Ralph Allwood is the guest choral director of the Hallé Choir during the 2009-2010 season, working alongside the choir's artists. Having prepared the Choir for a recent Mahler 2 performance, he is now preparing them for Mahler 8 and for a concert to be given on their own (with organ). The choir’s activities include individual vocal coaching, sectional and full choir rehearsals as well as social events. Margaret McDonald is the choir’s vocal coach.
The Hallé Choir was founded with the Orchestra in 1858 by Sir Charles Hallé. The choir gives around twenty concerts a year with the Orchestra at The Bridgewater Hall and other venues across the UK. Appearing with many international conductors and soloists in concert and recordings, the choir performs a varied repertoire of major choral and operatic works ranging from mainstream pieces to more esoteric pieces and brand new commissions.
The Hallé Choir has received outstanding critical acclaim for many performances, including a memorable Verdi centenary programme at the BBC Proms and performances of Joseph Haydn’s The Creation, J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion and Leoš Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass.
The Hallé’s CD label's recent releases include:
- English Rhapsody
- Hallé Christmas Classics
- Elgar: A Self-Portrait.
- Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius with Bryn Terfel, Alice Coote, Paul Groves, Hallé Choir and the Hallé Youth Choir, which won a Gramophone Award.
However respectfully the Hallé honours its 150-year history, performances like this suggest that the golden era may be happening right now. The Guardian
