About Us

Pangbourne Choral Society

Pangbourne Choral Society was formed in 1973. We rehearse on Tuesday evenings during term time in the Falkland Islands Chapel at Pangbourne College. We present two or three concerts per year with guest soloists and are usually accompanied by the Chameleon Arts Orchestra. Jonathan Brown took over as our Director of Music at the beginning of the 2006/2007 season.

Bach 'St John Passion' Feb 2008

Read about our first thirty years

We welcome keen singers of all ages. Our repertoire is mainly focused on the larger choral works, recent examples being: Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Fauré’s Requiem, Britten’s War Requiem, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mozart’s K339 Vespers and, last season, Verdi's Requiem. The summer concert normally consists of a more mixed programme like the recent ‘Music - the Food of Love’ which combined Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes with romantic music by Cole Porter and Arthur Sullivan.

The 2007/2008 season included a performance of Bach's St John Passion with the Chameleon Arts Baroque Orchestra.

Falkland Islands Chapel

Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel

Concerts and rehearsals are held in the Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel, at Pangbourne College. The Chapel was opened by HM The Queen in March 2000 and is dedicated to the memory of those who died in the Falklands war in 1982. The College uses it regularly for services, and its award-winning design makes it a popular concert venue. The impressive stained glass window is the building's focal point. The organ is a state-of-the-art digital instrument made by 'Cathedral Organs' and the Chapel also houses the College's Steinway concert grand piano.

Chapel window

Chapel interior

Old stained-glass windows

Jonathan Brown - Director of Music

Jonathan was a chorister at New College, Oxford, a music scholar at Sherborne School and a choral scholar at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College. In 1990, he was appointed Lay Vicar at Chichester Cathedral, a post that he held for five years. In 1995, he arrived in Winchester to be a Lay Clerk in the cathedral under David Hill (with whom he toured extensively, including Australia, Germany, Italy, Holland and the USA, and has made numerous television and radio broadcasts and recordings) and, later, Andrew Lumsden, the current Master of Music in Winchester Cathedral. He has also sung with the BBC singers, most recently singing in two Henry Wood Proms with Richard Hickox and Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Jonathan recently arrived at Pangbourne College to be the Director of Music, and he is also a Trustee for the IAPS Orchestra Trust.

On the solo platform, Jonathan is in increasing demand. He holds an extensive repertoire, performing with many orchestras such as Florilegium, the Philharmonia, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Recent performances including: Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion, B minor Mass and Christmas Oratorio; Handel’s Messiah, Dixit Dominus and Nisi Dominus; Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610; Haydn’s Creation; Mozart’s Solemn Vespers, C Minor Mass and Requiem; Mendelssohn’s Elijah; Puccini’s Messe di Gloria; Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonelle and Stabat Mater; Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, G minor Mass, Dona Nobis Pacem and Fantasia on Christmas Carols; as well as the Requiems of Fauré, Duruflé, Archer, Brahms and Howells. He has performed extensively around the world, including Sydney, Melbourne, San Francisco, Atlanta, Frankfurt, Florence; and domestically in the Cathedrals of Winchester, Ripon and Portsmouth and at the Royal Albert Hall.

Jonathan lives in Pangbourne with his wife Rebecca, who is a cellist and singer, and his two daughters: Jessica (a violinist and xylophonist) and Helen (a cellist and saxophonist).