Introducing the Borders Chamber Choir
Founded in November 2023 by our Musical Director, Robert Marshall, the Borders Chamber Choir exists to share its members’ love of music making with its audiences, performing excellent music to an exceptional standard. It has a wide and varied repertoire under its belt so far, and it already enjoys a reputation as one of the most exciting and dynamic choirs of its kind in Scotland.
Our membership consists of about thirty singers, comprising a mixture of seasoned semi-professional and experienced amateurs, all of whom have undergone an audition testing their vocal technique, their sight-reading and their musicianship. When the repertoire requires it, we enlist internationally renowned soloists, who only serve to further enhance the professionalism of our work.
Highlights of our journey so far include J. S. Bach’s St John Passion (March 2024), St Matthew Passion (April 2025) and Ascension Oratorio (June 2026), Mozart’s Requiem (September 2024), Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music and Mass in G Minor (May 2024 and September 2024 respectively), Finzi’s Lo, the full final sacrifice and God is gone up (June 2025 and June 2026), Victoria’s Requiem (March 2026) and a whole host of treats from glorious Scottish renaissance polyphony and bombastic pieces from German baroque composers (complete with brass band!) to Edwardian part songs and arrangements of English and Scottish folksongs. Our annual carols by Candlelight concerts have only been running for two years but have already established themselves as a Christmas tradition in the Borders, filling out Melrose Parish Church each time.
We look forward to yet another packed season ahead for 2026-27 which will include a visit to sing Evensong in the glorious surrounds of Hexham Abbey (October) as well as a return to the ever-popular Bach St John Passion in March 2027.