Strawberry Hill Community Choir

News and events

  • Book now for Vivaldi’s Gloria!

    Join us on Tuesday 1 December 2026, 7.45pm for Strawberry Hill Community Choir’s winter concert, at St Mary’s Church, Twickenham TW1 3DT.

    For this performance we’ll be accompanied by a string quartet and professional soloists.

    Doors open at 7.15pm. Click here to find St Mary’s Twickenham on Googlemaps.

    Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria in D Major (R589)

    This glorious piece, full of passion and drama, lay forgotten for some 300 years after the composer’s death. Since it was revived in Italy in the 1930s, it’s become universally loved and a Christmas favourite.

    Joanna Forbes L’Estrange’s A Season to Sing

    We’ll be singing excerpts from A Season to Sing, a gorgeous choral reimagining of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. The suite was first performed in 2025 to mark the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi’s masterwork.

    And of course we’ll be inviting the audience to join us in singing some seasonal songs!

    Tickets

    Tickets are £15 (under-16s go free).

    Music Director James Speakman

    James Speakman, Music Director

    James Speakman is Strawberry Hill Community Choir’s musical director. He is Assistant Director of Music at the London Oratory School.

    Before that James was Assistant Director of Music and Chapel Organist at Stowe School. He is a prize-winning Associate of the Royal College of Organists.

    James started out as a pianist, then began organ lessons at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music with Simon Mercer. He won an Organ Scholarship at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, and studied with Ian Tracey. He read music at Cambridge University, where he studied the organ with Stephen Farr, and was Organ Scholar at Corpus Christi College. He was the recipient of the John Sanders Memorial Competition for Young Composers award in 2019.

  • Songs of the Sea – our joyous Summer 2026 concert

    Strawberry Hill Community Choir performs at St Mary's Church Twickenham 7 July 2026

    When you start a concert with What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor in four-part harmony, and the audience joins in with great enthusiasm, you know it’s going to be a fun evening.

    And so it was for Strawberry Hill Community Choir’s summer concert, Songs of the Sea, on Tuesday 7 July 2026. There was drama! Wild weather! Peaceful lagoons! And a lot of laughter on the way.

    “Amazed that anyone can join, no auditions necessary – thought it was so good!”

    Audience comment

    Captained as ever by our dynamic music director James Speakman, the choir sang a wide-ranging programme including pieces by Herbert Sumsion, Thomas Campion, CHH Parry and Eric Whitacre, traditional songs such as The Wellerman (New Zealand), Skye Boat Song (Scotland), and modern favourites such as Sailing by Gavin Sutherland.

    And what solo treats we got! Our extraordinary baritone soloist Patrick Alexander Keefe rose to the occasion with storming solos in Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore, Charles Trenet’s La Mer, and Frank Loesser’s Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat.

    Jon Booth, our accompanist on piano and organ, gave us Debussy’s gorgeous, meditative La Cathédrale Engloutie on the piano.

    Our MD James’s rendition of Hornpipe Humoresque on the organ had choir and audience enthralled – and there were gales of laughter as we recognised the musical references.

    Good dynamics and rounded sound!

    Audience comment

    It really was an evening to remember, for all the right reasons.

    • Thank you to everyone involved, to our audience and to the wonderful staff at St Mary’s Church Twickenham for making us so welcome.
    • And our thanks to Andreas Pritchard, our photographer on the evening.

    Watch the full concert – Songs of the Sea, July 2026

  • Book now for Songs Of The Sea!

    Strawberry Hill Community Choir will be setting sail on a musical journey for our summer concert Songs Of The Sea on Tuesday 7 July 2026, 7.45pm.

    Join us for what promises to be a voyage to remember!

    Wild waves, still lagoons

    The composers on our nautical set list range from Eric Whitacre, Gilbert & Sullivan and Herbert Sumsion to Charles Trenet, Frank Loesser among others.

    Our captain (otherwise known as our musical director) is James Speakman, and he’ll be joined by our first mate (our pianist) Jon Booth. Also on board are our special guests (our professional soloists). There will also be a call for all hands on deck (a.k.a. audience participation).

    Once more we are performing at the beautiful St Mary’s Church in Twickenham TW1 3DT. Doors open at 7.15.

    Click here to find St Mary’s Twickenham on Googlemaps.

    Tickets

    Tickets are £15 (under-10s go free).

    Music Director James Speakman

    James Speakman, Music Director

    James Speakman is Strawberry Hill Community Choir’s musical director. He is Assistant Director of Music at the London Oratory School.

    Before that James was Assistant Director of Music and Chapel Organist at Stowe School. He is a prize-winning Associate of the Royal College of Organists.

    James started out as a pianist, then began organ lessons at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music with Simon Mercer. He won an Organ Scholarship at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, and studied with Ian Tracey. He read music at Cambridge University, where he studied the organ with Stephen Farr, and was Organ Scholar at Corpus Christi College. He was the recipient of the John Sanders Memorial Competition for Young Composers award in 2019.

  • A joyful and uplifting Christmas concert

    A joyful and uplifting Christmas concert

    St Mary’s Church Twickenham on Tuesday December 2, 2025 saw Strawberry Hill Community Choir’s first Christmas concert.

