60 years of choral singing in Wolverhampton

Our concert on 15 November celebrates the choir's diamond jubilee.

The Wolverhampton Civic Choir, as we used to be known, was formed in the autumn of 1948 as part of the celebrations to mark Wolverhampton' centenary year. The choir's first concert was a performance of Handel's Messiah at the Civic Hall in December 1948. The Civic Choir would go on to peform Messiah every December until 1982! In between times though, and particularly in recent years, it has built up a challenging and diverse repertoire.

In 1993, 45 years after the choir was formed, it performed a specially commissioned work - St Luke Passion, composed by Andrew Downes of the Birmingham Conservatoire. Now, fifteen years later, we are eagerly awaiting another specially commissioned piece of music - a jubilee anthem that our own conductor, Gary Cole, has promised to write for us. Let's hope he finishes writing it in time for us to learn it!