The Gloucester Choral Society are widely acknowledged as being one of the very best vocal groups in the south-west. With over 150 members, the choir get to rehearse and perform at one of Gloucestershire’s most stunning buildings and work alongside one of the most acclaimed musical directors in England.

With their summer break nearing its end the members of the choral group are looking ahead to what promises to be a busy schedule. “We’ll be getting together for our first practice session on the first week in September, said Allen Prior, Chairman of the Gloucester Choral Society. He continued: “We practise in the Cathedral, we rehearse right through until late spring with only a brief break at Christmas. The standard we’re measured against is very high, so rehearsals are very important. We’re busy throughout the whole of winter and spring seasons with several concerts booked in already.

“Our first major concert comes in early October – The Dream of Gerontius – which is a major work that takes a lot of practise. It’s one of the most popular choral works around, it’s performed a lot by choral societies. We’ve got three top class international soloists that will be joining us for the concert, everyone involved is looking ahead with real excitement for what will be a great evening.”

One of Allen’s first tasks when he became Chairman five years ago was to introduce an idea to increase the society’s income. He explained: “We have a project called ‘Hire a Choir’ where people book us to appear at corporate events as well as at weddings, birthdays and funerals. We use the money from those performances to help us fund younger singers to join our choir. We choose four singers to join us as choral scholars and we pay them to sing with us. So ‘Hire the Choir’ is very important to our funding and the development of young singers in Gloucestershire.”

The Gloucester Choral Society’s Musical Director is Adrian Partington, who Allen says plays a crucial role in bringing the best out of the choir. Allen continued: “Adrian is a class act in every sense of the word, he sets the standards and musical direction that we have to aspire to. It’s a great thrill to be able to work alongside Adrian, he’s someone who is known for his supreme musical talent.

“Rehearsing and performing at Gloucester Cathedral is a real joy. It’s a truly unique building that enjoys wonderful acoustics. It’s an awe-inspiring building, I don’t think I’ll ever tire of singing there.

“Back in May of this year we ran a 4-day festival dedicated to the music of Hubert Parry who was our former president. We featured music from Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst and John Ireland who were all pupils of Hubert Parry when he was the principle of the Royal College of Music in London. It was a wonderful four days, an event that will be remembered for a long time.

“We had a weekend long festival with talks and performances, including a performance from the Philharmonia Orchestra who are widely acknowledged as being one of the best orchestras in the world. When I became chairman five years ago it was my main aim to organise this festival, so it was a proud moment when we managed to pull it off and make a real success of it. We had people travel from all over the world to come to Gloucestershire, so it was a very satisfying weekend.”