We are a very friendly group of about 60 members of varying abilities and ages who share a love of singing.  We give four concerts a year, frequently with soloists and an orchestra.  Wherever possible our soloists are up and coming young soloists from one of the London music schools at the start of their career.  And they are fantastic, a real inspiration to the choir. 

Our next concert is….

Our next concert is a 3 pm on Sunday 23rd June in St Gregory’s Church in Sudbury when we will be joined by children from Acton Primary School. We are singing a fun selection of vaguely weather and climate related songs. Come and enjoy and let your hair down with us in what is a gloriously pretty church.

Tickets will be available from the Tourist Office in the Town Hall, Juniper Flowers, TicketSource and from members of the choir – plus as ever, on the door.

Our last concert was….

What we do

As well as large choral works, our programmes feature a variety of music, from Bach to the Beatles, and include folk music, madrigals and carols. There are no auditions, but an ability to read music is  an advantage.

Although we take our music seriously, there is also room for fun and friendship.  There are singing days, social and money-making events such as a summer barbecue and an annual quiz.  Rehearsals are now being held in Friars Hall, School Street, Sudbury which is the church hall attached to what was the URC now renamed the Joy Abbot Hall(School Street, Sudbury CO10 2HA). We rehearse on Monday evenings from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. 

Interested in joining, want to know more? Get in contact with us here. You are welcome to come to three rehearsals to see how you like it before any subscription is due, and we are not good at counting! Well, except when we are singing. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook!

Our Conductor 

John has been Musical Director of Sudbury Choral Society since June 2020.  John is a cellist, organist, pianist, orchestral and chamber music coach, conductor and arranger.  He is also a theory, instrumental and composition teacher.  He studied the cello and organ at the Royal College of Music and continued his studies with William Pleeth, teacher of Jacqueline du Pré.  For seven years, John was the cellist of the Guadagnini String Quartet with whom he was an Artist-in-Residence at Southampton University and then Lancaster University and performed and broadcast all around Europe and Canada.  For two years, he was Assistant Principal Cellist of the BBC Philharmonic and then was Principal Cellist at English National Opera for twenty five years.  He has also worked as a guest principal cellist with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Opera North, Northern Philharmonia, London Mozart Players, London Sinfonietta, BBC Welsh Orchestra and Camerata Ireland. 

John lives in Suffolk and is the conductor of Lexden Choral Society and Music Director of Southend Symphony Orchestra.  He has recently formed a cello and piano duo with prominent pianist, Tim Carey giving concerts all over East Anglia and they are planning to play piano trios with the violinist, Nadia Myerscough.  John is in the process of founding a professional big band made up of some of the finest musicians in East Anglia and is much in demand as a teacher, adjudicator and guest conductor.  A busy man!

Our Accompanist

Sara Whymark studied music at Exeter University, qualifying as a secondary and junior music teacher at Reading University. She gained an LRAM in piano, an LRSM in clarinet teaching and was Head of Music at Stoke by Nayland Middle School.  Sara has been our accompanist since 1991 and performs regularly both as an accompanist and as a clarinet soloist at local venues. Sara is a member of Sudbury Symphony Orchestra and also works with several local children’s choirs.

Our President

Stephen Varcoe

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