For their first concert in the Shropshire town in three years, A Date With Shakespeare: Songs and Elizabeth I sees the esteemed West Midlands choir perform a selection of songs based around Shakespeare’s enduring texts, all sung in the presence of Queen Elizabeth I (played by historian/ actress Lesley Smith).
In a varied night combines spans pastoral romance with modern jazz, among the pieces to be aired are pianist/ composer George Shearing’s seven song cycle Songs and Sonnets; Vaughan Williams’ 1951 Three Shakespeare Songs, featuring lyrics from The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and Swedish composer Sven-Eric Johanson’s 1974 two volume Fancies, which provides enticing musical settings for text from Two Gentlemen From Verona, As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice, Love’s Labour Lost, Cymbeline and Twelfth Night.
Also on the programme are two songs by musical polymath Eric Wetherell (How Like A Winter, Shall I Compare Thee), Herbert Murrill’s O Mistress Mine (with text from Twelfth Night) and Ward Single’s ingenious It Was A Lover And His Lass, which sees the seminal composer/ musician combine verse from As You Like It with elements of jazz scat.
The night concludes, as it starts, with George Shearing, and his setting for Shakespeare’s Sonnet 8, entitled Music To Hear.
Providing narration and insight into Shakespeare’s England is Lesley Smith’s Queen Elizabeth I. Appearing in full regalia, historian, curator, novelist and actress, Smith is well-known for her sell-out dramatic performances featuring historical characters, with her depiction of the iconic ‘Good Queen Bess’ bringing the queen’s remarkable 45 year rule to vivid life.
Also accompanying the choir, under the direction of conductor Paul Spicer, are double-bassist Amy Coates (Amy Coates Trio, B:And Together, LEAP Ensemble) and award-winning pianist Andrew Woodhead (ELDA, Ideas of Noise, CollapseUncollapse).
Built in 1792-94, St Mary’s is a grand Grade II* Listed church. Designed by the famed engineer Thomas Telford while he was county surveyor for Shropshire, the church boasts an unusual north-south orientation, with the altar situated at the southern end.
Say’s Lesley Smith: “The work of Shakespeare is one of the most enduring artistic legacies of the reign of Elizabeth I, and this concert is a testament to the inspiration that the Bard has provided for many different composers.
“It will be a great pleasure to appear in the role of Elizabeth alongside that happy breed of men (and women), the magnificent Birmingham Bach Choir, especially in Bridgnorth, which symbolises so well the famous lines [from Richard II], ‘this sceptred isle…, this other Eden, demi-paradise…, this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.’ Gloriana herself would be proud!”
Birmingham Bach Choir’s Conductor and Music Director Paul Spicer, added: “Join us for a joyous afternoon.”
◼ Birmingham Bach Choir: A Date With Shakespeare, is at St Mary Magdalene Church, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, on Saturday 4 July 2026 at 3.30pm. For more information, see: www.birmingham.bachchoir.com