CHRISTMAS CONCERT 2026
Make We Merry - A Christmas Celebration
Saturday 5 December 2026
All Saints Church, 14-16 Market Place,
Kingston, KT1 1JP
7:30pm (Door opens at 6:45pm)
Flyer PDF version HERE
Teddington Choral Society and its Musical Director, Julian Collings, are delighted to announce their forthcoming Christmas concert:
“Make we Merry! A Christmas celebration”.
The choir will perform a very exciting and varied programme. The diversity of music and atmosphere, together with a selection of well known and less well known compositions will offer a real treat for all lovers of a traditional Christmas.
- David Bednall’s “Make we Merry!”, a contemporary piece in eight movements based on texts from the 15th to 19th centuries. The composition combines soft and gentle tunes with more boisterous and energetic ones, resulting in an exciting variety of moods which will captivate the audience.
- Ronald Corp’s “Christmas Mass”, a joyful and intimate piece which blends traditional Latin Mass text and melodies from over 70 familiar carols and hymns. We wonder how many of these our audience will recognise on the night!
- Tchaikovsky’s “The Crown of Roses”, is a beautiful piece based on a poem and is part of his Sixteen Children’s Songs. The story foreshadows Jesus’s crucifixion.
- Greg May’s “A Rose of Gold”, an original piece composed by our own accompanist, features the Christ child (the 'Rose of Gold') descending from heaven into a bleak, wintery landscape and leading the audience to a final set of praise and hope.
- A selection of well-known Christmas carols which will allow the audience to join in with the celebration of singing.
Teddington Choral Society will be joined by Peter Jaekel (See below) at the organ and Greg May at the piano.
Tickets: £20 (under 16s free)
Online: www.eventbrite.com
Peter Jaekel studied at the Royal Academy of Music where his tutors included John Scott (organ) and Geoffrey Pratley and David Willison (piano accompaniment). For seven years he was chapel organist at Bradfield College, Berkshire, since when he has been a freelance organist and piano accompanist. He is accompanist to Crouch End Festival Chorus and Epsom Choral Society, and he regularly deputises for the London Symphony Chorus and London Philharmonic Choir. He has worked with some of the world’s finest conductors including Sir Colin Davis, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Jurowski, Michael Tilson Thomas and Edward Gardner. He has held appointments as organist at Tiffin School and St Paul’s Knightsbridge. Away from classical music Peter has performed as pianist with the Ben Sanders Scottish Country Dance Band throughout Britain and abroad.
Peter is in huge demand as a piano accompanist. He is also much sought after as a vocal coach for contemporary music; repertoire includes operas by Jonathan Dove, Stephen McNeff and Tansy Davies. He has been principal repetiteur for Eastern Opera and has also worked for European Chamber Opera.
He has given performances of Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass and Arvo Part’s Credo with Crouch End, Handel Organ Concerti and Saint-Saens’ Organ Symphony, and he has appeared at the Swaledale, Ryedale, Brighton and Deal festivals. His work has taken him to France, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Norway, the Baltic States, Hong Kong and New York. Recent performances have included the piano part in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess with Crouch End at the Barbican and Jonathan Dove’s The Passing of the Year with the Arcubus Ensemble.
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SPRING CONCERT 2027
TCS 75th Anniversary concert
Saturday 20 March 2027
All Saints church, Kingston, KT1 1JP
* Elgar's "The Dream of Gerontius"
* Premiere of a Special Commission
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SUMMER CONCERT 2027
Saturday 10 July 2027
7:30pm
* Mass in Blue by Will Todd
* More tbc