Opus XVI Chamber Choir

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About Opus XVI

Music Director: James Dixon

 

Opus XVI Chamber Choir was founded in September 1979 by Colin Nicholls, and gave its first concert on St Cecilia’s Day in November of that year. It takes its name from the fact that there were originally sixteen members, one of whom, Nicola Dobson (now Yarlett), still sings in the choir.

Repertoire

The repertoire is wide-ranging and may be accompanied or a capella. Past concerts have included works by Franc Martin, Janacek, Kodaly, Nystedt and Donald Swann as well as Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Mendelssohn, Britten and Vaughan Williams and have entailed singing in Latin, German, French and occasionally old Czech, Norwegian or Zulu. The choir has given first performances of several works by the composer Gordon Carr.

Concerts

We sing at least three concerts a year. They are themed and encompass medieval to modern music, including some exciting rare gems. We also fundraise for local charities through carol singing and have been invited to sing at funerals and weddings.

The choir has performed with other choirs in the past, notably for the Franck Martin Mass for Two Unaccompanied Choirs, Tallis Lamentations and Handel Israel in Egypt.

Venues

Over the years, Opus XVI has given concerts in a number of local churches and church halls in West Dulwich, Streatham, Norbury and Herne Hill. We have no permanent base, but choose the venue according to the requirements of the programme, whether there is space for instrumentalists, quality of the organ, availability on the preferred dates, etc. More recently we have had weekends away, singing at Fontenai sur Orne in Normandy and Edale in the Peak District.

The Future

James Dixon has been our Music Director since 2019, and has been instrumental in ensuring we continued to make and enjoy music through lockdowns, and to rejoin the musical community in three public concerts over the last year.