A Brief History of the Warwick and Kenilworth Choral Society

The two separate choral societies from the towns of Warwick and Kenilworth first came together to sing Handel’s Messiah in May 1953 for the first Warwick Festival. The festival’s founder, Thomas ‘Tim’ Tunnard, accepted the invitation to become the Musical Director of the newly formed Society, and its first concert, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, was given on New Year’s Day 1954 at the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, where Tim Tunnard was also the church’s organist and choirmaster.

Handel’s works have been the most often performed, the records show the many performances of Messiah, with excerpts of that work featuring in other concerts too; Handel’s Alexander’s Feast, Israel in Egypt, Judas Maccabaeus, Samson, Solomon, Semele, and the Coronation Anthems also feature. A tradition of (mostly) annual Messiah performances at St Nicholas’s Church in Kenilworth began in 1984. After Messiah, the most popular works performed have been Fauré’s Requiem and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, then Haydn’s The Creation and Mozart’s Requiem, followed by Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, then Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Haydn’s The Seasons.

Numerous other works have been performed over the years, spanning composers from Arne to Zoltan Kodaly, and the years from the twelfth to the twenty-first century.

The Society has worked with many musicians who have achieved
national and international acclaim. A brief list would include Lesley Garrett, Heather Harper, Reginald Jacques, Christopher Keyte, John Noble, Norma Proctor, Stephen Varcoe, and Jennifer Vyvyan.

Tim Tunnard gave his last concert with the Society in 1958, he was followed by the long serving Russell Lovick, who conducted his first concert in May 1960, continued until May 1974 and remained as a singing member for many years afterwards. Anthony Metcalfe took over from him, and he was followed by Andrew Fletcher in September 1977, Kipps Horn in January 1981, and Timothy Hone in 1982. Stephen Perrins was MD from September 1987 until 1989, and after a short interim, Jeremy Dibb took charge in September 1990.

WKCS’s 50th Anniversary Concert performance of Verdi’s Requiem in November 2003 was Ronald Binnie’s thirty-third concert with the Society. Having been rehearsal accompanist from 1993, he had conducted a concert in 1994, but succeeded Jeremy Dibb in March 1996. Ron continued with the choir until December 2008 when Andrew Jones took over as Musical Director in January 2009. Other MDs in the 21st century have been Julian Parkin, Benedict Wilson, Rebecca Mills, David Wynne, Laura Bailie and, joining us in January 2025, was Alex Silverman.

Having started off with 95 paying members, the Society’s membership ranged from about 40 to 60 through the 1950s until the early eighties. From the mid-1980s to the late-1990s it grew to some eighty members, rose to over a hundred in the late-2000s, and, following an understandable dip because of the pandemic, we currently have a membership of around 75.

In the agenda and accounts for its first AGM on 2 June 1954, the opening balance for the newly formed Warwick and Kenilworth Choral Society was £11.2.6d – £3.8.1d from the Kenilworth Society and £7.14.5d from the Warwick Society – subscriptions were 7/6d and 5/-, total annual receipts being £34 from its members.