Macclesfield Oriana Choir

11/04/2026

Come and join us for a fulfilling and fun singing day with us. Plenty of good company and cake!

18/03/2026

27/01/2023

Apologies, but our forthcoming concert on 11th February has been postponed.

16/10/2022

DID YOU KNOW? 'Stabat Mater' is a poem in Latin composed by 13th century Franciscan monks that meditates on the Virgin Mary's grief at the death of her son, Jesus.
Dvorak began setting this to music in 1876, some months after the death of baby daughter, Josefa, at only two days old. He completed an unorchestrated draft, but then the piece was left unfinished.
In the summer of 1877, two further family tragedies occurred. The two remaining Dvorak children died in quick succession. Although he and his wife would later have more children, by September 1877, they were left childless.
Almost immediately, Dvorak returned to the Stabat Mater and the orchestration was completed two months later.
Dvorak had been relatively unknown outside Prague up until 1875. Johannes Brahms championed Dvorak's music to his own music publisher and subsequently, publication of Dvorak's 'Slavonic Dances' brought his music to Western European and international audiences. The 'Stabat Mater' did not receive its premier until 1880, but audiences were profoundly moved by it, and its popularity helped to consolidate his success abroad.
In March 1884, the 'Stabat Mater' was performed in the Royal Albert Hall, and gave Dvorak one of his greatest public triumphs.
"As soon as I appeared, I received a tempestuous welcome from the audience of 12,000. These ovations increasing, I had to bow my thanks again and again, the orchestra and choir applauding with no less fervour. I am convinced that England offers me a new and certain happier future, one which I hope may benefit the Czech art"
He was right. His popularity in England was assured and he made 9 trips to the country over the next 15 years.

11/06/2022

A little light refreshment for the Jubilee Concert this evening at 7.30pm at Macclesfield Methodist Church

05/03/2022

Did you know? Puccini composed his 'Messa di Gloria' aged 18, as his graduation exercise from the Instituto Musicale Pacini in Lucca. It had its first performance in July 1880, but Puccini never published the manuscript and it was not performed again until 1952, many years after his death. It seems that Puccini had already decided that his career lay in the music of the theatre rather than the music of the church, and had never intended the work for publication.
The popular title 'Messa di Gloria' is in fact a bit of a misnomer, an error by Millers Music of New York, publishers of the first printed edition of the score in 1951. The work is actually a full mass,(a 'Messa di Gloria' includes only the 'Kyrie' and 'Gloria') and was more properly entitled by Puccini simply as 'Messa a quattro voci' (Mass for four voices). Perhaps it retains this title today because the glorious 'Gloria' does form a prominent part of the work, taking up around 40 per cent of the running time of the performance.

24/11/2020

Two short musical interludes from the choir's talented accompanist, Gyan Maria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iELxvg6HVo&ab_channel=GyanMaria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGcnYybRq4&ab_channel=GyanMaria

14 November 2020 Recorded in Budapest Pianist: Gyan Singh Maria Artwork: Laurel Saunders

09/02/2020

An evening of uplifting music and fine performances from the choir and soloists last night in celebration of the choir's 90th birthday

14/01/2020

To mark 90 years of choral singing in Macclesfield, the Oriana Choir invites you to a celebratory concert on 8th February 2020. Music will include choral and solo performances from works by Mozart, Bach, Faure, Brahms, Schubert, Elgar and Rossini. Ticket prices are £12.00 in advance and £14.00 on the door

04/10/2019

DID YOU KNOW?: John Rutter composed 'The Shepherd's Pipe Carol' whilst still in the sixth form at school. He entered it into a carol competition being judged by David Willcocks, the well-known conductor and composer. However, Rutter heard nothing and someone else won the competition. Later, at Cambridge University, Rutter found himself learning under the same man. Willcocks heard the carol being performed at an Advent carol service which Rutter was conducting. He requested to see the manuscript and offered to have it published. The pair went on to co-edit several volumes of the popular 'Carols for Choirs' series.
When Rutter asked him about the carol, Willcocks replied, "Hmm, I think it must have improved since I first saw it."

04/10/2019

You sang at school, you sing at weddings, you sing in the shower, Now come and sing with us !