The Pennine Singers
The Pennine Singers are a mixed voice chamber choir comprising about twenty experienced choral enthusiasts. We maintain a busy concert schedule, performing regularly in the Saddleworth and Glossop areas as well as further afield.
We cover an extensive repertoire from Masses, to Musicals, from the Renaissance to contemporary times, from Purcell to Cole Porter and everything in between and beyond. We have worked with many distinguished singers, organists and other musicians, including instrumentalists from the BBC Philharmonic.
Every other year we tour, providing music for services in English Cathedrals and Abbeys, including Hereford, Lichfield, Worcester, Chester, Lincoln and, most recently, Coventry. We have great experience and understanding of the Church of England choral tradition and its part in the Church’s services.
The choir was founded originally, in 1983, by our former Musical Director, Jack Pickford; 2023 is our 40th Anniversary! Other past Musical Directors include Marco Bellasi and ElizabethBrocklehurst. We have been under the direction of Emma Delany since early 2023, with occasional performances under guest conductors.
Musical Director: Emma Delaney
Emma developed a keen love of choirs and choral music from an early age as a chorister at Winchester Cathedral. She studied Music at the University of York, before going on to study for an MA in Community Music, with a particular focus on singing for health and wellbeing.
As a first study singer, Emma has sung with a wide variety of choirs and consort groups including Southern Voices, Yorkshire Bach Choir, The Ebor Singers and The Mercian Consort (taking part in tours to Germany, The Netherlands and Hungary), and has a particularly keen interest in early choral music of the Renaissance and Baroque. She began conducting whilst at university, and has previously taken part in various conducting workshops lead by Neil Ferris, Georg Grun, Bernie Sherlock and Sarah Tenant-Flowers.
Although now working full time in the charity sector, Emma still sings in choirs locally and teaches piano – she is delighted to be returning to conducting regularly as Musical Director of the Pennine Singers from February 2023.
Friends of the Pennine Singers
We are extremely grateful to the Friends of the Pennine Singers for their support, particularly by providing finance to help towards the costs of music hire and engaging professional performers.
If you would like to find out more about the Friends of the Pennine Singers then please contact us.
Membership
Membership of the choir is by audition.