Chester Cathedral Choir is the resident choir of

Chester Cathedral Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. In common with most British cathedral choirs, the choir sings evensong daily during term time.

Composition

The Lay Clerks (

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

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 ...

and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

) sing both with the boys and the girls. In common with many other British cathedral choirs, the choir sings every day during the week and weekends (except for Wednesdays) together with a busy schedule of broadcasts, tours, recordings and concerts. There is also a mixed-voice adult choir - the Nave Choir (the longest-running cathedral voluntary choir in the country) - which is directed by the Assistant Director of Music, and sings a service of

Compline Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer liturgy (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times. The English wor ...

regularly on Sunday evenings during term time. Since 1997 the cathedral choir has recruited girl as well as boy trebles, both front rows singing regularly with the lay clerks. Occasionally, the girls and boys combine for special events. The choir is directed and accompanied by Philip Rushforth (Director of Music), Benjamin Chewter (Assistant Director of Music) and Geoffrey Woollatt (Assistant Organist).

Recording and broadcast

Notable recordings of the choir include: ''The Water of Life'' (2002); ''Love Eternal'' (2003); the ''Sing for Joy'' collection; and the ''Festival Evensong'' (2007). The choir also broadcasts regularly on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

and Radio 4, and also recorded a concert for a broadcast on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

during Christmas 2007. Their most recent recording is 'Glory to the New-Born King' (2012), which was released on the Priory label and attracted wide critical acclaim, notably in ''

Gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

'' magazine. In July 2012 the choir sang a live broadcast of Evensong on BBC Radio 3 as part of the Chester Festival; this included the first broadcast performance of The Chester Service by Francis Pott.

Touring

Chester Cathedral Choir toured the United States for the first time in October 2007 and toured France in the summer of 2012 (performing in the cathedrals of

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

and

Albi Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...

, and the basilica of St-Sernin, Toulouse).

External links

Chester Cathedral Choir Website
{{authority control English choirs Chester Cathedral Church choirs British church music

Composition

Recording and broadcast

Touring

See also

External links