Choir Report

The Choir excelled both in regular Chapel services and in numerous external commitments across the UK and abroad. We explored an adventurous repertoire in 85 Chapel services, providing Choral and Organ Scholars with a unique education and opportunities to perform rewarding and challenging music. Beyond weekly services, the Choir performed in Cambridge, Stapleford, and twice in London’s St John’s, Smith Square, as well as abroad in California, USA, and the Netherlands in December 2023. The Director of Music was supported by the College’s two Organ Scholars, Daniel Blaze and Evie Perfect. The year also saw a wealth of new commissions and premières, along with collaborations with student instrumentalists and professional musicians.

The 2023–24 academic year began with a service of Choral Evensong at St. Andrew’s Church in Stapleford. A few weeks into term, the Choir’s first major concert was a sell-out performance of Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers, joined by tenor and Clare alumnus Nicholas Mulroy, professional string players and Clare alumnæ Margaret Faultless (violin) and Elizabeth Kenny (theorbo), and the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, along with a number of Cambridge University string players in an educational side-by-side arrangement. The concert was the first of the College’s new Hall Concerts, courtesy of a generous benefaction and was very well received. The concert was reprised in April 2025 at St. John’s Smith Square in London and filmed for later release on the Choir’s YouTube channel.

Liturgical highlights in Michaelmas 2023 included Herbert Howells’ Requiem for All Souls’ Day and Te Deum (Collegium Regale) for Remembrance Sunday, when the Chapel welcomed the Master to preach; Schubert’s Mass No. 2 in G with strings for Christ the King; and the two ever-popular Advent Carol Services at the turn of December, which included the first performance of O gladsome light by Emma Paterson (Clare 2023), the winning entry in the 2023 Clare College Carol Composition Competition.

The December 2023 vacation included a return concert at St Mary’s Church, Hay-on-Wye, and two international tours across California, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The Choir performed the O Magnum Mysterium programme in various California locations, including Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, where the concerts were extremely well-received. The second tour, Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen, included performances in London and the Netherlands for the Utrecht Early Music Festival. This programme featured works by Michael Praetorius, Melchior Vulpius, Jan Sandström, and carols by John Rutter. A filmed performance from Dordrecht’s Grote Kerk, shared on social media, garnered over 1 million views.

The Lent term of 2024 began with the annual joint College Choirs project, this year’s being Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time in King’s College Chapel. The Choir also maintained a high standard of musicianship throughout Lent, including joint services with Rugby School’s Temple Consort, the Choir of St. John’s College, and the Choir of Jesus College. Special services included Allegri’s Miserere for Ash Wednesday and John Stainer’s The Crucifixion for Passiontide. Lent Term culminated with a magnificent service for the Commemoration of Benefactors, with repertoire including Britten’s Te Deum in C and Bruckner’s Christus factus est.

In Easter term 2024, the Choir reprised Monteverdi’s Vespers at St. John’s Smith Square and continued to produce music of the highest standard during weekly services. In April, the Choir joined Selwyn College’s Choir for a Choral Eucharist featuring Frank Martin’s double-choir Mass. This Mass was also performed at the final service of the academic year and at the Cambridge Summer Music Festival in July.

In May 2024, Clare College hosted the Clare Choir Alumni Association Annual Evensong and Dinner, a memorable event where current and former members shared stories and performed large-scale repertoire. The sound in Chapel for this service was vast and impressive and included Gerald Finzi’s God is gone up and J. S. Bach’s Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied.
After another busy and fulfilling year it was time for the choir to head home for their summer vacation, with just one fixture in the diary - a recorded album of works by John Rutter, set for release in 2025. Further details to follow!
None of the choir’s activities would be possible without the generosity of the Friends of Clare Music and individual donors whose donations continue to allow students at Clare to enjoy these incredible musical opportunities.
It remains a great privilege to work with such talented and dedicated individuals who represent the College so admirably and we look forward to what the next academic year will bring.

For regular updates on the choir, visit the Clare College Cambridge Choir website.