    It featured beautiful music, including Bob Chilcott’s On Christmas Night, a musical celebration of Christmas with eight original carols with textures and tunes that ranged from reflective to jubilant. And of course, some much loved traditional Christmas songs which our enthusiastic audience joined us in singing.

    “It was joyful and uplifting!“

    Our guest soloists, the glorious soprano JJ Lam and brilliant organist Robert Mingay-Smith (also on piano) brought depth to the concert and their solos, together with our very own Erica’s solo, raised the spirits of everyone there. We were delighted by the comments from audience members afterwards.

    “I had amazing feedback from friends and family last night – they were so impressed with the high standard and absolutely loved it.”

    Thank you to everyone involved, to our audience and to St Mary’s Church for hosting us.

  • Book now for our Christmas concert, Tuesday 2 December

    Strawberry Hill Community Choir’s Christmas poster 2025
    Bob Chilcott, composer

    Join us for a wonderful evening of Christmas music on Tuesday 2 December at 7.45pm, at St Mary’s Church, Twickenham.

    What’s on the programme

    Bob Chilcott’s musical celebration of the Christmas story On Christmas Night is a sequence of eight original carols that combines tradition and invention. It’s been described as comforting and reflective, jubilant, swinging and folksy.

    Of course there will be familiar carols and festive music, and we’ll be inviting you to join us in singing some old favourites.

    Tickets

    Tickets are £15 (under-10s go free).

    This evening’s performers

    Strawberry Hill Community Choir is always delighted to welcome up-and-coming soloists to feature in our concerts.

    Tonight’s soprano is JJ Lam, our organist is Robert Mingay Smith, and we’ll all be under the direction of James Speakman.

    Soprano JJ Lam

    JJ Lam, soprano

    JJ says: ‘I love to sing in different vocal styles and I am a huge nerd on vocal technique.’ An experienced recitalist and choral soloist, she started performing at the age of 12.

    At Trinity College, Cambridge, JJ sang in the chapel choir of under Stephen Layton. After a brief career in finance, she went on to study at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, graduating in 2024.

    A Scholar at St John’s Notting Hill, she’s also been the Soprano Choral Scholar at St George’s Beckenham and West London Chorus. JJ was selected as a 2025 Serena Fenwick artist with British Youth Opera. This summer, she sang in the Chorus of the National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company at Buxton Opera House.

    Organist Robert Mingay-Smith

    Robert Mingay-Smith, organist

    Robert is considered to be one of London’s finest accompanists. He sang with VOCES8 for five years, touring the world and recording classical and jazz repertoire. Now Robert divides his time between conducting, playing the organ, accompanying and composing.

    He is Director of Music at St Mary-at-Hill, London where he founded the Square Mile Music Series, a well-established concert series which attracts musicians from all over the world to perform.

    Music Director James Speakman

    James Speakman, Music Director

    James Speakman is Strawberry Hill Community Choir’s musical director. He is Assistant Director of Music at the London Oratory School.

    Before that James was Assistant Director of Music and Chapel Organist at Stowe School. He is a prize-winning Associate of the Royal College of Organists.

    James started out as a pianist, then began organ lessons at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music with Simon Mercer. He won an Organ Scholarship at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, and studied with Ian Tracey. He read music at Cambridge University, where he studied the organ with Stephen Farr, and was Organ Scholar at Corpus Christi College. He was the recipient of the John Sanders Memorial Competition for Young Composers award in 2019.

    It will be a lovely evening of music in the beautiful church of St Mary’s Twickenham. Click here to find St Mary’s Twickenham on Googlemaps.

    We look forward to seeing you there!

    • Doors open at 7.30 and the concert begins at 7.45.

  • Our summer concert – joyful time travel!

    John Rutter
    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Tuesday July 1, 2025 was the hottest day of the year so far. It was also the day when the singers of Strawberry Hill Community Choir held their first concert at York House in Twickenham.

    Scores (and fans) in hand, we entered stage left and our music director James Speakman introduced David Terry on piano and our guest soprano Ruby Skilbeck.

    It was a memorable evening for all the right reasons. The music – Mozart’s Missa Brevis in D major, written in 1772, followed by John Rutter’s Feel the Spirit, premiered in 2001. The beautiful warm tones of our soloist Ruby Skilbeck. The colour and depth of Alex Buckley’s clarinet playing. The brilliant piano accompaniment by David Terry. And, of course, the joy of building the harmonies with our fellow choir members, all woven together by our marvellous conductor James Speakman.

    Thank you to everyone involved, to our audience and to York House for hosting us.

    You can also click the link below to watch the concert on YouTube.

    https://youtu.be/x5NrdIDTckM

  • Our history

    Our history

    A choir reborn

    Strawberry Hill Choir relaunched in February 2025. The choir celebrated with the first evening practice at the historic York House in Twickenham.

    Our rehearsal space, the Hyde Room, is gorgeous with great acoustics. The York House staff are incredibly friendly, warm and welcoming.

    Fifteen years ago

    In our previous incarnation as the Strawberry Hill House Choir, we were based at the glorious Gothic pile (18th century home to Horace Walpole) for 15 years.

    When that venue was no longer available, members came together to form the new choir. Since its relaunch in February 2025, the choir continues to gain enthusiastic new members.