Chapel Choir
Chapel Choir
Some students choose Exeter College simply because of its choir. It is well known as one of the best mixed voice ensembles in the University, and is the only choir in Oxford or Cambridge under the sole direction of the Organ Scholar to sing three Evensongs a week.
For many years the choir included boys recruited locally and then, from the late 50s until 2000, the top line was provided by boys from Christ Church Cathedral School. Since the addition of women in 2000 the choir has gone from strength to strength.
The choir sings Evensong services on a Tuesday, Friday and Sunday each week in the Chapel. Its repertoire stretches from the likes of Gibbons and Weelkes to Parry, Kodaly and Tippett, by way of Vierne, Langlais and Widor. The superb acoustics of the Chapel make singing both enjoyable and very rewarding. A range of other special services are sung throughout the year such as the Advent and Christmas Carol Services, the All Souls Requiem Mass and Masses for various Feast Days during term. A highlight is Ascension Day, on which the Choir sings Matins from the College tower, followed by a Bucks Fizz breakfast.
Exeter’s is renowned as a lively and sociable choir, and is the most active group in the College, singing for at least eight hours a week plus dinners and social activities.
At present the College offers one Organ Scholarship every other year, and up to four Choral Scholarships - known as "academical clerkships" - each year (as well as choral awards for students already in residence). Information about auditioning for the choir is available on these pages: Choral Awards, Organ Scholarships and here.
Concerts, Tours and Recordings
The Organ Scholars organise concerts and recitals in College which are popular with students and visitors alike. In addition, there are regular visits to other places of worship. Most recently, the choir has been invited to sing in St Paul’s Cathedral, St George’s Chapel Windsor, Truro and Exeter Cathedrals, as well as local churches with which the College has links.
The choir has undertaken a number of successful foreign tours over the last few years. Most recently we visited Northern Italy, singing in St Mark’s Venice and venues in and around Verona. Other tours have included trips to Paris, Florence, New York and Washington D. C., Leipzig and Dresden, Basel, Edinburgh, and Vienna. In 2012 the Choir will visit Barcelona, and plans are afoot to return to the United States in 2014.
The Choir is active in the recording studio, with three CDs recorded recently on the Regent and Herald labels; one featuring music by Vierne, Fauré and Saint-Saëns, and another to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Chapel. This included a commissioned work by Jonathan Dove alongside music by Howells, Stanford, Harris, Parry and Gardner, the latter a former Organ Scholar of the College. CDs are available from the Porters’ Lodge.
We have recently received two reviews, from the International Record Review and the USA-based Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians, which praise the "youthful but polished tone" and "very fine balance and intonation" of the choir. The International Record Review highlights in particular the choir's performances of Ecce beatam lucem (which it calls "beautifully controlled") and Coventry Antiphon, where "this young choir is fully in control of the melismatic vocal lines and the chromatic harmonies".
