King's Voices is an English choir, and is the mixed-voice chapel choir of

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

. It is a resident choir to the college's chapel, alongside the

Choir of King's College, Cambridge The Choir of King's College, Cambridge is an English Anglican choir. It is considered one of today's most accomplished and renowned representatives of the great English choral tradition. It was created by King Henry VI, who founded King's Col ...

Foundation and Role in College

The choir was founded in October 1997 under the direction of Dr John Butt, then Director of Studies of Music at the College. The primary aim of the choir was to give female students to opportunity to sing in the chapel, and it renders female King's students able to audition for choral awards. This is not, however, a requirement to sing in the choir, and most members are volunteers (i.e. they do not hold an award). The choir is also open to singers from other colleges, as well as staff and fellows from within the college. The majority of the choir are King's students (both undergraduate and postgraduate), however. The choir sings

evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

on Wednesdays in the University term. In addition to this, other services such as compline are occasionally sung by King's Voices. The choir also performs a mix of sacred and secular music elsewhere in the college throughout the year, in King's College Music Society (KCMS) concerts, as well as at other college events such as dinners. Outside of King's, the choir also participates in concerts and services in and around Cambridge and East Anglia such as Great St Mary's Church and Ely Cathedral, as well as in other locations such as

St. George's Chapel, Windsor St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...

, and St Mary Magdalene, Richmond (this occasion being a concert for International Women's Day). The choir also tours once a year, around Easter time, giving concert and radio performances. Until 2022, the director was Ben Parry, a former choral scholar, and Assistant Director of Music at King's. He took over in 2013 from Simon Brown (who took over from John Butt in 2001). The current director, on an interim basis, is

Ralph Woodward Ralph Woodward (born 17 November 1971) is an English classical conductor, arranger and organist. His main focus is on conducting choirs. Early life and education Ralph Woodward was born in Stockton-on-Tees, England. He attended Durham Chorister ...

Previous Tours and Appearances

Tours

The first King's Voices tour was in 2001, which was an exchange trip with the University Choir of Cologne. Since then, the choir has toured every year, with the exception of 2020, where the planned tour to Portugal was cancelled due to the

Coronavirus Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

. King's Voices give concert and radio performances in various locations during each tour; in 2003, the tour to Paris included concert performances at Notre-Dame de Paris and La Madeleine.

Radio and Album Appearances

King's Voices have featured in a number of radio and album performances both domestically and abroad. The most recent album appearance was under the King's College record label, singing Herbert Howells' Te Deum and Magnificat from the ''Collegium Regale'' service alongside the college choir on an album of music by Howells. On their 2019 tour, the choir made an appearance on Italian National Radio, singing a selection of unaccompanied pieces on

Rai Radio 3 Classica Rai Radio 3 Classica is a radio channel, owned and produced by the Italian State broadcaster RAI, which broadcasts uninterrupted classical music without commercials. Until August 2015 it was known as Rai Radio FD 5, and before that as FD Auditori ...

. Sopranos in King's Voices also appeared in a concert recording on BBC Radio 3 in July 2019, alongside the

BBC Singers The BBC Singers are a British chamber choir, and the professional chamber choir of the BBC. One of the six BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Singers are based at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time professional British ...

and Britten Sinfonia as part of a farewell concert for Sir Stephen Cleobury.

References

External links

King's Voices
{{authority control Voices Cambridge choirs