Robert Chilcott (born 9 April 1955) is a British choral

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, conductor, and

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

, based in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England. He was a member of the

King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella Choir, vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College, Cambridge, King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six Choir of King's College, Cambridge, chor ...

from 1985 to 1997, singing

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

. He has been a composer since 1997.

Early life and early career

Chilcott was born in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, in 1955. While still young, he relocated with his family to a new home near

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. Although his family was not musical, he joined the local church choir, where the assistant organist was Andrew Davis. Chilcott sang in the

Choir of King's College, Cambridge The Choir of King's College, Cambridge is an English Anglican choir. It was created by Henry VI of England, King Henry VI, who founded King's College, Cambridge, in 1441, to provide daily singing in his King's College Chapel, Cambridge, Chapel, ...

, both as a boy and as a university student, when he conducted the voluntary Choral Society, which included many singers from other colleges. He performed the ''Pie Jesu'' of Fauré's ''

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

'' on the 1967 King's College recording.

Composer

Chilcott is well known for his compositions for children's choirs, including ''Can You Hear Me?'', which he has conducted in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. He is associated with the New Orleans Children's Chorus and the Crescent City Festival in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, for which he wrote ''A Little Jazz Mass'', ''Happy Land'', ''This Day'', ''Be Simple Little Children'', and for the 2009 festival, ''I Lift My Eyes''. Chilcott wrote ''This Day'', a setting of five poems, for a 2006 choral festival in

; however, that festival was cancelled after

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. The work eventually premiered on 25 June 2007 at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, by 210 singers from around the United States. His

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

for

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

''The Making of the Drum'' has been performed by the BBC Singers, the New Zealand Youth Choir, the World Youth Choir (under his direction), the Chamber Choir of Europe, and the Taipei Chamber Singers. Chilcott wrote two larger sacred works, ''Canticles of Light'' and ''Jubilate''. The Addison singers performed ''Canticles of Light'' in London in 2004 and ''Jubilate'' in 2005, both in London and in

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

. In 2008, Oxford University Press published his ''Aesop's Fables'' for

SATB In music, SATB is a scoring of compositions for choirs or consorts of instruments consisting of four voice types: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Choral music Four-part harmony using soprano, alto, tenor and bass is a common scoring in classic ...

and piano ("The Hare and the Tortoise"; "The Mountain in Labour"; "The Fox and the Grapes"; "North Wind and the Sun"; "The Goose and the Swan"). Chilcott's ''Requiem'' was premiered on 13 March 2010 at the Sheldonian in Oxford by the Oxford Bach Choir and the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

, conducted by

Nicholas Cleobury Nicholas Cleobury (born 23 June 1950) is an English conducting, conductor. Cleobury was organ scholar at Worcester College, Oxford, conductor of Schola Cantorum of Oxford and held assistant organist posts at Chichester Cathedral and Christ Church ...

.A new Requiem by Bob Chilcott
Nicola Lisle,

The Oxford Times ''The Oxford Times'' is a weekly newspaper, published each Thursday in Oxford, England. The paper is published from a large production facility at Osney Mead, west Oxford, and is owned by Newsquest, the UK subsidiary of US-based Gannett Comp ...

4 March 2010 Chilcott conducted the premiere of his ''On Christmas Night'' on 12 December 2010 at the University

Christian Church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus Christ. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a syn ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. The UK premiere of ''On Christmas Night'' was given on 28 November 2011 in Rugby School by the Arnold Singers conducted by Richard Dunster-Sigtermans. ''Christmas Night'' received its Scottish premiere on 14 December 2011 at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh performed by the Dollar Academy Combined School Choirs. His setting of the ''St John Passion'' is an hour-long work premiered by Wells Cathedral Choir in 2013. It follows the format established by Bach, with the story narrated in recitative by a tenor evangelist interspersed with interjections from the chorus (as the crowd) and from Pilate and Jesus, the whole being interleaved with chorales and meditations sung by the choir. Many of the chorales are new settings of popular

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

s. In 2016, his piece "Ophelia, Caliban, and Miranda" premiered at picfest in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

. Chilcott conducted the festival choir and the accompanying instrumentalists the Yellowjackets. His ''Christmas Oratorio'' was commissioned by the Three Choirs Festival and first performed in Gloucester Cathedral on 1 August 2019. In 2021 he composed a motet, '' The Sleeping Child'', for the vocal ensemble Voces8. In 2023, Chilcott created a new interpretation of the carol ''The First Noel'' for the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

's 'Follow The Star' campaign.

Conductor and music administrator

Chilcott was the conductor of the chorus at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

for seven years, and is Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Singers. He is also President of Southend Boys' Choir, a choir from

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

which regularly performs at London venues such as the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

. Chilcott currently conducts the Birmingham University Singers, one of three auditioned choirs at the University of Birmingham.

Personal life

Chilcott is a Christian. Much of his work has been for church choirs as a result of his faith.

References

External links

Bob Chilcott
website
Bob Chilcott

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Bob Chilcott
RIAS Kammerchor
Bob Chilcott
singers.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Chilcott, Bob 1955 births Living people 21st-century English conductors (music) 21st-century English male musicians English male conductors (music) English composers English choral conductors English tenors English Christians Choral composers Choral Scholars of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge Choristers of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge The King's Singers members People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood