Helston Chamber Choir is the present day successor to the Helston and Kerrier Music Society which was founded on 26th October 1971 by a small committee under the chairmanship of the Rev. John Simpson, then vicar of St Michael’s Church, Helston.
The society was formed to educate the public in the art and science of music by giving lectures, recitals and concerts. From January 1972 it incorporated a choral society. One of the first recitals was given by Leon Goossens, the celebrated oboist, and over the years the society gave many outstanding concerts, both instrumental and choral, to large audiences, covering all the major classics of the orchestral and choral repertoires. By 2009 it was realised that an orchestra was only being recruited to accompany the choir in performing from the choral repertoire, so at a committee meeting held on October 19th 2009 the name was changed to Helston Chamber Choir.

The choir values its connection with St Michael’s Church and the town of Helston; the town mayor is an honorary president and attends as many concerts as possible. We always hold one performance of each programme in the church, but have recently started to hold a second performance at another venue, such as Penzance or Falmouth. In 2011 we celebrated our fortieth birthday and were glad to welcome founder Rev. Simpson to the concert in St Michael’s church.

On 25th October 2016 we drank a toast to the choir at a Tuesday rehearsal one day before our 45th birthday.

Under the influence of the last two musical directors the choir has gained a reputation for performing less well known works, including those of contemporary composers like Ola Gjeilo, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Eric Whitacre, Henryk Górecki, James Macmillan and local composers Judith Bailey and Rico Gerber. This does not mean that we neglect earlier works, indeed our repertoire covers eight centuries up to the present.

Our Patron is the internationally renowned, Porthleven-born Heldentenor,
John Treleaven.