Choirs and Orchestras

University Symphony Chorus

Bangor University Symphony Chorus is a brand new choir for students and staff from across the University. Plans for the 2018-19 season include a wide range of classical music, including performances of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the University Symphony Orchestra.

Singing in a choir is both healthy and intellectually stimulating, and our rehearsals offer a great way to make new friends. All students, staff and recent graduates are welcome to join, regardless of previous choral experience. There are no auditions.

Rehearsals take place every Wednesday evening at 7.30 in the Prichard-Jones Hall. Join us at the first rehearsal on the Wednesday evening of Welcome Week (19 September), which is followed by a free cheese and wine party. An application form may be downloaded by clicking here. It is usually possible to join later in the year; please contact Prof Chris Collins to enquire.

University Symphony Orchestra

Bangor University Symphony Orchestra is north-west Wales’s premier full-size orchestra, with a membership made up of students and staff from across the University, along with the very best instrumentalists from the surrounding area. The Orchestra rehearses every Monday evening at 7.30 in the Prichard-Jones Hall. Works we’ll be performing in the 2018-19 season include Brahms’s First Symphony, Stravinsky’s The Firebird, the rarely-performed but magnificent Third Symphony by nineteenth-century composer Louise Farrenc, and Porthor (Whistling Sands) by the young Welsh composer Mared Emlyn.

If you would like to audition for a place in the Symphony Orchestra, please bring your instrument to the open rehearsal at 7.30pm on the Thursday of Welcome Week (20 September) in the Prichard-Jones Hall, when audition times will be allocated for the following Saturday. Click here to download more information and an application form. The open rehearsal is shared with the Music Society Orchestra, for which there are no auditions; please see below.

It is sometimes possible to join the orchestra later in the year. Please contact Prof Chris Collins to enquire about vacancies.

University Chamber Choir

The University Chamber Choir is a small group of around 24 singers, selected by audition. The Choir performs music from the Middle Ages to the present day, and gives regular concerts in Bangor and in other locations. It rehearses every Wednesday at 7.30pm in the Music building.

Auditions for the Chamber Choir take place on Saturday 22 September. An application form may be downloaded by clicking here.

It is usually possible to join the orchestra later in the year. Please contact Mr Stephen Rees to enquire about vacancies.

Specialist ensembles

The School of Music also runs a range of specialist ensembles, including an opera group, an early music ensemble, and a new music ensemble. If you would like to express an interest in taking part in any of these ensembles, please contact Prof Chris Collins.

The Music Society

The Music Society (Musoc) is a student organization whose year-round activities include an orchestra (rehearsals every Friday evening at 7.30), a choir (rehearsals every Tuesday evening at 7.30), lunchtime and evening concerts, and many social events. Membership is open to all without audition, and you are warmly invited to come along to the open rehearsals in Welcome Week. For more information please visit the Music Society website.

Other performing groups

Other societies affiliated to the Students’ Union include the Concert Band, the Brass Band, the Jazz Band, the String Orchestra, the Live Music and Bands Society, a musical theatre society (SODA), the Film Society, the Folk Society (Cadi Ha), a Welsh-language drama society (Cymdeithas y Ddrama Gymraeg), two English-language drama societies (BEDS and ROSTRA), the Circus Society (Cirque du Soc), and the Dance Society – alongside many more! Please visit the SU website for more information, or visit the societies’ stands at Serendipity on Wednesday and Thursday of Welcome Week.

Experience Points are awarded for participation in all of these ensembles as part of the Bangor Employability Award.

Performance opportunities for the local community

Côr ar y Bryn is a new SATB choir that is open to all to join. It rehearses every Wednesday evening at 7.30pm in the University’s Music building. The choir joins with the University Symphony Chorus for major events. Click here for more information.

Bangor University Community Orchestra meets eight times a year for a full day of orchestral playing. Instrumentalists of all standards are welcome to join. More information will be available soon.

The best local instrumentalists of all ages are also welcome to audition for a place in the University Symphony Orchestra (see above).