Testimonials

Penny and I just wanted to send our thanks to all of you at Malvern Festival Chorus for your marvellous welcome yesterday. Everyone was so friendly, the tea was astonishing, and joining the Brahms project with you felt like a real privilege. We did pretty well, didn't we, mostly! I hope you were all pleased.
We'll certainly be back for more another year.
Best wishes and thanks again
Lesley Cleaver

I just wanted to email to say how much I enjoyed yesterday's Come and Sing event. The music was a challenge, but the day was all the more enjoyable for that! I've sung the Brahms before, but I'm not sure it's a piece the choir I'm in currently will tackle again in the near future and it was lovely to have the opportunity to sing it - such beautiful music!
Thank you to all the committee (and choir) for the organisation, welcome and lovely tea!
Also, many thanks to Jonathan for guiding us through with such patience and humour.
Sadly, I live to far away to consider joining MFC, but I will keep an eye out for any future events.
Kind regards,
Jess Croot

Thanks very much for your kind email. I really enjoyed myself yesterday - it gave me a different perspective on the priory as I'm usually up above in the belfry (if you didn't guess, I'm part of the priory team of bellringers). It was a real pleasure to sing such a wonderful piece of music in such an iconic building.
Peter Key

What a truly wonderful event the Brahms Requiem sing a long day was!
I travelled down from Manchester and it was well worth the effort to sing with such a welcoming group of people.
Please pass on my particular thanks to Jonathan Brown for his fantastic direction through this amazing piece of music.
Very best wishes
Annabel Revell

I wanted to say thanks to you, and to the MFC members who made me so welcome at the Come & Sing on Saturday.
Martin and Richard, especially, were very encouraging, and helped me to enjoy an unforgettable experience, singing such beautiful music in a wonderful setting.
It was fantastic to see how your Musical Director Jonathan was able to bring so much out of the visiting singers in only a short rehearsal, and with such a challenging piece! The sound of everyone singing together was spine-tingling.
Life permitting, I'd very much like to attend the open rehearsal in September - another wonderful piece of music to look forward to.
Bernard

FOR THE JOY OF SINGING
The invitation to ‘Come and Sing Brahms' Requiem' was recently issued by Malvern Festival Chorus, and taken up by about 40 visitors who came and joined members of the chorus to rehearse and perform it on Saturday 4th July in Great Malvern Priory. That was no small undertaking, as the work is in seven movements, with the choir singing four of them, and accompanying solo soprano and baritone soloists in the other three. Moreover, the music is challenging, with several very complex fugal sections.
So why undertake such a challenge? For the love of choral singing and in appreciation of the glorious music Brahms wrote as a reflection on the sorrows and the consolations associated with death and bereavement. The words, sung on this occasion in an English translation, are not those of the Latin Requiem Mass, but a compilation of passages from the Bible which express the Christian hope of life after death, beginning with the words of Christ, ‘Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.'
It was a strenuous afternoon of rehearsal, followed after tea by a performance to an appreciative audience. The accompaniment was skilfully played as a piano duet by Kate Robey and Julian McNamara. Victoria Harley, the soprano soloist, has recently graduated from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and is building an international reputation in opera. Baritone Cameron Eldridge started his musical studies at Malvern College as a pupil of the Festival Chorus's conductor, Jonathan Brown, and is in his third year at the Royal College of Music.
The Festival Chorus is eager to welcome new members, and is issuing another invitation, this time to an ‘Open Rehearsal' at the start of the choir's autumn term of rehearsals. It will take place on Tuesday 8 September at 7.30.pm, at St Edmunds Hall, College Road Malvern, and will introduce the work which we will be working on for our next concert, Bach's St John Passion.
For more information visit www.malvernfestivalchorus.co.uk, or email Barbara Moss, the Secretary: secretary@malvernfestivalchorus.co.uk
Heather Williamson - Malvern Gazette , 17 July 2026

Just to say thank you again for the opportunity to sing with Malvern Chorus last Saturday. It was very well organised, the catering was smashing and the singing a delight.
Best wishes
Paul and Alison

Just a quick message from me to tell you how much I enjoyed Saturday's Come-&-Sing. Such joyous music! I was amazed at what a good sound Jonathan was able to get from us all and it was so exciting to be part of it.
I enjoyed catching up with you and Jackie too - plus making friends with my neighbouring soprano. All in all, a very special day...I walked home with a rare feeling of contentment!
All best,
Rachel

Thank you so much to you, Jonathan and all members of the committee and choir for making Saturday such a lovely day. Apart from the joyous music, I was amazed at and very appreciative of the great warmth of everyone's welcome for my first return to Malvern after a year away.
I will definitely aim to make the summer Come Sing an annual visit!
Best wishes to all and thank you again
Mary

