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Spring Concert 2024
Our Spring concert will be on Sunday 12 May 2024, and will feature two entertaining works, both created in the later twentieth century to present familiar words and stories through a new musical idiom.
- Joseph Horovitz’s Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo is a re-working of the bible story using lyrics written by Michael Flanders (of Flanders & Swann fame).
- George Shearing’s Songs and Sonnets are jazz-inspired settings of familiar verses from Shakespeare.
Rehearsals are on Thursdays at 7.30 pm in the United Reformed Church, Church Stretton, starting on January 11.
New members, of all voices, are always very welcome to join us - see the Membership / Joining page.
Christmas Concert 2023
Stretton Choral Society and its Music Director Michael Turner presented our Christmas concert, "Christmas Cantatas", on Sunday 10 December 2023, 7.30 pm at the Silvester Horne Institute. Accompaniment was by the Shropshire Hills Ensemble led by David Joyce and the soprano soloist was once again be the wonderful Catherine Rooney-Ward. Thank you to everyone who came - the concert seemed to be appreciated and we certainly enjoyed it.
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Who we are
Stretton Choral Society, in its present format, was founded in 1977 and currently meets once a week in the newly refurbished United Reformed Church, Church Stretton, between September and May to rehearse for at least two public concerts each year.
A concert in December usually consists mainly of music related to the Christmas season and includes some Christmas carols for the audience to join in. A spring concert in early May allows for more substantial works in the classical and modern repertoires.
We welcome members both from the Strettons and from the surrounding area.
Our musical team
Musical Director: Michael Turner
At the same time as all meetings were cancelled in March 2020, the Society had to say goodbye at very short notice to our musical director, Paul Kelly, who has relocated to the Orkneys. We warmly welcome our new leader - Michael Turner - who joined us on Thursday 2nd September 2021.
From Birmingham, Michael Turner studied violin and viola, before settling on percussion as his main instrumental study. As a singer, he has been a member of the CBSO Chorus, along with a number of other choirs across the Midlands.
Michael has attended conducting courses with John Carewe and George Hurst and studied under Hilary Davan Wetton, with whom he settled on adopting the conducting technique favoured by Sir Adrian Boult.
A music graduate of Leicester University, Michael has conducted several amateur and professional ensembles and choirs including the Birmingham Singers, Proteus Chamber Orchestra, the More Singers, the Telford Orchestra, the Marches Choir and the Phoenix Singers. He made his professional debut with the Milton Keynes City Orchestra and has also worked with the Manchester Camerata. Michael has been Music Director of the Bloomsbury Chamber Orchestra since 1996, was Music Director of the Oswestry Sinfonia from 2014 - 2020 and became Musical Director of the Stretton Choral Society in September 2021. He has been an ensemble conductor for Shropshire Music Service since 2016.
Michael has composed extensively, with works including a Horn Concerto, several orchestral and choral works, instrumental music and pieces for percussion and wind ensemble.
Michael lives in South Shropshire with his wife. They have three sons. Between them, the Turners play bassoon, guitar, horn, oboe, piano, recorders (of various sizes), viola and violin, with one boy currently a Cathedral chorister.
Accompanist: Sally Oak
Having lost our previous accompanist, Nykko-Mickaël Grégoire, at the turn of 2019/20, on 7th October 2021 the Society was delighted to welcome our new rehearsal accompanist - Sally Oak.
Since moving to Shropshire in 2006 Sally has established a busy playing and teaching career. Over this time she has played for a variety of choirs including children’s, ladies/male voice, mixed and choral societies. Currently she rehearses and performs with Stretton Choral Society and Bridgnorth Male Voice Choir, she also plays for Concordia Ladies Choir Concerts and accompanies exams.
As well as piano, she plays clarinet and saxophone. She enjoys playing a variety of genres and is Principal Clarinet with Bridgnorth Sinfonia and Quintessential (Wind Quintet). She sometimes plays with Ludlow Orchestra and Shrewsbury Symphony Orchestra plus lots of ad hoc collaborations. Previously she had a sax ensemble called Sunflower Saxes.
Site last updated: 2/10/2023