Cranford Choral Society

A B O U T U S

Founded in 1995, we are a friendly, non-auditioned choir of about 80 men and women. We meet once a week on Monday evenings during school term time to rehearse for an hour and three quarters from 7.45pm - 9:30pm.
We are a registered charity (number 1114655).

Chris de Souza graduated in Music from Bristol in 1966.

After a spell as Head of Music at a Bristol comprehensive, he attended the directors’ course at the Old Vic Theatre School and joined ENO. He has directed over 100 opera productions.

In 1975 he became music and arts producer at BBC Radio London, where he produced the music for HM the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Fireworks. He devised the 1977 Liszt Festival and directed the British and US premieres of Liszt’s opera “Don Sanche”.

He joined Radio 3 and was the BBC’s first Proms Producer. He won a Silver Award at the New York Radio Show, and was a Grammy nominee for his recording of Thomas Ades’ “Powder Her Face”. His adaptation of Britten’s “The Rescue”, and his own music has been recorded and broadcast on CD, Radio and TV.

Recent compositions include “Bottom’s Dream” commissioned for the BBC Singers, a Trombone Concerto commissioned by Southern Sinfonia, and “Loved and Unloved” for the Lymington Choral Society.

He has adjudicated for the BBC Young Musician award, the Royal Over-Seas League, and the Newbury Young Musician of the Year and chairs the Parkhouse Award for chamber music. He has presented the Classical Channel on Emirates for 25 years, and most recently presented the opera broadcasts on CNBCTV.

Chris took over from Ann Wright as conductor of Cranford Choral Society in 2015.