History of The Bradford Chorale
The Bradford Chorale is a leading Bradford choir.
It started life as The James Ashworth Singers
giving its first concert in Thornton Parish Church in April 1976.
After some years the base moved to the Unitarian Church near St Luke’s
Hospital to be more central for members coming from all parts of Bradford and the
surrounding area.
In 1979 James Ashworth moved on to projects new and was succeeded by Douglas Robinson
who had recently retired as Chorus Master at Covent Garden and who held the post until
ill health forced his retirement. During this period the name was changed first to
The Ashworth Singers and later to The Bradford Chorale.
John Coates took over as Musical Director in 1984 and was followed by Tricia Platts in
1991. Since Tricia’s departure the Chorale has been led by several Musical Directors
including Carleton Etherington, Andrew Dibb, Elizabeth Altman, John Griffiths and
Christopher Rathbone. Our new Musical Director, Paul Dewhurst takes us into the second
quarter century of musical life.
Repertoire is wide and varied, from a backbone of the traditional oratorio and masses
of composers such as Haydn, Vivaldi, Faure, Mendelssohn and Mozart, to madrigals,
part-songs, opera choruses and arranged pieces spanning the centuries and embracing a
variety of styles. The choir performs regularly in various venues in and around Bradford,
including Bradford Cathedral, Bradford Grammar School, Bradford Girl's Grammar School,
St. Paul's Church in Shipley, and Victoria Hall in Saltaire. The choir has enjoyed collaborating
with great soloists and orchestras, such as James Laing (counter tenor), Wendy Goodson (soprano),
The Mowbray Orchestra, The Sinfonia of Leeds, Airedale Symphony Orchestra, and many more.
The choir has maintained a singing strength of around 55 voices (a sizeable core of
whom have been members since the founding of the choir), but recently has grown to over 80.
It is always keen to recruit new voices in all parts and applications from new
singing members will always be welcomed.
For further information about any of Chorale’s activities please phone (01274) 594659 or
email here.
The Bradford Chorale Petite Messe Solennelle Concert,
12th November 2005,
Bradford Cathedral under Christopher Rathbone.
