Choral Classics with Bob Chilcott

Choral Classics – Every Sundays at 3:15pm

Composer, conductor, and singer, Bob Chilcott is Principal Conductor of Birmingham University Singers. Bob has enjoyed a lifelong association with choral music, first as a chorister and choral scholar in the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, and for 12 years as a member of the King’s Singers. He became a full-time composer in 1997, and his music has been widely recorded by leading British choirs and groups including King’s College, Cambridge, Wells Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, The King’s Singers, The Sixteen, Tenebrae, The BBC Singers, The Bach Choir, Commotio, and Ora. He is published exclusively by Oxford University Press.

Birmingham University Singers is a mixed chamber choir of up to 45 auditioned singers directed by Bob Chilcott. Since its inception, the choir has gained a national reputation as one of the finest university choirs in the UK.

Rehearsing weekly and performing a wide and varied repertoire, the choir usually gives two concerts per year in the Elgar Concert Hall, plus a performance in Symphony Hall, Birmingham as part of University of Birmingham Voices. Their annual Festival of Lessons and Carols at St Michael’s, Tenbury, has been a highlight of the academic year for over forty years.

In recent years BUS has sung in Tewkesbury Abbey, Worcester, Gloucester, Oxford Cathedral’s, Clare College (Cambridge), the Royal Albert Hall, and Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod. Over the years BUS have had the opportunity to work with professional vocal ensembles, such as The Sixteen, BBC Singers, Tenebrae, and Voces8. The choir has also developed a noted international reputation, having given concerts in Germany, Czech Republic, and Poland.

BUS has appeared under the baton of many distinguished guest conductors including Simon Carrington, Simon Halsey, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, and Sakari Oramo. Recent collaborations have included performances with Jeffrey Douma and Yale Glee Club, Nigel Short and Tenebrae, and new commissions by Bob Chilcott, Toby Young, and Shruthi Rajasekar.

Join us every Sunday at 3:15pm for Choral Classics, 30 minutes of beautiful words and music, led by St Martin-in-the-Fields Choral Scholars. Each week’s programme is introduced by a different member of the choir, offering a unique insight into the music and the stories behind it.