Phoenix Singers of Shrewsbury

The Phoenix Singers, 'one of the pre-eminent musical organisations in Shropshire', was founded in 1965 and currently numbers between 40 and 50 voices.

Our new conductor, David Thomas, took up his appointment in January 2023, succeeding Richard Walker who was Musical Director from 2012 until 2022. Previous conductors have included Richard White and John Naylor.

Our repertoire encompasses a wide variety of music, including unaccompanied Renaissance motets and madrigals, major works from the Baroque and Classical periods, smaller-scale pieces from the 19th century, and a significant amount of music from the 20th and 21st centuries. Recent performances have included Bach's St Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio and Mass in B minor, Haydn's Harmoniemesse, Carl Rütti's Requiem, Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes, and Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb.
Orchestral accompaniments are usually by the Phoenix Orchestra: 'an excellent orchestra with some spectacular obligato work'.

Apart from our staple diet of repertoire suitable for a choir of this size, we are keen to champion new music. We commissioned Birds by Sally Beamish in 2006 and Puer natus est nobis by Robert Sherlaw Johnson in 2000. In 2011 and 2016, we organised two composition competitions: the 2011 winner was Owain Park with Time was, while the 2016 winner was Kristen Halstead with Dans l’azur.

We also performed Carl Rütti's Requiem (written in 2007) in 2019 and 2021. The composer wrote to us, after seeing a video of part of the performance: What an outstanding performance: great soloists, brilliant organist, a wonderful choir conducted so carefully by a highly committed and sovereign conductor.

We have travelled abroad on many occasions, and had links with the Celle Streicherensemble (near Hannover) for 20 years, performing with them every two or three years. The most recent occasion was in 2017 with performances of Handel's Dixit Dominus and Mozart's Requiem.