The Society was formed in 1956 from Bishop Auckland Youth Choir members, Bishop Auckland Male Voice Choir and Ladies Choir.
The first conductor was John Taylor who held this position until 1969 when he left to become County Music Organiser in Staffordshire. There were many memorable performances during this time including celebrity concerts featuring Owen Brannigan, Norma Proctor and Duncan Robertson, all of which were sell-outs. John Taylor was instrumental in bringing new works to the area.
John Taylor was succeeded in September 1969 by a former member of the choral society, Alf Liddle. Many more successful concerts followed with Alf as a conductor including the Silver Jubilee concert performance of Verdi Requiem in April 1981 with John Taylor as bass soloist.
After Alf Liddle’s retirement in May 1995, a Bulgarian pianist and conductor Venera Bojkova became our third conductor and continued the tradition of presenting new works and works by local composers. The choir commissioned 'Spiritual' by Bishop Auckland composer Andy Jackson in 1998 and gave its first performance that year.
Venera has also begun the practice of featuring talented local young people as soloists and participants in the choir’s concerts and the choir's last concert, a concert to celebrate John Rutter's birthday in December 2005, featured a performance of a Vivaldi Violin Concerto by Durham High School pupil, Emily Devine.
The choir has no subsidy, relying almost entirely on members subscriptions to function, but it has received money in the past from County Durham Foundation.
In 2006, the choir will continue its policy of commissioning new works by working in collaboration with Changeling Theatre Company to produce a new work about the portraits of the twelve tribes of Israel by the 17th century artist, Zurbaran, in the Bishop's Palace, Bishop Auckland. The work will involve the choir, the Junior Choir and pupils from local schools. Watch the News page for further details.
| 
