About us

Rotherhithe & Bermondsey Choral Society was launched in November 1998 by distinguished local musician Sue Heath-Downey with the support of Time & Talents. Nearly three decades later, under the expert guidance of Samuel Draper, we are still going from strength to strength, and pushing the boundaries of what a community choir can do.

We are a friendly, supportive group of singers of all abilities and experience and from many different backgrounds, from the Rotherhithe and Bermondsey community and beyond.  The choir currently has around 40 active members. There are no auditions. You don’t have to be able to sight-read to join. All that matters is that you enjoy singing, can commit to regular rehearsals, and can hold a tune.

Our repertoire includes well-loved choral classics, both sacred and secular, as well as more modern and rarely performed works, madrigals and part songs, songs from the shows, rounds and folk song arrangements. We have also performed music specially written for us by Sue and friends.

We generally work towards three main public performances each year, often with orchestral accompaniment. We also sing at local festivals and community events. Please see our Next performance page for details of our upcoming events.

 

 

Over the past few years, we have performed Vivaldi’s Gloria, Robert Chilcott’s Making of the Drum, excerpts from the Brecht/Weill Threepenny Opera, sequences of Christmas music by Schütz, Charpentier and Britten, Karl Jenkins’ moving and accessible Armed Man mass, Carl Orff’s lively, energetic Carmina Burana, and the UK première of the Percussion Mass by contemporary Australian composer Paul Sarcich, to mention just a few. We have also enjoyed discovering the music of our local area. Our Summer concert 2011 focused on the music of local South London composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912), and the Summer concert 2013 included items from our ongoing project, ‘A History of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe in Song’. For further information on our repertoire, please visit the Past performances page.

We rehearse every Tuesday in term-time from 8.00 to 9.45 pm at St Mary’s Church, Rotherhithe, St Mary’s Church, Rotherhithe, London SE16 4HZ (see map). Spring term 2025 began on Tuesday 20  January. We’re practising Haydn’s Theresienmesse, plus the Laudate Dominum from Mozart’s Solemn Vespers, Rheinberger’s Stabat mater and Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine, for our Spring concert at St James’s Church, Bermondsey on Saturday 18 April, 7pm.

If you are interested in joining us or would like to find out more, please contact us – or just come along to a rehearsal and see for yourself.

RBCS is keen to accommodate all singers, musicians and audience members comfortably wherever possible. Our main rehearsal and performance venues are accessible. Concessionary rates are available for member subscriptions and concert tickets. Choir information can be made available in large print on request. Practice CDs can be made available on request for those who cannot read music. If you have special requirements please contact our Diversity Lead, Dave Morrison.