The music of J S Bach has featured most strongly – in one twoyear period the choir presented both Passions and the B Minor Mass – and there is an ongoing series of his church cantatas. With the St John Passion in 1998 the choir was privileged to give the first performance of Neil Jenkins’ new translation and edition now published by Novello and regarded as the standard version with Neil himself singing the Evangelist. The previous year it had been the turn of the St Matthew, performed in German with the assistance of the Chamber Orchestra of Wetzlar, Colchester’s twin German town, and the choir of Colchester County High School.Bach’s great contemporary, Handel, has also been featured, with five of his oratorios performed to date.In October 2000 the choir was pleased to present the first performance of Christmas Landscape settings of Laurie Lee by Bryan Barnes, a composer with strong local connections. The choir has occasionally cooperated with other local choirs in larger scale concerts. Between 1999 and 2001 the choir was featured twentythree times on the Sunday Morning programme which was networked on ITV.Patrick McCarthy founded the Colchester Bach Choir in November 1992 when he agreed to train a choir to perform a baroque programme with Frederick Marshall and the Lavenham Sinfonia in Long Melford Church. The success of this project led to a charity performance of Messiah codirected by Patrick and Peter Holman at the Swinburne Hall, Colchester Institute, which was part broadcast by Classic FM. Since then the choir has presented three or four concerts each season in Colchester usually at St. Botolphs Church, often featuring baroque music. Many of the original members still sing with the choir, which is intended for experienced choristers members sing with other choirs and some have solo careers.

Website: http://www.colchesterbachchoir.co.uk/