Category: News

  • 1st Week Choir Blog: Freshers, Fun and Farrant

    WorcesterWelcome to our new choir blog! For those who aren’t familiar with the Worcester Chapel choirs, there are two choirs (one with boy choristers and one with sopranos) who sing both separately and combined, totalling four sung services a week. Rehearsals happen before evensong and also on Thursday evenings, and individual singing lessons are available for scholars during term. The atmosphere in choir is very friendly; we eat together after each service (a 3-course meal in hall) and have regular socials. Alongside our weekly service schedule we often sing for special events and concerts which sometimes take us out of Oxford to locations such as London, Worcester, and Faversham. Recent summer tours have included Rome, Puglia, and Nice.

    It’s been a busy start to the year for the choir, what with three evensongs and a Eucharist already under our belt, along with rehearsals, a gaudy, and a funeral service for a Worcester tutor (not to mention a few cheeky trips to the college bar). On Saturday of Freshers’ Week we welcomed prospective new members at an open rehearsal and evensong. Lots of freshers and students from college and the wider university came along and we were lucky enough to boost our ranks through this. After a Eucharist service with music by Byrd and Farrant last Thursday, two of our new choral scholars, Gabby and Polly, spoke to us about how they have found the start of term…

    How have you found the first couple of weeks?9-tuesday

    Gabby: I think it’s a really great community, everyone’s so close and supportive of each other. We’re doing some really great rep this term – I’m excited for what’s in my folder!

    Polly: Everyone’s been really friendly, even though I joined after some of the others, at the open evensong. It’s very welcoming and I think it will be a good year.

    What are you most looking forward to in choir?

    Gabby: I’m really looking forward to the Christmas services; it’s one of my favourite times of year and so I think it will be really special. My favourite Christmas carol is Hark the Herald, because of the fantastic soprano descant.

    Polly: I’ve never been in a chapel choir before so I’m looking forward to singing services; it will be an exciting new experience.

    What first attracted you to singing with us at Worcester?Worcester Chapel Choir

    Gabby: I applied to Worcester College because of the soprano choral scholarships, and because everyone was really friendly at the open day. Also the chapel is lovely!

    Polly: Everyone sounded great at the open evensong so I thought I’d audition. It was one of the less intimidating auditions I’ve done thankfully.

    Describe choir in three words:

    Gabby: Dining, friendly and gaudy (and maybe drinking!)

    Polly: Welcoming, fun and Brahms.

     

    That’s it from us for this week. Stay tuned for all the latest updates from Worcester chapel choir!

    Next week: A day in the life of an organ scholar! We’ll be delving into the secret life of this fascinating species…

  • Choral award auditions

    In September, the college welcomed applicants for choral awards for entry in 2017 and 2018 (for deferred entry). Students from different parts of the country stayed in the college and got a feel for living in college, with some staying in the medieval cottages in the front quad, now some of the oldest inhabited buildings in Oxford. 

    On Tuesday evening, following the auditions, candidates took part in a sung compline in the college chapel, an office sung by the choral scholars each week during term time. 

    Choral scholarships at Worcester college offer free singing lessons, free meals after each service, a stipend of £200, as well as the opportunity to tour nationally and internationally, give concerts, and take part in recordings and broadcasts. 

    Entry to the choir is by audition through the central university choral award auditions. A further set of auditions is held each October at the start of the academic year. 

    At other times of the year, singers are encouraged to contact the Director of Chapel Music, Thomas Allery (thomas.allery@worc.ox.ac.uk). 

    Choral services resume on October 9th. 

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  • College Gaudy and Evensong

    On Saturday October 1st, the mixed choir will sing a choral evensong in chapel as part of the College Gaudy weekend. We look forward to welcoming back former students from the years 2005-6 and 1959 and earlier. The choir will perform music by former Worcester College organ scholar, Herbert Murrill, (Worcester College from 1928-31) and by Balfour Gardiner. 

    All are welcome to attend the service which will be at 6:00 PM.

     The full term of services sung by both choirs (with services on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings) will begin on October 9th.

    Worcester Chapel Choir

  • Tour to Worcester Cathedral, August 2016

    Members of the Mixed Choir of Worcester College enjoyed a three-day residency in the picturesque surroundings of Worcester Cathedral, singing verse music by sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English composers for the daily Office of Evensong. The full tour report can be found here.

    8-monday

    9-tuesday

    10-wednesday

  • Boys' choir tour to Italy

    In July, the boy choristers and choral scholars presented a series of concerts along the Italian Riviera. 

