Chapel Events

This term in Chapel we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of co-education at Clare through a particular attentiveness to women’s voices, experiences and music-making. At our Sunday Evensong services, we welcome a diverse range of distinguished female speakers, many of them Clare alumnae, who will reflect on their own faith journeys, and the meaning of faith today.

All services take place in Clare College Chapel and are live-streamed on the Choir's YouTube channel.

Sunday 22nd January, 5.25pm Composer Spotlight Recital: Freya Waley-Cohen (Clare 2008)

Clare Undergraduates Jaqueline Seki (Clare 2021), Julius Kiln (Clare 2020), Seth Collin (Clare 2020) and Gregory May (Clare 2020) perform chamber works by Freya Waley-Cohen (Clare 2008).

Sunday 22nd January, 6pm Evensong with guest preacher, The Rt Revd Dr Jo Bailey Wells, Bishop of Dorking and Dean of Clare 1998 - 2001.

Jo Bailey Wells has just begun a new role as the Bishop for Episcopal Ministry in the Anglican Communion, having previously served as Bishop of Dorking from 2016. She was appointed Chaplain of Clare in 1995, and then Dean of Clare in 1998, becoming the first female Dean of a Cambridge College. Following her time at Clare, Jo held positions at Ridley Hall (Cambridge) and Duke Divinity School (North Carolina), and as the Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Tuesday 24 January, 6.15pm Choral Evensong

Works by Cecilia McDowall, Isabella Leonarda, and the second performance of ‘Alma’ by Clare College undergraduate Gregory May (Clare 2020).

Thursday 26 January, 6.15pm Choral Evensong

Works including ‘Rocking’ by John Tavener, commissioned by the Choir in 2005, and ‘Coventry Carol’ and ‘A Clare Toccatina’ by Clare Choir alumna Emily Hazrati (Clare Choir 2019-20).

Sunday 29 January, 5.25pm Cello Recital

Cellist Zoë Martlew (Clare 1987) plays works by Jonathan Harvey, Andrew Toovey and Zoë Martlew.

Sunday 29 January, 6pm Choral Evensong

Works by Judith Bingham, Cecilia McDowall, Arvo Pärt, Gustav Holst, Frank Ferko and Zoë Martlew (Clare 1987).  With guest preacher The Rt Rev’d Vivienne Faull (Chaplain of Clare 1985-90).

Viv Faull was the first female Chaplain of Clare (1985–90), before moving to roles at Coventry Cathedral (Canon Pastor) and then Leicester Cathedral, where she became the first female Dean in the Church of England. Viv was appointed Dean of York Cathedral in 2012, before becoming Bishop of Bristol in 2018. She sits in the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual, and holds honorary
doctorates from the Universities of Gloucestershire, Chester and York.

Tuesday 31 January, 6.15pm Choral Evensong

Works by Britten, Gabriel Jackson, Rachmaninov, and Responses by Joshua Pacey (Clare 2013), composed for and premièred by the Choir in 2013 and 2014 respectively.  The final organ voluntary will be played by Clare undergraduate Jessica Folwell (Clare 2021).

Wednesday 1 February, 10pm Compline

With Rachmaninov’s setting of the Nunc dimittis, and ‘Care charminge Slepe’ by Tarik O’Regan, commissioned by the Choir in 2000.

Thursday 2 February, 6.15pm Choral Evensong

Works by Dufay, Claudia Rusca, Byrd, Ghislaine Reece-Trapp and Joshua Pacey (Clare 2013).

Sunday 5 February, 5.25pm Piano Recital

Pianist Cordelia Williams (Clare 2006) plays works by Beethoven and Schumann.

Sunday 5 February, 6pm Choral Evensong

Works by Clare undergraduate Lilly Vadaneaux (Clare 2021), Joshua Pacey (Clare 2013), Rachmaninov, Lili Boulanger, and ‘The fear of the Lord’ by Herbert Howells, commissioned for the College’s 650th anniversary in 1976.  With guest preacher The Rev’d Sophie Young.

Sophie Young is the Bishop’s Officer for Homelessness in the Diocese of Ely, and Chaplain to the Homeless and Street-life Community of Cambridge. Sophie trained for ordained ministry at Ridley Hall in Cambridge, and also ministers as the Associate Priest of St Bene’t’s Church in the centre of the city.

Thursday 9 February, 6.15pm Choral Evensong

Works by Janet Wheeler, Sumsion, Bernstein and ’Now the day is over’ by Joshua Pacey (Clare 2013), premièred by the Choir in 2020.

Sunday 12 February, 5.25pm
‘Queens of Heaven and Earth’: Voice and Lute Recital

Soprano Elin Manahan Thomas (Clare 1995) and lutenist Elizabeth Kenny (Clare 1985) perform works by Dowland, Handel and Purcell

Sunday 12 February, 6pm Choral Evensong

Works by Roderick Williams, Claudia Rusca with lutenist Elizabeth Kenny (Clare 1985), Judith Weir, and Mendelssohn’s ‘Hear my prayer’ with soprano Elin Manahan Thomas (Clare 1995).  With guest preacher The Master, Loretta Minghella OBE.

Loretta Minghella became the 46th Master of Clare in 2021, and is herself an alumna of the College, graduating in 1984. The first Head of Enforcement Law, Policy and International Cooperation for the Financial Services Authority, in 2004 she became Chief Executive of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. From 2010–17, Loretta was the Chief Executive of Christian Aid, where she oversaw responses to natural disasters, refugee crises and hunger and famine emergencies, and led long-term development work and advocacy on major issues affecting the world’s poorest people. In 2017, she was appointed as the first female First Church Estates Commissioner, overseeing the Church of England’s £10bn investment portfolio.

