A Voyage of Discovery with West London Chorus
Special workshop to mark the choir’s 50 th anniversary
Hilary Campbell conducting West London Chorus. Picture: West London Chorus
|
August 4, 2026
This September, singers from across West London are invited to an afternoon of musical exploration as West London Chorus marks its 50th anniversary with a special workshop, A Voyage of Discovery.
Led by award-winning Musical Director Hilary Campbell, the workshop promises a rich journey through the choral repertoire. Participants will work on part songs by Tallis and Vaughan Williams, alongside lighter contemporary arrangements made famous by The King’s Singers. The session focuses on developing vocal confidence, technique and ensemble skills, with warm-ups, practical guidance and plenty of music-making.
The Chorus emphasises that the day is designed for singers of all backgrounds who want to stretch their skills in a friendly, supportive environment — and yes, there will be tea and cake.
The workshop takes place on Saturday 19 September, with registration at 12.30pm and the workshop running from 1pm to 5.30pm at St Michael’s Church, Elmwood Road, Chiswick W4 3DZ.
Tickets are £25 including scores, and singers can register either through the West London Chorus website at westlondonchorus.co.uk or directly via the sign-up link.
The original Chiswick Choir was founded in 1976 in W4 by John Thackray, a passionate musician who served as conductor for many London choirs. Between 1984 and 2015 the choir was conducted by Alistair Jones and since January 2016 the choir has been under the direction of award-winning composer and conductor Hilary Campbell. In 2021 the choir changed its name to the West London Chorus to reflect its wider reach and appeal.
Over the course of its career the Choir has built a repertoire principally based on the European tradition from the 16th to 20th centuries. The choir has also performed more contemporary pieces, including the world premiere of Alistair Jones’s Stabat Mater in 2006, Will Todd’s Mass In Blue and works by Bob Chilcott and others.
The choir’s repertoire includes most of the major works suited to a group of its size – the Bach Passions, Mass in B minor, oratorios by Handel, works by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, Verdi’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and so on. Excursions into the 20th century have included performances of Britten’s Saint Nicolas, Tippet’s A Child of Our Time and Stravinsky’s A Symphony of Psalms.
It always welcomes new members, and more information is available on its web site.
The choir also offers a limited number of vocal scholarships each year to nurture the skills and experience of talented singers between the ages of 18 and 30.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least two articles a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |