<<<  <<  -- 4 --  Robert Hugill    A PASSIONATE COMMITMENT

It is not numbers that matter, but how the singers approach it; the choir is able to lighten its rhythms and to make the music dance, so that the voices are not an encumbrance. What matters is how you make the choir use rhythms to the best effect; a choir of two hundred plodding its way through the work would be completely the opposite of what Hill and his choir can achieve. This deftness and lightness of touch in the choir is something which Hill inherited from his predecessor, Sir David Willcocks. And Hill, himself no mean choir trainer, has been at pains to continue to develop this.

They will be supported by Florilegium, a big band of fine period instruments, thus giving the large group of singers the best possible support. They are being complemented by a stellar team of soloists (James Gilchrist -- Evangelist, Paul Whelan -- Christ, Carolyn Sampson, Jane Irwin, Timothy Robinson and Roderick Williams) who, for Hill, lift the music into something special.

The choir is completing what promises to be an exciting and challenging season with a visit to Australia and a concert opening the Winchester Festival.

The choir is at full strength at the moment, with some two hundred and fifty singers in total. Impressively around half of these are under thirty five, though Hill is committed to encouraging singers of all ages. He feels that it is important for the health of the choir to have not only young singers, but to encourage senior singers as well.

The Bach Choir is one of the UK's biggest choirs, if not the biggest, and is currently in excellent form and can look forward to many challenging seasons to come under David Hill's inspired leadership.