The Chapel is home to a varied and dynamic music programme, continuing a tradition of public worship and singing on the College site that stretches back over 700 years. As well as four choral services each week, there are also regular concerts and special events organised under the Music at Worcester umbrella.
Meet the Choir
Our Choir is unique in Oxford in maintaining a choral tradition in which alto, tenor, and bass choral scholars are joined alternately by adult sopranos (typically on Monday and Thursday) drawn from the College, and boy trebles (on Tuesdays) with sopranos and trebles either combining or alternating on Sundays. The boys are day pupils at Christ Church Cathedral School.
The Choir performs a wide-ranging repertoire and a typical music list for the term might include everything from plainsong to newly commissioned repertoire in the same week. Whether performing Byrd, Tallis and Palestrina, or contemporary works by living composers, the Choir is proud to be part of a rich heritage in a College whose Music fellows have always been distinguished composers.
The Chapel is a welcome space for creativity and reflection in the busy life of the College. Whilst the main duty of the Choir is to provide music to accompany worship in the Chapel, the Choir also performs regular concerts in Oxford as well as London and Europe. Worcester College Choir has been heard on live BBC broadcasts as well as on numerous recordings, including a number of CDs, two of which were named the BBC Music Magazine Christmas Choice.
The Choir, and the rest of the musical life of the College, is led by Caius Lee, our Director of College Music. Caius was Organ Scholar at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and has experience leading choirs and teaching singing around the world. He founded an award-winning children’s choir and the Florence International Singing Programme, and is a trustee of Awards for Young Musicians.
choral & organ scholarships
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