Frodsham & District Choral Society

We would be grateful if you could share our concert news. It's a very special year for our choir.

On the 29th January 1970, 60 dedicated singers attended a meeting at Frodsham Community Centre to discuss the possible formation of Choral Society. Beryl Gowland agreed to conduct the newly formed choir.

On the 6th December 1970, the choir held its first concert, in the Community Centre, 'Music for Christmas' was conducted by the newly appointed conductor, John Bromley with accompaniment by Peter Hodgson. It was a sell-out forcing a second concert to be put on at the Methodist church.

A potted history is attached showing how the choir has developed and sustained itself over the last 50 years.

The concert on the 28th March to celebrate our 50 years, will bring a huge array of talent to Frodsham. The professional Liverpool Concert Orchestra will lead these great works, whilst we have an international array of soloists.

Janet Hitchen is a sought-after freelance violinist with many years' experience of leading various orchestras and ensembles throughout the North-West. She studied the violin first with James Davies, then leader of the BBC Northern Orchestra and subsequently privately with Rudolf Botta when he was Head of Strings at the Royal Northern College of Music. Her studies with Botta imbued her with a deep and abiding love of Eastern European music -- particularly that of Bartok.

Apart from orchestral and choral/orchestral concerts, Janet loves playing 'in the pit' for operas and shows. She is also a member of the Liverpool Mozart Orchestra and l'Orchestra dell'Arte. Her chamber ensemble, The Serenata String Quartet, performs for weddings and other events.

Janet is delighted and honoured to have been invited once again to lead the Frodsham and District Choral Society's Orchestra in this their Golden Jubilee year.

Barbara Ruzsics is a Hungarian soprano who studied music at both the College of Charleston, South Carolina, USA and the Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest. She was awarded her master's degree with distinction in Singing and Teaching.

Barbara has attended masterclasses by Nicolas Clapton, Laszlo Polgar, Krisztina Laki, Nancy Argenta, Eva Marton and Felicity Lott. She was awarded second place in The National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition in Norfolk, Virginia, USA in April 2008. The following year Naxos recorded Liszt's Dante Symphony with Barbara as
treble soloist.

Since moving to Liverpool in 2010 Barbara has sung for many performances of Lieder and Opera concerts around Merseyside. Recent engagements have included soprano solos in: Handel's Messiah, Bach`s St John Passion, Mozart's Requiem, Haydn's Creation, the title role of Gluck`s Orfeo ed Euridice, Brahms' Requiem, Strauss' Four Last Songs, Mahler's II and IV Symphony, Beethoven's IX Symphony and Ravel's Sheherezade. Barbara is a regular performer at Hope University Concerts Liverpool, the Music for All Concert Series at the Metropolitan Cathedral, Four Season Opera Concerts in St George's Hall, Liverpool and she is a founder member of the Liverpool Bach
Collective lead by Philip Duffy.

Dmitry Yumashev (baritone) comes from Russia. His career as an applied mathematician brought him to the UK in 2005, at which point he embarked on private voice lessons, working with Nataliya Komapniyets-Jouri.

He was also an active member of several choirs in the Manchester area, including The Hallé Choir. This led to a successful audition for an MA course in vocal performance at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2008. Dmitry received the Marjorie and John Brooks Award and a grant from the Stapley Trust in support of his studies and completed his MA in 2011.

Between 2012 and 2016, he took further voice lessons with Susan McCulloch. Solo highlights include a recital at the Arley Hall (Cheshire), Bach's St Matthew Passion (Chester Cathedral), Mendelssohn's Elijah (Ellesmere Port), V. Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem (Bramhall), Enrico VIII in Donizetti's Anna Bolena (Opera Seria, Manchester) and Bartolo in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Sevilla (Opera Lyrica, Oxford).

Having returned to his original career, and after a brief spell of working in the Netherlands, Dmitry moved back to the UK in 2015 to work on projects in sustainable development and climate change at the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business.