A great choir needs great Tenors
By: Ian Tout
Last updated: Friday, 15 October 2021
Brighton Festival Chorus (BFC) is one of the UK's leading symphony choruses with an annual varied programme of concerts in Sussex and London. The Chorus was founded by Laszlo Heltay who was on the faculty of the Music Department at Sussex for many years and has rehearsed on the campus every Tuesday evening since it was founded in 1968. The Chorus is looking for new members this autumn and has recently received generous support from the Felicity Belfield Music Trust to provide bursaries for new Tenors specifically.
Recent highlights include performing Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with Ed Gardner, recording with Pete Townshend at Abbey Road Studios, various performances at the Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall in London, and concerts in the Brighton Festival. The Chorus works with all of the major symphony orchestras in the UK and many of the world’s leading conductors, and much of its discography is available on iTunes and Spotify (‘O Fortuna’ from its iconic 1975 recording of Carmina Burana gets over 100,000 plays each month on Spotify and was used on an advertisement for Old Spice).
The Chorus has always enjoyed the enthusiastic support of the University community and is looking for either staff or students who love singing or have played a musical instrument and would like to experience the thrill of singing in a full symphony chorus to try it out.
BFC rehearse on Tuesday evenings in the BSMS Lecture Theatre and have regular ‘Guest Rehearsals’ on the first Tuesday of every month with the next one taking place on Tuesday 2 November. You can meet some of the Chorus members, enjoy an evening's rehearsal with the Chorus and see if you would be interested in joining.
This autumn, the Chorus are launching the Felicity Belfield Music Trust Bursary Scheme for Tenors aged 18 to 26 which is worth £300 and includes:
- 4 private singing lessons;
- A year’s subscription to Brighton Festival Chorus; and
- Travel to all of the Chorus’s performances.
For more information about applying for the Brighton Festival Chorus Tenor Bursary Scheme or about joining Brighton Festival Chorus, visit the Chorus’s website: www.bfc.org.uk, or e-mail Membership Secretary, Ann Berkovitch: membershipsecretary@bfc.org.uk.