St Albans St Cecilia Festival Society
Hardynge Choir has been a member of the St Albans St Cecilia Festival Society for many years. The Festival Society was formed in 1955 to celebrate St Cecilia's Day with a performance of Handel's Messiah by three of St Albans' music societies. This initial event has been followed by an increasingly ambitious series of biennial concerts, as the main aim of the Society has become the performance of works outside the scope of the individual member societies. We are fortunate in having in St Albans Cathedral as a wonderful venue for these large-scale concerts, which in recent times have included:
Membership of the St Albans St Cecilia Festival Society has changed over the years and now comprises the following organisations:-
| Year | Composer | Work | Society | Conductor |
| 2025 |
Dvořák |
Stabat Mater |
SASO | Bill Carslake |
|
2022
|
Haydn James Francis Brown |
The Creation Hartwood Wilding |
SASO | John Gibbons James Francis Brown |
| 2019 | Britten Britten Dove Vaughan Williams |
Fanfare for St Edmundsbury Dawn & Sunday Morning from Peter Grimes Three Seaside Postcards A Sea Symphony |
HC | Rufus Frowde |
| 2017 | Shostakovich Rachmaninoff Borodin Tchaikovsky |
October The Bells Polovtsian Dances 1812 Overture (Choral version) |
SACC | John Gibbons |
| 2015 | Dvořák | Requiem, Op 89 | RC | Alex Flood |
| 2013 | Messiaen Brahms |
L'Ascension Ein deutsches Requiem |
SASO | Bjorn Bantock |
| 2011 | Mendelssohn | Elijah | HC | Rufus Frowde |
| 2009 | Verdi | Requiem | SACC | John Gibbons |
| 2006 | Butterworth Holst Tippett |
On the Banks of Green Willow The Hymn of Jesus A Child of Our Time |
RC | Clive Fairburn |
| 2004 | Elgar | Dream of Gerontius | SASO | James Ross |
| 2002 | Elgar Walton Walton Elgar Vaughan Williams |
Pomp & Circumstance March 4 Belshazzar’s Feast March: ‘Crown Imperial’ Coronation Ode The Old Hundredth |
HC | Roderick McPhee |
|
2000
|
Poulenc Parry Salzedo |
Gloria Four Motets Blest Pair of Sirens. I was Glad Canzona |
SACC | David Hansell |
| 1998 | Berlioz | Te Deum | RC | Andrew Parnell |
| 1996 | Verdi | Requiem | SASO | George Vass |
| 1994 | Holst Cantaloupe Orff |
The Perfect Fool ballet suite Songs of the Auvergne - 1 & 2 Carmina Burana |
HC | Roderick McPhee |
Membership of the St Albans St Cecilia Festival Society has changed over the years and now comprises the following organisations:-
| Aeolian Singers | Musical Director - Stephen Jones |
| The Hardynge Choir | Musical Director - Michael Veazey |
| Radlett Choir | Musical Director - Alexander Flood |
| St Albans Chamber Choir | Musical Director - John Gibbons |
| St Albans Symphony Orchestra | Principal Conductor - Bill Carslake |
