The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge

www.sjcchoir.co.uk

The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge is one of the finest collegiate choirs in the world – known and loved by millions from its broadcasts, concert tours and over ninety recordings. Founded in the 1670s, the Choir is known for its rich, warm and distinctive sound, its expressive interpretations and its ability to sing in a variety of styles.

The special sound of St John’s

The Choir is made up of 16 choristers and 4 probationers who are educated at the St John’s College School. The alto, tenor and bass parts are usually taken by 15 undergraduates, with 2 organ scholars assisting in the daily running of the Choir. Services in the College Chapel follow the Cathedral tradition of the Church of England, with Evensong six days a week during term and Sung Eucharist on Sunday mornings. The Choir’s services are frequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3. On the concert platform, the Choir regularly performs in high-profile venues and festivals around the UK, with orchestras and ensembles including the Philharmonia Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia and His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts.

The Choristers, Choral & Organ Scholars

“The Choir thrives under Nethsingha” Gramophone Magazine

Andrew Nethsingha the Choir’s Director of Music, has performed as a conductor and organist in North America, South Africa, Far East, and throughout Europe. His musical training began as a Chorister at Exeter Cathedral, and later he studied at the Royal College of Music, where he won seven prizes. Andrew held Organ Scholarships under Christopher Robinson, at St George’s Windsor, and George Guest, at St John’s College, Cambridge, before becoming Assistant Organist at Wells Cathedral. He was subsequently Director of Music at Truro and Gloucester Cathedrals. Other recent positions have included Artistic Director of the Gloucester Three Choirs Festival and Musical Director of the Gloucester Choral Society. Andrew has also worked regularly with some of the UK’s leading orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Andrew Nethsingha

“Stirring and Polished” The Telegraph

Concerts and Tours The Choir is regularly invited to perform throughout the world, recently touring Japan, the USA and countries all over Europe – The Netherlands, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland to name a few. The Choir toured Germany, Denmark, Japan and The Netherlands in 2012 and tours for 2013 include Denmark and Central Europe. As well as concerts abroad, the Choir performs regularly in the UK: recent concert venues include St John’s, Smith Square, Ely Cathedral, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Cadogan Hall and Royal Festival Hall.

The Choir’s repertoire is extremely varied, spanning over 500 years of music, from Spanish polyphony and Haydn masses to French Romantic music and the music of the 20th century. It is also renowned for championing contemporary music, regularly enriching the repertoire in its commissioning of new works. Recent commissions have been written for the Choir by John Rutter, Judith Weir, James MacMillan and Jonathan Harvey, not to mention past commissions, many of which have become firmly established in the repertoire of choirs worldwide, by such composers as Herbert Howells, Lennox Berkeley, Roxanna Panufnik, Francis Grier, Jean Langlais, Michael Tippett and John Tavener.

Repertoire

The Choir of St John’s College was the first Choir in Europe to broadcast weekly webcasts of its services. A service is webcast on the Choir’s website at midday every Tuesday throughout the year, and a large worldwide following of up to 10,000 per week listen regularly to the Choir, ‘at home’ in its Chapel. This innovative and exciting enterprise not only widens awareness of the Choir’s day-to-day work, enhancing its already high reputation but also makes their performances accessible to people around the world in a way that was unthinkable even a few years ago.

Webcasting

Recordings by St John’s College Choir are highly acclaimed and have often featured as the Editor’s Choicein Gramaphone Magazine. The Choir has recorded with Argo, Chandos, Decca, EMI, Hyperion, Naxos and Nimbus. The extensive discography dates back to 1959 when the Choir was under the direction of George Guest, including the famous Haydn Masses with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields on Decca. The Choir usually makes two recordings each year. The Choir is also known for the sequence of recordings of English 20th century music for Naxos under Christopher Robinson, which have sold over 300,000 copies. The Choir has also recorded four discs under David Hill with Hyperion Records, and the Choir has so far recorded seven discs under their new contract with Chandos. Each year the Choir also broadcasts live on BBC Radio 3 on several occassions, including the Advent Carol Service, as well as their Ash Wednesday service and regular broadcasts of Choral Evensong.

Recordings of St John’s

“Master of tone, blend and inflexion” International Record Review

www.sjcchoir.co.uk

For general enquiries please contact:

Caroline MarksThe Choir AdministratorSt John’s College CambridgeCB2 1TP

c.f.marks@joh.cam.ac.uk

+ 44 (0)1223 338718

The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge