Midlands Hospitals Choir
The Midlands Hospitals’ Choir is a large, mixed voice choir based in Birmingham, in the heart of the UK. Formed in 1981 in memory of Sir Malcolm Sargent and the charity set up in his name, the choir originally drew its members from local hospitals. We still have a large contingent from the medical and associated professions but nowadays the choir is open to anyone with a passion for singing (no auditions required!) and a desire to help us fund-raise for charitable causes.
NEWS
Midsummer Medley July 11th 2026
This was a wonderful concert held on a warm summer’s day.
Tinged with sadness, as it was our last concert with James as our MD.
The church was packed out with a very appreciative audience. We were once again supporting Music Therapy Works, and a representative spoke movingly of the work the charity does.
The choir sang a wonderful medley of choral works, starting with Vivaldi’s Gloria!, mixed with songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Les Miserables. Tom and Jason sang for us again. Plus a delightful mixture of well know pop classics, and finishing with a spiritual: ‘The Water is Wide’; the choir surrounded the audience…..a very moving experience.
Grace Farrell Jones, our guest soprano, delighted everyone with her sweet pure voice. She sang solo pieces, including some from Les Mis; Grace is very familiar with West End Shows! Her final song was sung acapella…a haunting Irish folk song: ‘She moved through the fair’.
The sunshine, the delicious cakes, and a happy choir and audience made this a wonderful final concert for James. Thanks again to Melissa, our fantastic accompanist, for playing with James all these years.
James will be conducting us, together with Phoenix Singers, at Birmingham Town Hall at Christmas. Look out for the flyer.
We all with him well in his new role as Director of the Birmingham University Chorus.
Watch this space for news of our new Musical Director!
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Melissa Morris, our wonderful piano accompanist, ran the Birmingham 10k last week in aid of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO).
Well done Melissa…….you smashed it!!
Name a Puppy! We have done it!
Because we raised more than £2,500 for Guide Dogs for the Blind at our Town Hall Christmas concert, the choirs were able to choose a name for a newly selected Guide Dog puppy. The three choirs: Midlands Hospitals’ Choir, Phoenix Singers and Guilsfield each chose a name, and there was a draw for the successful choir.
The winner was the Guilsfield Choir, who chose the name Serin….which is Welsh for star!
What a beautiful name…..
Guide Dogs will inform us when a puppy is given this name, and we look forward to seeing its first ‘Pawtrait’!
April 19th…..what a concert!
We sang for the first time with a full orchestra…..the European Doctors Orchestra. Together with Phoenix Singers and the Worcester Festival Choral Society, we performed at Birmingham Town Hall, under the baton of the wonderful Jack Lovell-Huckle, with the immensely talented Judith le Breuilly singing mezzo soprano, and with James as our chorus master.
Processing in with an energetic Zadok the Priest, we then enjoyed the orchestra's rendition of Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances.
We then performed Elgar’s The Music Makers. It was a magical experience, imagining the man himself conducting the premiere in the very same spot in 1912. All the hard work paid off…..one of the choir’s high spots. Thanks to James for pushing us so hard with this very challenging work. It was definitely worth it. Enjoy the videos.
Our Concerts
SPRING CONCERT 21st March 2026
We enjoyed a varied programme, covering many genres, which the choir is become very skilled at doing! Jazz and showtunes dominated the choir songs. We were additionally entertained by Philip Quirk on Organ, Jordan Jennings and Tom Syder singing their hearts out, and Martin Leeson taking Caccini’s Ave Maria to new heights on the tenor saxophone.
Saving the best until last, the choir finished with the exuberant ‘Dubula’, demonstrating what great ‘movers’ they are. We await calls from ‘Strictly’…..
Once again we supported the charity Music Therapy Works; Sandra, one of the trustees, spoke about the wonderful work the charity does.
As always there was tea, coffee and delicious cakes after the performance with much talk and laughter.