The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge University

Since the founding of a mixed voice choir in 1972, the Choir of Clare College has gained an international reputation as one of the world’s leading university choirs. In addition to its primary function of leading services three times a week in the College chapel, the Choir keeps an active schedule recording, broadcasting, and performing. Former directors have included John Rutter and Timothy Brown. Under the direction of Graham Ross, Director of Music since 2010, it has been praised for its consistently ‘thrilling’ and ‘outstanding’ performances worldwide. The Choir’s 2015/16 season includes Handel’s Messiah with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the world première of Alexander Raskatov’s Green Mass with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, appearances across the UK in Devon, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Bedfordshire, Wales, Suffolk, Oxford, and Cambridge, and in London at Union Chapel, Westminster Abbey, St John’s, Smith Square, St Peter’s, Eaton Square, and Spitalfields Festival. Overseas performances include Notre Dame Cathedral, a five-state tour of the USA to North Carolina, Texas, Philadelphia, Vermont, New York City, and a major tour to the Far East including concerts in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia.

In addition to live performances, the Choir has produced an impressive discography of more than forty recordings. Their recordings under Graham Ross on the Harmonia Mundi USA label have been released to great critical acclaim, earning praise for ‘impeccable ensemble’ and ‘immaculate performances’, a  Le Choix de France Musique and a Diapason d’Or award, and garnering a Gramophone Award nomination. The Choir’s ongoing series of Music for the Church Year has received numerous 5 star reviews in the national and international press, including recordings for Advent (2013), Passiontide (2014), Christmas (2014), Ascensiontide & Pentecost (2015), and, most recently,  Requiem: Music for All Saints & All Souls. Forthcoming releases in 2016 include Haec dies: Music for Easter and Duruflé Requiem: Music for Remembrance.

The Choir has toured widely, including in the United States of America, Australia, Japan, China, Russia, the Middle East, and mainland Europe. It has collaborated with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in performances of Handel’s Jephtha under the direction of René Jacobs, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, with the Philharmonia Orchestra in Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius at the Royal Festival Hall conducted by Sir Mark Elder, and with many other ensembles including the Academy of Ancient Music, European Union Baroque Orchestra, Freiburger Barockorchester, Israel Camerata, Aurora Orchestra, the Schubert Ensemble, and the Dmitri Ensemble. The Choir performs a wide range of repertoire throughout the year, and has commissioned and premièred works by many composers, including Herbert Howells, John Tavener, John Rutter, Giles Swayne, James Whitbourn, Andrew Carter, Jonathan Dove, Julian Phillips, Tarik O’Regan, Graham Ross, Brett Dean, Matthew Martin, and Nico Muhly.