< /svg>

Workshops

Choral Workshop
< /svg>

Choral Workshop


From Leipzig to Bath:
Bach Cantata Cycle
Bach Cantatas BWV 22 & 23


Saturday 27 January 2024
9.30am–4.00pm
St Swithin’s Church, Bath BA1 5LY

2024 marks the 300th anniversary of J S Bach’s appointment at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig and, as our name suggests, we in Bath Bach Choir have a particular love of the great composer’s music. At our 2024 choral workshop we focused on the ones Bach wrote as his audition for the job in Leipzig. We sang in large and small groups throughout the day as we explored Cantatas BWV 22 and BWV 23, ending with an informal performance of both cantatas.

For the final sing-through we were joined by Clement Collins Rice, tenor, Choral Scholar with Oxford Bach Soloists. Clement has toured widely, including singing at the first ever Anglican evensong at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. He has also sung with ensembles including the Oxford Bach Choir, The Facade Ensemble, The Rodolfus Choir, and Ipswich Chamber Choir.

Over the coming years, we will be studying all of Bach’s magnificent and well-loved Leipzig cantata cycle, described as “one of the greatest contributions to Western Civilisation”. These future workshops will be led by some of the most recognised exponents of Bach, starting with David Hill, Musical Director of the Bach Choir, as guest conductor in 2025.

Benedict Collins Rice workshop director

The workshop was held at St Swithin’s Church, The Paragon, ​Bath, BA1 5LY, close to the centre of Bath.







Come & sing with Voces8 coaching – 2023 choral workshop

The BBC Workshop 2023 was led by our new Musical Director & Conductor Benedict Collins Rice. Benedict was joined by Katie Jeffries-Harris, the alto from Voces8, to help us hone our smaller-group ensemble skills.

The musical works studied were Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir and Eric Whitacre’s Alleluia. Martin wrote his mass in 1922, considering it a deeply personal work between himself and God and not for public scrutiny. Perhaps for this reason it was not performed until 1963, since when it has gone on to be popular with choirs across the world. Eric Whitacre’s Alleluia was premiered at Sidney Sussex Chapel, Cambridge University, in 2011, with Benedict in the choir. The work simply sets the one word, Alleluia, and embodies Whitacre’s trademark style.


Workshop 2023
Workshop 2023
Workshop 2023
Workshop 2023
Workshop 2023
Workshop 2023
Workshop 2023
Workshop 2023
Workshop 2023
Workshop 2023
Workshop 2023
Workshop 2023
Workshop 2023


The workshop was being held at St Mary’s Church, Bathwick. As ever, there were cake, drinks and Di’s famous raffle. Some things never change.





Benedict held two conducting scholarships at Cambridge University, before continuing his studies with the Heads of Conducting at the Royal College of Music, Royal Northern College of Music, Vienna University of Music and Birmingham University where he studied under Simon Halsey. He has since performed throughout Europe and the US, recorded for several labels, broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and founded a chamber group, The Facade Ensemble. Halsey describes him as: “A musical extrovert with a formidable intellect, who has already done extraordinary things.”

Katie discovered her love of choral music as part of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. An alumna of Chetham’s School of Music, she went on to study Music at Oxford University. Later she took part in both Voces8 and The Sixteen’s choral training programmes – the Voces8 Scholars and Genesis Sixteen – coupled with freelance singing and working with amateur choirs, including the award-winning Peterborough Sings! charity.