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Consensio
chamber choir


We are a passionate group of amateur musicians who meet in Brackley and perform throughout North Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, and Buckinghamshire.

Seeking Tenors and Basses

If you know a tenor or bass in the area who could join us, or if you are one yourself, please get in touch.

 Get in Touch

Concerts and rehearsals

  • Upcoming concerts

  • Duns Tew 07-02-2026  Time TBC St. Mary Magdalene Church, OX25 6JL
  • Sandford St Martin 20-06-2026  Time TBC St. Martin's Church
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Your Venue Could be next

If you have a venue in North Oxforshire, Northamptonshire, or Buckinghamshire, and would like to host a concert, please get in touch.

Get in touch

Rehearsals

We rehearse fortnightly in St Martin's Church, Brackley.

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Repertoire

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Epiphany and Candlemas

We are currently preparing a concert to celebrate Epiphany and Candlemas. The programme will contain a variety of pieces, including:

  • Reges Tharsis — William Byrd
  • Here is the Little Door — Herbert Howells
  • Bethlehem Down — Peter Warlock
  • The Three Kings — Peter Cornelius
  • Good Will to Men, and Peace on Earth — Dobrinka Tabakova

 

We sing a diverse selection of choral music, including pieces influenced by literature, folk traditions, and sacred themes. This repertoire often includes less commonly sung pieces, ranging from the renaissance to contemporary works.

 Some Favourites

  • Mille Regrets —  Josquin des Prez
  • Flora Gave Me Fairest Flowers —  Thomas Wilbye
  • The Silver Swan —  Orlando Gibbons
  • Weep You No More, Sad Fountains —  John Dowland
  • Hodie Christus Natus Est —  Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
  • Over Hill, Over Dale — Ralph Vaughan Williams
  • 3 Shakespeare Choruses — Amy Beach
  • Les Chansons des Roses — Morten Lauridsen

Past Concerts

  • Duns Tew
    St. Mary Magdalene Church, OX25 6JL
  • Brackley
    St. Martin's Church, Halls Lane, NN13 6AN
  • Mollington 
    All Saints Church, OX17 1AZ
  • Stoke Lyne 
    St Peter's Church, OX27 8RU
  • Kings Sutton
    St Peter and St Paul Church, OX17 3RJ
  • Banbury
    St Hugh's Church, OX16 9HU
  • Banbury Early Music Festival Performers Platform 
    Whately Hall Hotel, Banbury


Paul Hedley - Musical Director

Our musical director

dr paul hedley

Paul’s musical education began in earnest as a school chorister, and he has been singing at a high level since the age of seven in Chapel and Cathedral Choirs. Ten years in the Oxford choral scene, first as a Choral Scholar then Lay Clerk at Magdalen College, and involvement with many other choirs including Schola Cantorum and Oxford Voices, was followed by time as a Lay Clerk at Gloucester Cathedral. Throughout this period he was developing as a conductor, working primarily with 'Musica Beata', and he ran the Arcadian Singers of Oxford for two seasons. He now holds the posts of Music Director of Cherwell Choral Society and Director of Music at All Saints Church, Didcot, and also conducts the Wantage based chamber choir The Crown Singers.

Alongside his role as Assistant Director at the Royal School of Church Music, Paul is also the Managing Director of Leadership & Performance Development, an Oxford based coaching and leadership development business, and has a keen interest in the leadership aspects of conducting as well as the musical ones. At a fundamental level, open collaboration is the cornerstone of his approach, whether in one-to-one coaching, business facilitation, making chamber music, or on the conducting rostrum.

choir history

Consensio was formed by four members of St. Peter's Church 'occasional' choir in Brackley in 2011.

The desire was to bring together a group of singers who would enjoy singing a capella music, such as that of Renaissance composers Byrd, Tallis, Victoria and Palestrina, to a reasonably high standard.

Members were recruited and with seven or eight singers, a small repertoire was rehearsed and several successful performances took place.

The founding director, Graham Shorter, moved to another part of the country.  This meant the group had to adopt a different way of rehearsing and performing. Several changes in personnel took place in this period until the group arrived at 12 voices.

It was felt that a director would be desirable and we were fortunate to engage the services of Stuart Hubble.

As well as being guest performers in various concerts, the group performed its first full length concert in Brackley in the summer of 2013. Spring of 2014 saw Consensio gain a distinction in the small choirs section of the Chipping Norton Festival.

We were very grateful to have Natasha Thompson lead the choir for a number of years and keep us going through lockdown via the power of Zoom, and were sorry to lose her in March 2022 to pursue other projects.

Consensio has changed its line-up and repertoire over the years, and the choir now has 16 regular singers. We are currently fortunate enough to have Dr Paul Hedley as Director of the choir.

We also enjoy performing accompanied pieces with the aid of our pianist Auriel Warwick. 

We are particularly keen to recruit new tenor and bass voices.  If you would be interested in joining, please contact us via email for further information.