The present society originated as the choral group of Southwell Arts Society in 1959.
Its popularity increased and in 1964 Southwell Choral Society emerged under the leadership
of founder conductor Peter Wood. The present conductor, Nicholas Thorpe took over
when Peter retired in November 1997. The society now has over 100 active singing
members and a thriving group of non-
Autumn and Spring concerts are performed in the setting of our historic Minster and
in the Summer at other local venues. Rehearsals take place weekly in term-
The choir takes part in other concerts such as “Carols For All” in the Minster, and have made trips abroad. The choir also holds occasional Choral Days. In 2010 they raised £2900 for Haiti with a performance of Faure’s Requiem. In April 2011 they invited choristers to join them in Southwell Minster in a Sing for Japan to raise funds for the earthquake victims. They performed Vivaldi’s Gloria and Choruses from Handel’s Messiah from scratch without rehearsal and raised £1000.
The Society has undertaken successful foreign tours to:
Prague and Cesky Brod in 2000
Barcelona in 2003
Tuscany in 2006
HISTORY
