An opportunity not

to be missed

William Cole, Choral Scholar (2010-2012)
Reviews

"The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, offered fine performances, by turn angry and devotional, as text and role required. The turba choruses were vivid, the chorales heartfelt but clear-eyed. Diction, moreover, was thoroughly excellent."

Boulezian | March 2013

Mark Berry on The Choir of Clare College singing J. S. Bach's St John Passion with Aurora Orchestra, directed by Nicholas Collon, March 2013

 

"The choral singing – the London Philharmonic Chorus, with the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, supplying the semi-chorus – was unstintingly sumptuous and secure."

The Guardian | January 2013

Andrew Clements on The Choir of Clare College singing The Dream of Gerontius with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, directed by Sir Mark Elder, January 2013

 

"The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge were on excellent form. ... They sounded very much as the best of the English choral tradition. ... There was seraphic beauty to be experienced from Clare’s voices ..."
 

Seen and Heard International | January 2013
Mark Reed on The Choir of Clare College singing The Dream of Gerontius with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, directed by Sir Mark Elder, January 2013
 

"The choir of Clare College (director Graham Ross) sang the semi-chorus parts, singing with superb control and providing the still small voice amidst the grander choral gestures"
 

Planet Hugill | January 2013
Robert Hugill on The Choir of Clare College singing The Dream of Gerontius with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, directed by Sir Mark Elder, January 2013
 

 

"The two choirs had all the necessary power for the big choral moments, with a marvellously terraced sound that suggested vast distances"

Classical Source | January 2013
Peter Reed on The Choir of Clare College singing The Dream of Gerontius with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, directed by Sir Mark Elder, January 2013
 

 

"The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge served as the spiritual semi-chorus. ... Impeccably drilled"
 

The Arts Desk | January 2013
Alexandra Coghlan on The Choir of Clare College singing The Dream of Gerontius with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, directed by Sir Mark Elder, January 2013

 

The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, is one of the various nurseries for future BBC Singers and an organisation that’s undergone major change in recent years with the departure, after distinguished decades in office, of Tim Brown as music director and the arrival of the young, thrusting and prodigiously talented Graham Ross as his successor.

 

Ross is not much older than his singers, but his discipline is strong, secure and musically astute.  He shapes and phrases with real mastery.  And for this concert at St John’s, Smith Square, he devised a fascinatingly non-standard programme that included three versions of In dulci jubilo in rapid succession (one by Ross himself), a rare outing of Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erden (which is totally on-message for Christmas but something few choirs would think of throwing into a carol concert), and a period-conscious performance of Stille Nacht with the sort of 19th-century guitar that would have accompanied the original performance (given that the carol was written for a village church where the organ wasn’t working).

 

For good measure we also had a new, extended choral work, Uncommon Prayers, written with characteristic maverick quirkiness by Clare’s current Composer-In-Residence, Giles Swayne.  And inevitably there was something by John Rutter, who was Tim Brown’s predecessor at Clare and will forever be associated with its choir.  Sadly, it wasn’t the one Rutter carol that I truly love, What Sweeter Music, but the earlier, cheesier Nativity Carol which I don’t love but I understand why others do.  You have to make allowances at Christmas.

 

The Catholic Herald | 4 January 2013

Michael White on The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge at St John's, Smith Sqaure 2012

 

 

"Thrilling... A tribute to the superb ensemble singing of the Choir of Clare College under Graham Ross, who has trained with choir with its impeccable ensemble.  Clear, well-defined recording

Gramophone | October 2012
Edward Greenfield on The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge and The Dmitri Ensemble's disc of Imogen Holst Choral Works for Harmonia Mundi
 

"These performances are poised, immaculate.
Performance * * * * / Recording * * * *"

BBC Music Magazine | September 2012
Malcolm Hayes on The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge and The Dmitri Ensemble's disc of Imogen Holst Choral Works for Harmonia Mundi

"This programme, all of which is new to disc, shows her terrific gift for textured harmony, drama and vocal beauty. Performances and recording are of the highest standard, as one might expect. * * * * *"
 

Classical Music Magazine | September 2012 on The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge and The Dmitri Ensemble's disc of Imogen Holst Choral Works for Harmonia Mundi
 

"The choir responds skilfully under Graham Ross... admirably committed performances from the Choir of Clare College and The Dmitri Ensemble, in very fine sound"
 

International Record Review | September 2012 John Warrack on The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge and The Dmitri Ensemble's disc of Imogen Holst Choral Works for Harmonia Mundi

'The choir's rich yet clear sonority and firm yet delicate expressiveness made the strongest possible impression.'
 
'The real surprise, however, came from the sheer volume of sound issuing from such small forces - especially true of the choir, so well drilled by its director, Graham Ross, and the soloists in the famous final Ode to Joy movement.'
 
'This was Beethoven for the 21st century - and for the 19th.' - William Yeoman - The West Australian
 
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 - Australia Tour (Perth Concert Hall Performance) - 15 August 2012
 
 
 
'The first Beethoven piece Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage from his middle period introduced us to the exquisitely honed skills of the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge. This band of young performers is touring with the ACO this season and is preceded by a justifiably high profile and even higher expectations.'
 
