ABOUT US
I blame my mother. Knowing that I had in the past enjoyed singing madrigals and belonged to various groups at various times, she presented me, at Christmas 1991, with The Penguin Book of English Madrigals for Four Voices, hoping, and expecting, me to put it to good use. A kind thought but not easy to sing all four parts by yourself! At another choir’s rehearsal, and ignoring the fact that I was supposed to be concentrating on learning the Mozart Requiem, I suggested, sotto voce of course, to my fellow alto and good friend, Maggie Snook, that perhaps a few of us could get together and sing some madrigals for fun on an ad hoc basis, utilising my new book. The response was more than enthusiastic! Let’s form a choir, she said – and without further ado we planned and plotted, that evening, the beginnings of Felicitas!
Directed by Simon Winters, Felicitas gave its inaugural concert in the summer of 1992 and has performed frequently in and around London, including at the Roundhouse and as part of the Brandenburg Festival. Further afield, the choir has sung in Paris, Chartres, Tuscany, Budapest, Barcelona, Krakow, Edinburgh and
Belgium. In 2017 the choir celebrated its 25th anniversary with a concert in London’s St Lawrence Jewry. The choir also commissioned Will Todd to write Vidi speciosam for its 20th anniversary concert.
The choir has just released its fifth CD, In a cold winter’s night. Others include English Church Music, Felicitas a cappella, A Ceremony of Carols which features Britten’s setting for harp
and upper voices, and My Spirit Sang All Day which celebrates 500 years of English choral music, both sacred and secular.
Originally formed to sing a cappella music from the 16th and 17th centuries, both sacred and secular, the choir has extended its repertoire to include a wide range of works, accompanied and unaccompanied, from the mediaeval period to the 21st century.
Further details, including information about our Mailing List and Patrons Scheme, can be found on our CONTACT page.