St Albans Bach Choir: Rossini – Petite Messe Solenelle St Albans Bach Choir William Fox conductor Lucy Cox soprano Bethan Langford alto Piran Legg bass Piano: Tom Winpenny & Anne Bolt Harmonium: Edward Dean St Albans Bach Choir gave its first concert in 1924, a performance of JS Bach’s St Matthew Passion. The Choir presents a wide variety of music, staging three major concerts and two charity carol concerts each year in St Albans Abbey. Andrew Lucas, the Cathedral’s Master of the Music since 1998 retired in July of this year. The Choir looks forward to working with our new Director of Music, William Fox (previously assistant Director of Music at St Paul’s Cathedral) who took over as Director of Music at the Abbey on Andrew Lucas’ retirement. Recent performances have included our Centenary Concert in March of this year when we performed JS Bach – St Matthew Passion to a very full Abbey including in the audience the Lord Mayor of St Albans and the High Sheriff of Hertfordshire, and Andrew Lucas’ retirement concert in July of this year when we performed Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C to a sold-out audience. Other past concerts include Verdi’s Requiem (at Cadogan Hall), Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, and Duruflé’s Requiem. In 2013, 2015 and again in 2019, the Choir performed with John Rutter and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for their popular carol concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. John Rutter conducted his Requiem at our autumn concert in November of last year. On the 29 April 2023, the Choir, in conjunction with the Parliament Choir and the Southbank Sinfonia, performed the Dream of Gerontius (Elgar) in the Basilica of St Paul outside the walls, Rome at the invitation of the Vatican. In July 2023 the Choir performed Berlioz Te Deum as the centrepiece of the International Organ Festival in St Albans Abbey. Tickets: £36, £32, £28, £20, £15 No view seats will only be released when seats with views have sold out. Concessions: Children under 16 £15, Students (full time) with ID £15. Not available for Premium seats. Carers/Companions free. Seats marked with a K are only to be booked by people accompanying the adjacent wheelchair user. Only one companion ticket is permitted per transaction. Doors will open 30 minutes before concert starts. There is an interval of 20 minutes during this performance.