The Cambridge Singers is an English mixed voice chamber

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

formed in 1981 by their director

John Rutter John Milford Rutter (born 24 September 1945) is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music. Biography Born on 24 September 1945 in London, the son of an industrial chemist and his wife, Rutte ...

with the primary purpose of making recordings under their own label

Collegium Records Collegium Records is an English classical music record label founded in 1984 by British composer and conductor John Rutter, primarily to record his work with the Cambridge Singers.Gramophone - Volume 69 Page 11 1992 "The success of Rutter's own ...

. The group initially comprised former singers from the

Choir of Clare College, Cambridge The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, is a mixed-voice choir whose primary function is to lead services in the chapel of Clare College, Cambridge. Since its founding in 1972, the choir has gained an international reputation as one of the lead ...

, where Rutter had previously been the music director. They have been involved in the last four Fresh Aire albums (about "mankind's curiosities") of the

Mannheim Steamroller Mannheim Steamroller is an American neoclassical new-age music ensemble founded and directed by percussionist/composer Chip Davis in 1974. The group is known primarily for its ''Fresh Aire'' series of albums, which blend classical music with ele ...

band, by composer

Chip Davis Louis F. "Chip" Davis Jr. (born September 5, 1947 in Hamler, Ohio) is the founder and leader of the music group Mannheim Steamroller. Davis composed the music for several C. W. McCall albums, including the hit 1975 song "Convoy (song), Convoy". H ...

, but they are primarily a classical choral group. They have recorded several highly acclaimed

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

albums, including ''Christmas Day in the Morning'', '' Christmas Night: Carols of the Nativity'', ''Christmas Star'', ''Christmas with the Cambridge Singers'', and ''The Cambridge Singers Christmas Album''.

List of albums

* ''Gloria'' (1983 and 2005) with

Philip Jones Brass Ensemble The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, founded in 1951 by trumpeter Philip Jones, was one of the first modern classical brass ensembles to be formed. The group played either as a quintet or as a ten-piece, for larger halls. It toured and recorded exte ...

and

City of London Sinfonia City of London Sinfonia (CLS) is an English chamber orchestra based in London. CLS performs regularly across the city of London in venues from East London clubs to traditional Central London concert halls. CLS is orchestra-in-residence at Opera ...

* ''Fauré: Requiem and other sacred music'' (1984, 1988 and 2010) * ''Hurry to Bethlehem: The Christmas Music of John Rutter'' (1985) with City of London Sinfonia * ''There Is Sweet Music'' (1986, 2002) * ''Christmas Night'' (1987) with City of London Sinfonia * ''Flora gave me fairest flowers'' (1987, 2003) * ''Faire is the Heaven'' (1988) * ''Poulenc Sacred Music'' (1988, 2002) with City of London Sinfonia * ''Treasures of English Church Music'' (1988) * ''Ave Verum Corpus'' (1989, 2002) * ''Christmas with the Cambridge Singers'' (1989) with City of London Sinfonia * ''Hail! Gladdening Light'' (1991) * ''Rutter Magnificat'' (1991, 2017) with City of London Sinfonia * ''Fancies'' (1992, 2005) * ''Three Musical Fables'' (1992, 2003) with

The King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 19 ...

and City of London Sinfonia * ''Rutter Requiem and Magnificat'' (1998) * ''Hail! Queen of Heaven'' (2002), formerly ''Ave Gracia Plena'' (1992) * ''Cambridge Singers A Cappella'' (1993, 2002) * ''Images of Christ'' (1995) * ''Stillness and Sweet Harmony'' (1996) * ''Christmas Star'' (1997) * ''Sing, Ye Heavens'' (2000) with City of London Sinfonia * ''Feel the Spirit'' (2001, 2013) with the

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale symp ...

and Melanie Marshall (mezzo soprano) * ''The John Rutter Christmas Album'' (2002) * ''Mass of the Children'' (2003) with Cantate Youth Choir, City of London Sinfonia,

Joanne Lunn Joanne Lunn is an English classical soprano in opera and concert. Career Joanne Lunn studied at Royal College of Music, where she graduated and received the Tagore Gold Medal. Lunn performed in Monteverdi's ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'', Gluck ...

(soprano) and

Roderick Williams Roderick Gregory Coleman Williams OBE (born 1965) is a British baritone and composer. Biography Williams was born in North London to a Welsh father and a Jamaican mother. He attended Christ Church Cathedral School in Oxford and Haberdashers' ...

(baritone) * ''The Cambridge Singers Christmas Album'' (2003) with City of London Sinfonia * ''Be thou my Vision'' (2004) with City of London Sinfonia * ''The Sprig of Thyme'' (2005) with City of London Sinfonia, formerly ''The Lark in the Clear Air'' (1993) * ''Lighten Our Darkness'' (2006) with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

, recorded in the Lady Chapel of

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The presen ...

* ''Handel: Messiah'' (Highlights) (2007) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra * ''Handel: Messiah'' (2007) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra * ''A Christmas Festival'' (2008), with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Farnham Youth Choir * ''The Sacred Flame'' (2009) with La Nuova Musica * ''A Song in Season'' (2010) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra * ''This is the Day'' (2012) with

Aurora Orchestra Aurora Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra , co-founded in 2004 by conductors Nicholas Collon and Robin Ticciati. The orchestra is based in London, where it is Resident Orchestra at Southbank Centre and Resident Ensemble at Kings Place. The ...

* ''Sea Change'' (2013): the choral music of

Richard Rodney Bennett Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer of film, TV and concert music, and also a jazz pianist and occasional vocalist. He was based in New York City from 1979 until his death there in 2012.Zachary Woo ...

* ''O Praise the Lord of Heaven'' (2013) * ''A Double Celebration'' (2014) with City of London Sinfonia * ''The Gift of Life'' (2015) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra * ''Visions and Requiem'' (2016) with Choristers of the

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

, Aurora Orchestra and

Kerson Leong Kerson Leong (born 26 February 1997) is a Canadians, Canadian Lists of violinists, violinist. He has been described by Jonathan Crow, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra concertmaster, as “not just one of Canada, Canada’s greatest violinists but ...

(violin) * ''Stanford and Howells Remembered'' (2020), formerly ''I will lift up mine eyes'' (1992): music by Charles Stanford and

Herbert Howells Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucest ...

* ''A Banquet of Voices'' (1994, and re-released in September 2020) * ''I Sing of a Maiden'' (2021)

References

External links

John Rutter website
Cambridge choirs Musical groups established in 1981 1981 establishments in England {{England-band-stub