A celebratory community concert of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with community chorus, symphony orchestra and soloists took place on Sat 20th July in Wells Cathedral.

Click on the video below to see a clip of the concert.

More about the concert…

Unable to celebrate Beethoven’s 250th anniversary in 2020, we finally performed his ninth Symphony at WOWFest 2024, which marked the 200th anniversary since the first performance of this monumental work.

A WOWFest Community Chorus was created with a weekend of rehearsals two weeks before the event. The final concert took place in Wells Cathedral on Saturday 20th July 2024 at 7pm alongside the Bristol Classical Players with conductor Tom Gauterin, and four professional soloists. Wells Cathedral Oratorio Society collaborated with WOWFest for this event as part of its new drive to bring exciting choral music to Somerset.

The WOWFest Community Chorus was open to singing enthusiasts young and old, from Wells and beyond.

Ode to Joy was supported by Arts Council England, Wells City Council, The Elmgrant Trust, St Cuthbert (Out) Parish Council, Wells SOUP! and Wells Independents.

For WOWFest 2026 we aim to bring together a community chorus for another special event. If you are keen to participate, get in touch and we will add you to our list and contact you when we have further information.