Reading Festival Chorus
Reading Festival Chorus is a chorus which was formed in 1945 to give performances of larger scale choral works. It is based in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire.
The Chorus is directed by Edward-Rhys Harry, and its patron is the pianist John Lill.
The Chorus is twinned with the Johanneskantorei of Dusseldorf, Germany, with whom they performed Handel's Messiah in October 2015 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Chorus.
The chorus sings a diverse programme of classical music programme, with works such as Mozart's Requiem, Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man in 2005 to Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and a summer programme of English and American Folksongs by Tippett and Aaron Copland.
Their 2014-15 Season comprised the Brahms Deutches Requiem; Haydn, Mass in a Time of War and Parry, Song's of Farewell; Elgar's Music Makers and Chilcott, Aesop's Fables. In 2016-17 they are performing Mozart at Douai (including Mozart Solemn Vespers), Judas Maccabeus by Handel on 8 April 2017, and Rutter Requiem and Harry Mass of St Denis on 1 July 2017.