Billingham Oratorio Choir 

Billingham Oratorio Choir was founded by John Beagle in 1978 to give local musicians a voice in this area of Cleveland, north of the River Tees. The first annual concerts were of Handel's Messiah, until in1981 we performed Rossini's "Petite Messe Solennelle", coupled with "Liebeslieder Waltzer" by Brahms. Under John's direction, the choir performed works by many composers such as Beethoven, Poulenc, Faure, Schubert, Rutter and Mozart. Despite his retirement as director in 1989, John remained as our chorus master for the preparation of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" and Parry's "Blest Pair of Sirens", which was guest conducted by Malcolm Goldring. Since then the Choir has been Directed by several excellent Musical Directors, and in September 2007 we were delighted to welcome Gillian Sild as our new MD.