St John's Voices is the secondary choir of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, alongside the College choir of St John's. Founded in 2013 to allow female members of the college to take part in the college's choral tradition, it is a mixed voice adult choir, comprising around 30 singers. As well as singing Choral Evensong in the College chapel, St John's voices gives frequent concerts, and has toured internationally. The choir's outreach has extended to

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Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

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, and

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. The choir has also produced critically acclaimed recordings under the Naxos label, of works by

William Mathias William James Mathias CBE (1 November 1934 – 29 July 1992) was a Welsh composer noted for choral works. Biography Mathias was born in Whitland, Carmarthenshire. A child prodigy, he started playing the piano at the age of three and began co ...

and

Pavel Chesnokov Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov (Russian: Пáвел Григóрьевич Чеснокóв) (24 October 1877, Voskresensk, Zvenigorodsky Uyezd, Moscow Governorate – 14 March 1944, Moscow, also transliterated ''Tschesnokoff'', ''Tchesnokov'', ...

Reactions to disbandment

In March 2024, the choir received written notice from the college that St John's Voices would be disbanded by June 2024. They stated that the decision was made to "to adopt a broader approach to the provision of co-curricular opportunities in music for our students, including in different genres". This decision caused widespread controversy, due to the reduction of opportunities for female singers. Despite the fact that St John's College choir has admitted women since 2022, it does not include soprano voices. Members of St John's Voices initiated a campaign against the disbandment, condemning the decision as "regressive" in an open letter which received over 14,000 signatures. They stated that the admission of female singers into the Choir of St John's College had been "weaponised against the very existence of another ensemble, supposedly in the name of broadening opportunities". The open letter received national media attention from

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and

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, with notable supporters including Rowan Williams,

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principal ...

Sarah Connolly Dame Sarah Patricia Connolly (born 13 June 1963) is an English mezzo-soprano. Although best known for her Baroque music, baroque and Classical period (music), classical roles, Connolly has a wide-ranging repertoire which has included works by ...

, Gareth Malone, Alexander Armstrong, Anna Lapwood, and John Rutter. In response to the protest, the college released a statement saying that the move was made to "redirect the significant resources currently devoted to St John's Voices", highlighting that the choir has recently expanded to include members from other colleges.

References

{{Authority control Cambridge choirs St John's College, Cambridge University choirs