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Bournemouth Sinfonietta Choir was originally formed in 1972 for Kenneth Montgomery, who was then the musical director of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta chamber orchestra. The first concert took place in Romsey Abbey, and, until November 1978, the choir worked as the choral adjunct to the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, which sadly ceased to exist in autumn 1999. Since the late seventies, the choir has been financially independent and self-governing. During its association with the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, the choir performed with several distinguished conductors, including Volker Wangenheim, Rudolph Schwarz and Simon Rattle. The current conductor, David Gostick, became Musical Director in 2003 and follows in the footsteps of previous conductors Howard Ionascu, Rupert Jeffcoat, Nigel Carver and Barry Ferguson, who was the choir's very first chorus-master. David Gostick’s busy conducting career encompasses choral, operatic and orchestral work. Since joining BSC he has explored a vast repertoire, from the Eton Choir Book to commissions, and recorded two CDs. With the Portsmouth Choral Union and Southern Pro Musica he recently made the first recording of Samuel Wesley’s masterpiece Confitebor Tibi, Domine, as well as conducting major romantic repertoire. Having spent 13 years directing the cathedral-style choir of men and children at Wimborne Minster, he now works with the professional choir at St Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield and took over the baton of the central London Medici Choir in 2019. He has worked with opera companies including Dorset Opera, OperaUpClose, Co-Opera Co, British Youth Opera and Charles Court Opera. |
The choir relies heavily on the commitment, as well as the talents, of its members, who come from a wide area, travelling from Hampshire and Wiltshire as well as across Dorset to rehearse each week in Blandford. BSC performs in a wide range of places – the intimate historic churches of Dorset, abbeys and cathedrals across the south of England, concert halls and smaller secular venues. Over the last few years, the choir has appeared in London at St Martin in the Fields and The Queen’s Chapel of the Savoy, has toured Italy, Austria and Hungary and sung in St David’s and in Jersey. Its repertoire includes sacred and secular music from the 16th to the 21st centuries and its concerts range from a cappella programmes to performances of the great choral works - as well as a staged presentation of Handel’s Solomon. The choir has a particular interest in new music and regularly commissions works, including The Dorchester Canticles by Tarik O’Regan and Five Seasons by Cecilia McDowall. In 2016 the choir sponsored a composition competition based on the theme of Dorset, which was a resounding success and in November 2018 gave the first performance by an amateur choir of Voices of Vimy by Tom Harrold and Stuart Beatch. BSC has recorded two CDs - Landscapes and Noël! Noël! - which are available for sale at concerts, and has featured on ‘The Choir’ and ‘Breakfast on 3’ on Radio 3 and on Classic FM at Christmas. |
