Concordia's History
Concordia started life as The Apocalypse Singers having been founded in
2000 by Christopher Hodges, a former New College, Oxford Choral Scholar
who went on to sing with The Clerkes of Oxenford and then with The Sixteen,
of which he remains a Trustee.
In 2003 Neil Ferris was appointed Musical Director, succeeding Chris Hodges.
Neil was a choral scholar at Royal Holloway, University of London and
has a Master’s degree in Performance Studies from the Royal College
of Music, where he specialised in conducting. As well as many conducting
engagements Neil was awarded a masterclass with the BBC Singers and its
chief conductor, Stephen Cleobury, in 2004. He is also Musical Director
of the Epworth Choir and has recently spent a month in Romania working
with the chorus of Filarmonica Arad.
The choir has performed many concerts, both in southwest London, where
it is based and also further afield, including two Midland Sinfonia
Concert Series appearances in Alvechurch, a summer concert in St John
Smith Square and singing the services at Llandaff Cathedral and touring
abroad to Berlin, Caen, Hamburg, Paris and Brussels. On November 13th
2005 it performed Handel’s Messiah at Christ Church Spitalfields,
attracting an article in ‘The Independent’ which talked
of the audience being kept ‘musically on the edge of their seats’
and of the whole piece ‘coming alive.’
As well as singing a traditional chamber choir repertoire Concordia
has a keen interest in performing contemporary works and has recently
sung works by Jonathan Dove, James MacMillan, Jonathan Rathbone, Paul
Ayres, Morten Lauridsen and John Tavener. In March of 2005 the choir
gave the first London performance of Naji Hakim’s Messe Solennelle.
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