    They sang concerts of Italian and English choral music in Imperia, Montegratie, Nice and Bodighera. Alongside their rehearsals and performances, the choristers enjoying visiting sites in the area, swimming in the sea, and even giving impromptu performances in underground caves, coaches, planes and in the centre of Nice. 

    A CD of the choir of boy choristers and choral scholars will be released in the autumn. 

    A full report of the tour can be found here.

    Outside the Basilica
    Outside the Basilica

     

    The choir giving an impromptu performance in an underground cave chapel
    The choir giving an impromptu performance in an underground cave chapel
    The choir outside the Santuario Montegrazie
    The choir outside the Santuario Montegrazie
    An outdoor concert in Bodighera
    An outdoor concert in Bodighera

  • Sing we at Pleasure

    The college mixed choir, staff choir, voices, and orchestra are preparing for the ‘Music for a summer’s evening concert’ on Monday June 13th. With performances from all of these groups, this concert is a celebration of another year in music for Worcester College. Music includes madrigals by Morley, Farmer, and Gibbons, arrangements of show songs, and instrumental music by Schubert. Tickets are available on the doors from 6:30 and include a glass of Pimms or a soft drink. 

    Sing we at Pleasure

  • Joint concert with Thomas' School

    On Friday May 27th the chapel choir of boy choristers and choral scholars hosted the choir of the Thomas’ school from Kensington for a joint concert in the  college chapel. 

    The two choirs performed to a packed audience of parents and supporters as part of a buys weekend for the chapel community which included several choral services and concerts. 

    Both choirs showcased some of their repertory before joining together to perform a movement of Faure’s Requiem and anot arrangement of ‘Lord of the Dance’. 

    The boy’s choir can be heard at evensong on Sundays and Tuesdays during the University term. 

  • Music for two harpsichords

    On Wednesday 25th May, there was a concert for two harpsichords in the College Chapel, performed by Thomas Allery and Nathaniel Mander. Two copies of historical instruments were heard in the college chapel in music for, and arranged for, two harpsichords. The concert opened with a performance of Bach’s third Orchestral Suite in D Major (BWV 1068), and featured music by Buxtehude, Couperin, ending with Bach’s Concerto in C (BWV 1061). 

    The two instruments that the audience enjoyed hearing in the chapel were models of original historic harpsichords. One was a copy of a French instrument from 1769 by Pascal Taskin and made by Keith Hill. The other was a copy of an instrument made by Pierre Donzelague in 1711, made by Mackinnon and Waitzman in 1997. Many thanks to Simon Neal for providing and tuning the harpsichords. 

    harpsichords

    A Due Cembali

  • Boys' Choir trip to Winchester

    On Wednesday May 11th, the college’s choir of boy trebles sang evensong in Winchester Cathedral. The choir sang music by Stanford and Noble, and was directed by Thomas Allery and accompanied by Ben Cunningham. 

    The choir of boy trebles at Worcester College can be heard at choral evensong on Sundays and Tuesdays. Alto, tenor and bass choral scholars sing with the boys’ choir and with the college mixed choir which also sings twice per week during the University term. 

    In July the choir will be touring to the Italian Riviera and presenting concerts in Bodighera and Nice.

    Report of the trip from Sebastian, a year 5 chorister: 

    On Wednesday the Worcester Boys’ Choir went to Winchester to sing an Evensong.  It was raining hard on the way but this did not dampen spirits.  We arrived in the Close at Winchester and parked in front of the huge Cathedral.  We then practised for a bit in the Choir and got used to the echoey sound, very different from our small chapel at Worcester.  We went down into the crypt which was flooded because the Cathedral is built on a water meadow and we could see where the Cathedral had sunk down in one corner.  We sang Smith responses, Noble in B Minor, Psalm 59 (which has 2 dogs mentioned in it) and O For a Closer Walk with God by Stanford.  It was nice to see some of our parents who came to support us.  Thank you to everyone who arranged the trip and helped on the day, most importantly Mr Allery, Mr Cunningham, Mr Mathieson and Mr Palotai.  Thank you to Mr Murray who drove the minibus through torrential rain! 

    Winchester Cathedral 1

    Winchester Cathedral 2

  • Staff Choir Concert 

    Worcester College’s Staff Choir present an early evening concert on March 9th. Marking the one year anniversary of it’s founding as part of the College’s week to raise awareness of health and well being, the choir will perform a selection of folk songs and other arrangements in the college chapel. The concert will also feature solo performances from college members, in this first ever concert exclusively by college staff. The choir is directed by Thomas Allery and accompanied by second year organ scholar, Daniel Mathieson.

    All are warmly invited to attend at 5:15 on March 9th. Admission free. Drinks served after the concert. 

    Staff Choir Concert Poster