Choir Tours
The choir usually undertakes at least one major foreign concert tour each year. The choir’s touring schedule has taken them to various exciting locations on three continents.
Performances in two international Festivals formed the core of the Choir’s tour to Italy in September 2011.
As part of the Festival Federico Cesi in Umbria, the Choir performed concerts in Todi Cathedral and in the nearby towns of Acquasparta and Massa Martana. In Rome the Choir received a warm welcome at the Papal Basilica of St Maria Maggiore, where it sang mass in the magnificent Lady Chapel.
For the 28th Festival Internazionale “Voci d’Europa” in Sardinia, the Choir presented programmes of music by William Bird, performing in the 11th-century Romanesque Basilica of San Gavino in Porto Torres, and appearing alongside choirs from Germany, Latvia, Switzerland and Italy.
In April 2010 the choir was invited to participate in the 12th International Meeting of University Choirs (Encontro Internacional de Coros Universitários) at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, together with choirs from Poland, Lithuania, and Portugal. The choir received a standing ovation for its performance in the Convent of São Francisco in Coimbra, and sang for Mass in the sixteenth-century chapel of Coimbra University.
In August-September 2008 the choir toured the Low Countries and Germany, presenting concerts in Leuven, Ghent, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Cologne, Neuhausen-Sterkrade, and Bonn.
In June-July 2007 the choir toured Portugal, performing in Lisbon, Coimbra, Oporto, and Braga. The repertory featured Portuguese sixteenth- and seventeenth-century works edited by Owen Rees, some of which were receiving their first modern performances in Portugal. Venues included three of Portugal’s most important historic churches: Santa Maria in Belém (the famous Jerónimos monastery and royal mausoleum), Santa Cruz in Coimbra (where much of the music performed by the choir originated), and Braga Cathedral. At the magnificent eighteenth-century Lapa Church in Oporto the concert attracted a capacity audience of over 1,200. The concert in Santa Cruz de Coimbra fell on the feast day of the principal local saint, Rainha Santa Isabel, and we sang as an encore a motet in her honour by Pedro de Cristo, who was chapelmaster at Santa Cruz in the early seventeenth century. The programmes included music by Purcell and modern English works, with MacMillan’s A New Song proving particularly effective in some of the generous acoustics encountered. The choir received a very warm welcome and generous hospitality throughout. Principal sponsor of the tour was the Espírito Santo Financial Group.
The Easter 2006 tour of the Eastern United States included appearances in Boston, New York, and Virginia. In Boston the choir sang Evensong at the magnificent Trinity Church, Copley Square, and its concert in the chapel of the Society of St John the Evangelist (across the river in Cambridge, Mass.) was broadcast by Boston’s WGBH Radio.
Some comments on the tour:
“superb quality”
“exhilarating”
New York events included a concert in St James’s Church, Madison Avenue, and Evensong in the Cathedral of St John the Divine; in addition, the choir sang for the Oxford University North American Reunion, and for Old Members of Queen’s at a reception at the Cornell Club. Three concerts to capacity audiences in Virginia (Trinity Episcopal Church, Portsmouth; First Presbyterian Church, Norfolk; Providence Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach) concluded the busy schedule. The great success of the tour is a tribute to the excellent administrative work of the tour committee, and in particular of choir-members William Budd and Rebecca Lea, and to John Dixon (OM), our host in Virginia Beach. The tour was supported by generous sponsorship from many sources, including The Gordon Foundation and The Beazley Foundation.
In September 2004 the choir spent ten days in Sri Lanka, singing concerts to enthusiastic audiences at the British Council and Ladies’ College in Colombo and at Trinity College, Kandy, with two of the concerts being presented in aid of the Kandy Cancer Home. The choir also sang services at the Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour, Colombo and St Michael’s Church, Kollupitiya and was honoured with the opportunity of performing at a private audience with the President, Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.
In September 2003 the choir travelled to the French Riviera, presenting concerts in Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo, Seillans, and St Tropez, and services in the Anglican Church in Nice and the Danish Church in Beaulieu sur Mer, and in St Tropez.
In July 2002 The Choir visited Northern Portugal, appearing in the prestigious Povoa de Varzim International Music Festival - a concert recorded for broadcast on Portuguese National Radio (RDP) - and singing Sunday Mass in Portugal’s primatial cathedral, Braga, a service at which the Archbishop of Braga celebrated. We also presented highly successful concerts in Aveiro, Oporto, and Ovar. This tour was part of an exchange with the Vocal Ensemble of the University of Aveiro, where the choir stayed throughout the visit.
In July 2001 The Choir undertook its first tour to the U.S.A., singing to an audience of nearly 1,000 in Washington National Cathedral’s Summer Music festival, and in Richmond, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, New York, and Greenwich.
Some comments on the tour:
“Stirring performances”
“An exceptional group”
In July 2000 The Choir spent a week in Paris, performing at Mass in Notre Dame Cathedral to a congregation of 2,500, and singing concerts and services in other famous venues, including the churches of St Etienne du Mont and La Trinité.
In March 2000 The Choir spent four days in sourthern Spain, giving concerts to large and enthusiastic audiences in Málaga and Granada Cathedrals. These concerts formed part of a cultural exchange with the Choir of Málaga Cathedral, who sang in Oxford and London earlier in the same month.
Cathedral Visits
Since 1998 the choir has sung services and concerts in Gloucester, Lincoln, Norwich, Salisbury, Wells, Westminster, Worcester, and St Paul’s Cathedrals, and regularly at Westminster Abbey.