Shrewsbury School Community Choir and local stars to perform Handel's Messiah

One of the most eagerly awaited Christmas events is the concert of Handel’s “Messiah” performed by Shrewsbury School Community Choir at Shrewsbury Abbey on Saturday 21st December.

The Choir, under the direction of conductor Richard Robbins, will be joined by professional soloists who all live and work in our wonderful county.

Shropshire can seriously boast of its musical talent!

Soprano soloist Beatrice Acland-Floyer grew up in Much Wenlock and joined the Much Wenlock church choir when she was 9, and graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2017, returning to Shropshire in January 2023, working with the Shropshire Music Service since.

Mezzo-soprano Bethan Langford was born in Shrewsbury and grew up in Much Wenlock and went to secondary school at Bridgnorth Endowed. She studied on the Guildhall School opera course and the National Opera Studio. Recent opera credits include roles in works by Gilbert & Sullivan, Mozart, Verdi and Wagner. She and her husband (Piran Legg) moved back to Shrewsbury during Covid and started a family.

Piran Legg is a British bass–baritone and a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Since graduating Piran has worked extensively around the U.K. and abroad as a concert artist. Piran teaches at the University of Birmingham, the Royal Northern College of Music and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and Shrewsbury School.

Richard Robbins is an acclaimed tenor and conductor. .Since joining Shrewsbury School as Head of Choral Music in 2023, he has sought to transform and modernise the choral offering of the school, programming more works by living composers, alongside more traditional choices, performing pieces such as Rebecca Dale’s ethereal Materna Requiem and Christopher Tin’s paean to flight, To Shiver the Sky.

Tickets for Messiah are £18 in advance and £20 on the door, available from TicketSource.