Tuesday 14 February, 6.15pm Choral Evensong

Works by Elizabeth Coxhead, Tomkins, Tallis, Judith Bingham, and Responses by Lucy Walker, premièred by the Choir in 2021.

Saturday 18 February, 5pm

Works by Wood, Lucy Walker, Dyson, Caroline Shaw, and Patrick Gowers (Clare 1953).

Sunday 19 February, 5.25pm Flute and Oboe Recital

Flautist Jane Mitchell (Clare 2000), oboist Sasha Calin (Clare 2002) and pianist Graham Ross (Clare 2003) perform works by Gordon Jacob, Quantz and Madeleine Dring

Sunday 19 February, 6pm Choral Evensong

Works by Nadia Boulanger, Caroline Shaw, Lucy Walker, Amy Beach, and ‘Creator of the Stars of Night’ by Diana Burrell with cor anglais player Sasha Calin (Clare 2002).  With guest preacher The Decani Scholar, Hannah Fytche.

Hannah Fytche came up to Clare in 2015 to read Theology. She was awarded the Greene Medal (pietatis causa) for her contributions to the academic and spiritual life of the College. Hannah subsequently took the MPhil in Theology (as the C.F.D. Moule Scholar), and is now engaged in doctoral research at Clare, focussing on New Testament ecclesiology. Hannah also serves as Clare’s Decani Scholar, which is the successor to the College’s earlier Chaplain position.

Thursday 23 February, 6.15pm Choral Evensong

Works by Kerensa Briggs, Amy Beach, Christopher Tye, the ‘Magnificat’ by Sigurður Sævarsson commissioned and premièred by the Choir in 2018, and ‘Let all the world in every corner sing’ by Nico Muhly, commissioned and premièred by the Choir in 2014, with cellist Seth Collin (Clare 2021).

Sunday 26 February, 5.25pm Organ Recital

Eleanor Carter (Clare 2016) performs works by Yon, Bach, Sweelink and Bruhns

Sunday 26 February, 6pm Choral Evensong

Works by Dobrinka Tabakova, Walton, Kerensa Briggs, the ‘Nunc dimittis’ by Anna Semple - premièred by the Choir in 2020 - with violinist Jacqueline Seki (Clare 2021), and the world première of the ‘Magnificat’ by Héloïse Werner (Clare 2010).  With guest preacher Dr Eve Poole OBE.

Eve Poole holds a doctorate from Cambridge University in economic history, and has had a varied career in academia, leadership training, and financial services. She is a widely published author, a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a frequent commentator on the role of ethics in public life. In 2018 Eve became the Third Church Estates Commissioner, one of the most senior lay roles in the Church of England. Eve was awarded the OBE in King Charles’ first Honours List, for services to education and gender equality.

Sunday 5 March, 5.25pm Voices and Strings Recital

Upper voices of the Choir of Clare College and harpist Eleanor Medcalf perform Imogen Holst’s ‘Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow’.  Undergraduate Clare string players join Clare alumni Naomi Warburton (Clare 2017), Kathryn Jourdan (Clare 1985) and Jane Salmon (Clare 1977) to perform Elgar’s ‘Sospiri’ and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3.

Sunday 5 March, 6pm
Choral Evensong with strings

Works for by choir and strings by Lili Boulanger, Imogen Holst, Howells, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir, as well as works by Joanna Forbes-L’Estrange and Pia Rose Scattergood (Clare 2017).  With guest preacher The Rt Rev’d Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani.

Guli Francis-Dehqani was appointed as the first female Bishop of Chelmsford in 2021. Born in Iran, Guli’s family left the country in the wake of the Iranian Revolution in 1980, when she was 13
years old, and to date she has been unable to return. She read music at the University of Nottingham, and later became a chaplain to the Royal Academy of Music. She served as the Bishop of Loughborough from 2017–21, sits in the House of Lords, and is also an honorary canon of Peterborough Cathedral.

Sunday 12 March, 5.25pm Baroque Recital

Margaret Faultless (Clare 1980), Daphne Delfas (Clare 2021), Emily Ashton (Clare 2003), Zoe Shevlin, and Daniel Blaze (Clare 2022) perform Baroque works by Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Boismortier, and Purcell.

Sunday 12 March, 6pm
Music and Readings for Passiontide, with Baroque ensemble

J. S Bach Cantata ’Nach dir, Herr, velanget mich’, BWV 150, alongside works by Lotti, Howells, and the world première of a new work by Josephine Stephenson (Clare 2008), all interspersed with Passiontide readings.  

Tuesday 14 March, 6.15pm Choral Evensong

Works by Matthew Sandy, Maxine Thévenot, Morley, Francis Grier, and the ‘Nunc dimittis’ by Toby Hession (Clare 2015), premièred by the Choir in 2018.

Friday 17 March, 6pm Commemoration of Benefactors Service

Works by Graham Ross (Clare 2003), Rachamaninov, Eleanor Daley, and John Rutter (Clare 1964).  With guest preacher Morag Ellis KC.

The preacher at the College’s annual Commemoration of Benefactors Service on 17 March Is Morag Ellis KC. She is the current Dean of the Arches, the senior ecclesiastical judge of the Church of England.