Celebrating our 50th Anniversary

Our 50th Anniversary in 2004 saw us celebrate with a number of special events:

We started early in the year; January saw us hosting a come-and-sing event of Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’.  Invitations went out to past and present members as well as members of the public. It was very well attended and we particularly enjoyed welcoming back past members, some of whom had travelled considerable distances to reunite with old friends and reminisce.

We held a successful social event where members came together for an evening to share a meal, a musical quiz and offer some light musical entertainment.

As part of the celebrations, we ran a composition competition which saw entries coming in from far and wide. Entries were shortlisted to 6 pieces which the choir then rehearsed and voted on to decide the winner. Ultimately, there were two winning pieces which were performed to a packed audience at our big celebration concert in November. We were delighted to welcome both winning composers to Sheffield who had travelled from Spain and Scotland to be with us – it was a truly wonderful event.

Winter Stars, the winning piece by Jon Uribarri Ugarte, who, at the time of winning was a medical student said, ‘while my days are consumed by the intricacies of medical science, my heart beats to the rhythm of music.’

In close second place was Greet Again the Mountain by composer and pianist Greg Harradine. Based in the Scottish Borders, he is influenced equally by classical and folk traditions.

We concluded the year, as we do every year, with our annual Carols by Candlelight in St Marie’s Cathedral.

Since then, the choir has continued to stage a variety well-attended concerts – see our concerts page for more details - and has continued to attract new members and audiences.