In the first concert of the season, Ayr Choral present a programme of French and English music with contrasting pieces. Requiem by Gabriel Faure and Gloria by Francis Poulenc, Five Mystical Songs by Vaughan Williams and I Was Glad by Hubert Parry. The choir will be conducted by Andrew McTaggart and joined by soloists Catriona Clark and Colin Murray and organ accompaniment by Peter Shepherd.
Rehearsals for our exciting 2023-24 season start on Tuesday 22nd August 2023 at Castlehill Church, Ayr. Come and join our friendly and enthusiastic group of around 80 singers as we start learning the music for our October concert which will include works by Parry, Poulenc and Faure. If you’re interested in coming along, feel free to contact our Secretary by email (ayrchoral@outlook.com) or message us on Facebook. You are welcome to come along for a few weeks to try us out before committing!
Join us on Saturday 12th August 2023 for a Come and Sing day.
We’ll spend the day rehearsing Poulenc’s Gloria before giving a performance to an audience of family and friends. The day will start with tea & coffee (and home baking!) from 10am – 10.30 before getting down to some hard work under our director, Andy McTaggart. Rehearsal will run until 4pm with a break for lunch and the performance will be at 4.30pm.
Whether it’s a piece you know by heart, a work you’ve never heard of or you just want to give Ayr Choral a try everyone is welcome and we’d love you to join us for the day!
Please see the full details of the day further down the page and to sign up, download and complete this form and return it to ayrchoral@outlook.com
Ayr Choral rounded off a glorious 2022-23 season with a mixed programme of choral works in the setting of Glasgow’s magnificent St Mungo’s Cathedral. In front of a great audience of family, friends and visitors to the cathedral we performed some gorgeous music, both sacred and secular, by composers from the sixteenth century to the present day. We were delighted to be joined by both Peter Shepherd and Andrew Forbes as accompanists who gave a thrilling rendition of Holst’s Jupiter for 4 hands at the organ.
We’re on a summer break now until our Come & Sing Poulenc Gloria on 12th August 2023 – if you’d like to join us for that, keep an eye on the website or our social media for more information.
Rehearsals are now fully underway for our final Town Hall concert of the season. With a good number of new members in the choir, Andy is putting us through our paces as we prepare Puccini’s Messa di Gloria which we’ll perform on the 19th March with orchestra and soloists. We’re also learning Feel the Spirit, a cycle of seven spirituals arranged by John Rutter – the jazzy arrangements providing us with some rhythmical challenges!
With three opera choruses also to learn, there’s some gorgeous music for what will be a beautiful and uplifting concert.
Join us for an Open Rehearsal on Tuesday 10th January 2023 as we begin preparations for our next concert featuring music by Puccini and Rutter.
Led by our choral director Andy McTaggart we’ll get our voices back in shape following the festive break and start learning Puccini’s Messa di Gloria and John Rutter’s Feel the Spirit alongside some well-loved opera choruses.
This rehearsal will be free and open to all – we hope you might want to join us permanently!
Rehearsal starts at 7.30pm at Castlehill Parish Church, Old Hillfoot Road, KA7 3LW
Rehearsals have started for our first concert of the Season. An Atlantic Voyage, a mix of amazing music by Scottish and American (North and South) composers will be on Sunday 30th October in Ayr Town Hall. After that we will be getting a Christmas Concert (on Sunday 11th December) in shape with help from the Newmilns and Galston Brass Band!
Our Spring Concert, with full professional orchestra, will include Puccini’s Messa di Gloria and John Rutter’s settings of African American Spiritual songs – Feel the Spirit.
Ayr Choral Union’s AGM marked the end of an era when a presentation was made to the choir’s long serving Accompanist Morag Walton.
Morag, who studied music at Glasgow University, and has taught many aspiring young pianists over three decades, originally joined the choir, as a singer, in 1975. She became the choir’s accompanist in 1994. During the succeeding twenty-seven years, her meticulous and conscientious approach to her role has seen her support rehearsals of many of the great choral works including the choir’s most recent performance of Bach’s St John Passion in April. She has also accompanied the choir in concerts in St Giles Cathedral Edinburgh and Paisley Abbey. Morag’s skill as an arranger has been demonstrated in performances over the years especially at Christmas. Choir members are delighted that Morag is not retiring fully as she will return to sing in the new season.
Ayr Choral Union, Castlehill Chirch, Ayr AGM marked the end of an era when a presentation was made to the choirs long serving accompanist Morag Walton. She became the accompanist in 1994
Photo shows Morag ( centre) with Marion Andrews & Kate Wilson ( current president of Ayr Choral Union )
Ayr Choral are launching their exciting 2022- 23 Season with a warm invitation to a day of singing one of the most performed and loved choral works. Come along to Castlehill Church in Ayr on 27th August to sing The Armed Man (A Mass for Peace) by Karl Jenkins, led by the inimitable Andrew McTaggart and joined by soprano soloist Caitlin MacKenzie and piano accompanist Andrew Brown. Whether you don’t know the work, or whether you know it backwards, this will be an informal day with plenty of time to catch up with friends as well as experiencing some amazing music!
Written in 2000 and performed more than 2750 times in over 50 countries, the piece was commissioned by the Royal Armouries Museum to commemorate the victims of the Kosovo Crisis. This contemporary Mass incorporates many different musical styles and moods and uses both sacred and secular texts from serene to dramatically intense.
To take part please complete the application form on our website and return to: ayrchoral@outlook.com.
Tickets are now available for our spring concert in April. Rehearsals are well under way for the Bach St John Passion and it promises to be a fantastic experience for audience and singers alike.
