB choir and chamber orchestra, was performed in the beautiful surroundings of the 12th Century Boxgrove Priory in West Sussex and was attended by a capacity audience. The cantata also included two dancers from First Dance Studios and a number of readings given by Cole Moreton (author & journalist), Peter Martin (poet), Emily Jeffery (BBC presenter), Justin Hopper (author), and Philip Carr-Gomm (author) – pictured below. Our colleagues at Corra Sound also gave a rare performance of Goblin Market by Ruth Gipps, accompanied by the strings of the RPCO.

The choir also gave the first UK performance of Wyndore in 82 years, by Avril Coleridge-Taylor, along with pieces by fellow Sussex composers, Frank Bridge, John Ireland, and Thomas Weelkes.

We are grateful to the Arts Council, The RVW Trust, and The Ambache Trust for their support for this concert.

Photographs by Rachel Poulton