About the Choir

The Choir was formed with just 12 Members at Westbourne Street Methodist Church in 1923. The main objective at that time was to deliver high-quality singing entertainment for local audiences.

Now 86 years on and over 60 Festival Awards later, the choir has grown by more than 5 times the original number of Members. The Choir manages to project a warm and friendly atmosphere, whilst maintaining the highest musical standards and distinctive sound, and its concerts raise considerable sums of money for charities as well as giving great pleasure to audiences.

While most concerts are performed in Buckinghamshire, the Choir often travels further afield, and has performed in recent years in the splendid settings of Magdalen College Oxford, the Island of Jersey, the Mediterranean Biome at the Eden Project in Cornwall and for the fifth time as part of the London Welsh “1000 Voices” Male Voice Choirs’ Festival at the Royal Albert Hall.

2009 is proving an extremely busy year for the Choir. In addition to many local venues, the Orpheus regularly goes on tour. In April we crossed the Severn Bridge to Cardiff, singing in the majestic setting of Llandaff Cathedral, then in St Mary's Church - earning accolades for our performances which included some Welsh! Then in June, we travelled north to perform jointly with the local Choral Society in Peterborough Cathedral, followed by a contrasting venue in the delightful parish church at Kings Sutton. In September we return to Northampton.

Every year, the Orpheus name and sound seems to be in greater demand as we strive to maintain and better that original objective set all those years ago.