About us

About the choir

The Barnes Choir, orginally known as the Barnes Music Club Choir, was established in 1953. A friendly and sociable choir, we number some 70 singers drawn mostly from the Barnes, Sheen & Richmond areas. We perform mainly, but not exclusively, classical choral works, including those of local composers such as Howard Goodall and Gustav Holst. We occasionally commission new works, most recently from the well known Russell Hepplewhite who composed a setting of Jamila Gavin's While there is still time for us, as part of our perfomance at the 10th Anniversary of the Barnes Music Festival, of which we are a Founder member.

We perform three major concerts each season. The Winter and Summer concerts are normally held at All Saints in East Sheen and the Spring concert at St Mary's in Barnes as part of the Barnes Music Festival.

Occasionally we combine with other choirs to put on a special performance, such as our recent collaboration with Epsom Choral Society to present William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast at Cadogan Hall in London last summer, and our presentation of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius at Southwark Cathedral in 2019.

As well as our regular concerts, we sing at local summer fetes, and at Christmas events. We raise funds for local cancer support charity, The Mulberry Centre in Isleworth with our annual Christmas Carol concert. This year we were invited to perform at St Mary Magdalene, Richmond as part of the annual Richmond May Fair.

Every season we hold an Open Come and Sing day which attracts singers from all across South West London.

We are a friendly and sociable choir. We hold a number of social events, including Quiz/Talent night, our Carol Singers Dinner at a local restaurant after carol singing at Richmond Station and a Summer Party.

The choir has made several visits to Le Pecq, near Paris, with which Barnes has strong cultural links. We also sometimes organise summer tours. Recent trips include Krakow and Lisbon, this summer along with Epsom and Teddington Choral Societies we are touring to Prague.
 

Choir history and conductors

The Barnes Music Club Choir was established in 1953 by local amateur musician Ron Peck who was the Founding Chairman of the Music Club, and we performed under his leadership until his death in 1973. Peter Gellhorn became the conductor from 1973 until 2000, and it was during his tenure that we changed our name to The Barnes Choir as wanted to recruit singers from a wider area, rather than restricitng ourselves to Barnes Music Club members. Peter was followed by Andrew Charity who stayed with us until 2013, when he was succeeded by Julian Collings.