Formed in 1948 to help bring cheer and comfort in the dark days of post-war rationing and reconstruction, the chorus has been at the heart of music making in Sheffield, South Yorkshire and beyond ever since. Sixty years on it is as busy as ever and has a lively membership of over 100 local singers.

The first concert was Bach's St Matthew Passion. Since then the chorus has given 318 performances in an uninterrupted sequence of annual programmes, and is still counting.

It has given works covering a huge span of musical history and styles, from Palestrina and Monteverdi at one end to Britten, Tippet and contemporary works at the other.

The chorus has also nurtured some formidable local talent, most recently Sheffield's internationally celebrated young soprano, Elizabeth Watts, and the up and coming young mezzo Cari Searle.

Elizabeth sang with the Chorus while she was studying archaeology in Sheffield and she will be joining them again in April to take part in one of five jubilee year concerts. Cari was a chorus member while she was a music undergraduate.

The rank and file chorus members are all amateur singers. They come from across Sheffield and South Yorkshire, from Huddersfield and NE Derbyshire. They are from all walks of life. The oldest member is 80. The youngest is 16. They even include a former MP – Helen Jackson.

Says Helen: 'Choral singing is a fantastic thing to do. I took it up again when I joined the Parliament Choir about ten years ago. I have thoroughly enjoyed continuing to exercise my lungs and 'make music' with the Oratorio Chorus. It's tremendous fun and taking part in performances of major choral works is inspiring. I would say to anyone who can sing, "Come and join us!" '

To mark its diamond jubilee the Chorus has planned a blockbuster season which will challenge the chorus to sing at the top of its form.

There is something for everyone in the jubilee year programme – from the heart-rending intensity of Michael Tippett's A Child of Our Time to the serenity of Fauré's Requiem and the wild exuberance of Carl Orf's Carmina Burana.

A Child of our Time was inspired by the events of Kristalnacht in Nazi Germany in November 1938 and is being performed by the chours on eve of the 70th anniversary of Kristalnacht.

The Carmina concert is scheduled to coincide with the Sheffield Children's Festival and the chorus will be sharing the platform with young people from Sheffield schools.

There will be a traditional Christmas carol concert, the premiere of a new work by Sheffield composer and Chorus member Ron Law, and, with Elizabeth Watts, Mozart's Mass in C Minor and Bach's Jauchzet Gott in Allen Landen.

Says Musical Director Alan Eost:
'The Chorus is in fine form. We are all looking forward to the challenge of the jubilee programme and to sharing with our audiences a really interesting and wide range of music. So come and hear us!'

The Jubilee Programme:

• Saturday 8 November: Tippett, A Child of Our Time, Fauré, Requiem, Sheffield Cathedral

• Thursday 18 December: Carols, St Andrew's Church, Psalter Lane, Sheffield

• Saturday 31 January: Rutter Gloria, Law Pro Chori, Sheffield Cathedral

• Saturday 25 April: Mozart Mass in C, Bach Jauchzet Gott in Allen Landen, with Elizabeth Watts soprano, Sheffield Cathedral

• Saturday 4 July: Orf, Carmina Burana, Sheffield Cathedral

More community news