40th Anniversary

Our choir was founded in 1982 by Professor David Fussey. We were known then as the Plymouth Polyphonic Choir due to the choir being based at the Plymouth Polytechnic. When the institution was awarded university status in 1992 the choir changed its name to the University of Plymouth Choral Society.

Subsequent musical directors have included Fiona Chryssides, Laura Todd and Michael Johnson. Simon Ible took over in February 1999 and numbers swelled to a choir of nearly 140 members. Simon was also responsible for partnering the choir with the Ten Tors professional orchestra and for introducing many young singers and musicians who were just starting out on their professional careers.

After 18 years Simon handed the baton to Alice Dennis and our current musical director, Dr Sean Sweeney, took over from Alice in 2020 starting his tenure under the incredibly challenging constraints of the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns. Remarkably, he is still with us.

We have never had an audition process and membership is open to anyone with an enthusiasm for choral singing. Our links to the university are maintained and students continue to qualify for free membership.

Rehearsals are on Tuesday evenings at 7:30pm at the Sherwell Centre during university term times, and we hold a full concert each term in the Minster Church of St Andrew, Plymouth, as well as supporting the university chaplaincy with their Christmas carol service each December.

Miriam Lindley

Dr Sean Sweeney, former Musical Director, is pictured cutting our anniversary cake in December 2022