Chroma Chamber Choir is a Nelson-based choir of around 25 to 30 auditioned singers who love choral singing and enjoy sharing interesting and challenging music with Nelson music lovers.
Currently directed by Pete Rainey, Chroma’s repertoire is mainly drawn from formal choral music. The choir performs both a cappella and accompanied. The content of its carefully crafted programmes range through the centuries from Gregorian chant to contemporary, including both sacred and secular, sometimes themed, such as the concert of Russian Treasures.
Since its inception in 2010, Chroma’s performances have featured choral pieces from the wealth of the renaissance and baroque choral repertoire, through to classical and romantic songs, and compositions from the 21st century. Longer choral works performed during Chroma’s 15 years have included Bach’s Easter Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah, Britten’s Saint Nicholas, Fauré’s Requiem, Duruflé’s Requiem and recently Will Todd’s Mass in Blue.
While not defining its parameters, a touchstone for Chroma singers is singing a cappella, especially in Nelson’s Christ Church Cathedral.