Thank you so much for a wonderful come and sing yesterday . It was great with your fantastic singers,your brilliant chorus master and wonderful young soloists. Thanks for providing a yummy tea too!!
Let me know when you're next one will be !
Janet
(Stratford Upon Avon Choral Society)

I wanted to thank you for being next to me last Saturday for your assistance.
Also, for that fantastic performance of 'The Creation' and to the rest of your team for their hospitality, the food and friendly Choir members were super.
Importantly, many thanks to your great Conductor for his talent in getting the best from us all.
Finally, the brilliant Organist. A fabulous day, thank you again.
Very kind regards,
Jenny, Bromsgrove

Mozart Requiem Come & Sing 2023
Thank you all so much for making us so very welcome on Saturday. It was a wonderful musical experience in a beautiful setting with excellent players and soloists and we appreciated David's clear and encouraging direction. Most of all everybody was so friendly, welcoming and appreciative. We would like to thank those who prepared and served the excellent tea and worked so hard for everyone's benefit.
All good wishes
Hazel
( I came from St Albans, my sister Claire from Much Marcle, her friend Becca from Newport and our cousin Sarah from Helston.)

Thank you so much for a wonderful day
Rosamund

Come and Sing Handel's Messiah – Holy Trinity Church, Malvern, Saturday 25 June 2022
To mark the end of what had been a very challenging season, with regular concerts hard to organise and audiences still a little wary of coming out, Malvern Festival Chorus held a Come & Sing version of Handel's Messiah at Holy Trinity Church, Link Top. The choir was joined by members of Leominster Choral Society and other local singers.
One of the many things which made the day special was the presence of a chamber orchestra and four young soloists from Birmingham Conservatoire. Everyone had the benefit of an afternoon rehearsal with MFC conductor Jonathan Brown to iron out tricky corners.
After an excellent tea, they were joined by a small audience for the performance.
One of our members, Deirdre Brook, who came for the concert wrote:
“Having suffered COVID and its after-effects I was unable to sing but was so glad I came. There was a kind of magic in the way things came together so well. The choir was lifted by the orchestra and we could see that the soloists were encouraging each other. We in the audience were clearly appreciative too, and responded with enthusiasm, which had an effect on everyone. At the centre of things throughout was Jonathan who spoke movingly at the end about the power of live music to move us and bring us together, especially after such a difficult time. We all felt it. The real winner was Handel's great work, which never fails.”

Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man A Mass for Peace – Saturday 7 May 2022
Timely performance of The Armed Man
The performance by Malvern Festival Chorus of Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace was poignant for two reasons. Firstly, it was the choir's first public performance since lockdown caused the last-minute cancellation of their centenary performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion in Worcester Cathedral in March 2020. Secondly, no one could have anticipated, when the music was chosen, how painfully relevant it would be.
The work was commissioned for the beginning of the new millennium, and dedicated to the victims of the conflict in Kosovo. This performance was dedicated to the victims of the war in Ukraine, with a collection which raised over £500 for the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
The performance was preceded by a workshop, for which MFC was joined by singers from other choirs. Under the skilful direction of their conductor and musical director Jonathan Brown, the singers took the audience on an emotional journey from armed preparation and prayer before action to the inexorable outcome of the charge, followed by a spine-chilling wail of grief and horror. Evocations of the horrors of Hiroshima and an ancient Hindu conflict, and the grief of bereaved survivors, were followed by the consolations of the Agnus Dei and Benedictus, the latter with an exquisite cello solo.
The mezzo-soprano soloist Katie Leaver sang with great clarity, beauty and commitment. The excellent flautist was also nimble on the piccolo, and
the percussion and brass of the Regency Sinfonia were magnificent.
The irony of the piece lies in the false optimism of the final chorus, “Better is peace than evermore war, ring out the old, ring in the new, ring out the false, ring in the true, ring in the thousand years of peace”, sadly belied by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The only enduring consolation offered is in the words of the beautiful final chorale, “God shall wipe away all tears and there shall be no more death.”
Heather Williamson – Malvern Gazette, 20 May 2022

Verdi Requiem, Southwark Cathedral – 09 November 2019
Could I ask you to convey my thanks to the MFC singers who joined my choir for the Southwark Cathedral Verdi Requiem concert.
It was a fabulous occasion. I was personally delighted with the choir, soloists and orchestra and atmosphere. Many people commented that it was both exciting and moving.
Alison Hunka, Musical Director 1885 Singers

NSSO 25th Anniversary Concert – Birmingham Symphony Hall
Malvern Festival Chorus was delighted to be invited to join the National Schools' Symphony Orchestra in Verdi's Requiem as they celebrated their 25th anniversary.
Click here to experience the concert