The Occasional Singers

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The Occasional Singers at St Marys Church

We are a Dorchester based choir founded with the principal aim of singing the music of our founder, Rick Birley. The Occasional Singers began as a one off-choir singing in Milton Abbey on Wednesday 21st December 1994. There was not an intention to form this choir into a group that met regularly. After this concert Rick felt more than ever what a fantastic thing it was to combine good voices together to create such a sumptuous sound, a feeling which was to create the Occasional Singers as they are today.

The Occasional Singers are a non profit making choir whose membership is made up of local people from the Dorchester area. Prospective members usually audition, or their voices are well known to the choir directors.

The Dorchester based Occasional Singers have sung a lot of Rick Birley’s compositions over the years but they have also sung a vast amount of music, sacred and secular, covering many styles and spanning many centuries. The Occasional Singers have from time to time teamed up with other musicians - individual soloists, instrumental ensembles and organists - but have also frequently presented concerts a capella. Choir Rehearsal at St Mary's Church

The present directors of the choir are Rick Birley and Richard Hall. In the past Peter Oakes and Damien Knollys have also directed the choir. Peter Oakes has recently been invited to direct performances of Rick’s music originally written for the Thomas Hardye Singers, a Dorchester school choir. Damien Knollys occasionally joins the choir in larger-scale performances (i.e. Fern Hill) as a ’cellist.

The choir feels that its home is St Mary's Church in Edward Road, Dorchester where we have always been made very welcome. The church was built just before the First World War and boasts a wonderful acoustic. The Occasional Singers greatly enjoy performing here. The church facilities are excellent and can be adapted to suit whatever sort of performance we are doing. However we do often perform elsewhere.

We support mostly local charities when we are able to do so, but also sometimes other charities proposed by choir members.

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Last update 10/04/2012