'The Choir were the highlight of the symphony. They have a youthful voice and vigour of presentation which brought a brightness and newness to the familiar choral movement. Strong individual sections ranged from distant and floating in some passages to authoritative and demanding of attention in others. The men in particular offered a hugely substantive range; more than just an under-current but a dominant and driving force to match the parts given by Beethoven to his solo male singers.'
 
'Young voices, confident and energetic demanded to be heard and presented an undeniably attractive departure from the formality and grandeur associate with this work.' Gregory Pritchard - Concertonet.com
 
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 - Australia Tour (Hamer Hall, Melbourne, Performance) - 12 August 2012
 
 

 

 

'The Choir of Clare College (directed by Graham Ross) took to the top section of the Hall – above the platform – and sang with great and subdued beauty in the first half (‘Calm Sea’), while opening up in the second section (‘Prosperous Voyage’) with a power that belied their relatively small size.'
 
'Truly one of the best concerts this year, and an interpretation of Beethoven that will remain with this critic for a long time.' - 5 stars - Tomas Boot - artshub.com
 
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 - Australia Tour (City Rectial Hall, Sydney, Performance) - 7 August 2012
 
 

 

'The first half of this work (Calm sea of Beethoven's Calm Sea and Propsperous Voyage) featured some exquisitely sensitive playing from the ACO and the opening quiet entry from Clare Choir was electric, drawing us into the music in a thoroughly engaging way. The choir’s first loud entry in the Prosperous voyage section hit us like a thunderbolt, providing the music with a truly thrilling moment, the choir demonstrating the vocal power of their talented young singers.'
 
'Following this we were treated to a performance of Brahms’ Geistliches Lied, with the organ part having been arranged for strings. This for me was one of the highlights of the concert. The performance had a wonderful organic nature to it, the musical phrases perfectly shaped, with each line blending with the next and perfectly timed. This was an unfussy performance where Brahms’ music was allowed to do the talking. The climax of each phrase reached its natural peak and was then allowed to die away naturally at its conclusion. As in the Beethoven in the second half, the choir performed from memory, delivering the music from the heart.'
 
'It is easy to forget that the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge is made up of students and there were only 29 of them competing against a full orchestra. Much of the last movement is consistently loud and high in the vocal range, although there were no signs whatsoever of vocal fatigue. The singers produced a full, vocally mature sound, filling the hall in an impassioned manner with Schiller’s great words of hope. The cheers at the end of the work and the standing ovation spoke for itself.' - 5 stars - Oliver Brett - Bachtrack.com
 
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 - Australia Tour (City Recital Hall, Syndey, Performance) - 7 August 2012
 
 
 
The choir of Clare College, Cambridge, was warm, true and magnificent, preserving the crucial line even in extreme high notes and problematic passages like the slow ''Seid umschlungen, Millionen!'' (be embraced, ye millions).'
 
'Messiaen's Prayer of Christ ascending towards his Father from L'Ascension, Beethoven's Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, and Brahms's Geistliches Lied set off the Ninth's splendour with sophistication.' - 4.5 stars -  Peter McCallum - Sydney Morning Herald
 
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 - Australia Tour (Syndey Opera House Performance) - 5 August 2012
 
 
 
 
'Superlatives seem inadequate for this latest and consummate instalment of the Beethoven cycle by Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. In short, it is simply a triumph. Intoxicating and exhilarating, this is a performance for the history books.'
 
'With 84 musicians on stage - an expanded ACO buttressed by 30 young choristers from Clare College, Cambridge - the ensemble very nearly matched the original forces. Arguably, they created the sounds the deaf Beethoven was striving to hear. Shorn of the gargantuan forces deployed for hall openings and royal visits, here was clarity, precision and dramatic sweep.'
 
'For many of us, this Beethoven Ninth sets the bar well into the future.'  Vincent Plush - The Australian 
 
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 - Australia Tour (Llewelyn Hall, Canberra Performance) - 4 August 2012 
 
 

 

'Clare Choir were wonderful in Saint Emilion. I took my father (Barry Brown, 1956) and some friends, it was a searingly hot evening but soothingly cool inside the old Eglise Collegiale. They put on an ambitious programme effortlessly - just beautiful. 'Clare Tooley (1989, nee Brown), former Choral Scholar

Bordeaux Tour - June 2011

 

 

'This was one of the occasions when that chemistry was exactly right - as good as any live account of the work I've heard in years. The singing of the London Philharmonic Chorus, with the Choir of Clare College Cambridge forming the semi-chorus, was full-blooded and intense, the playing of the London Philharmonic Orchestra utterly secure.  5 stars - The Guardian

 

'As for the London Philharmonic Choir, reinforced in the centre by the raspberry-robed choir of Clare College, Cambridge, their clear, fervent sounds were always the instruments of bliss.' 4 stars - The Times

The Dream of Gerontius - Royal Festival Hall, London - March 2011

 

 

'Lovers of choral music were given a treasurable lesson in sublime ensemble singing by the visiting Choir of Clare College, Cambridge.'  - The Daily Page

USA Tour - September 2010

 

 

'If you ever needed confirmation of the fantastically high standard of choral singing that exists in the UK, look, or rather hear, no further than the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge.'  - Classical Source

French music with the Schubert Ensemble - King's Place, London - June 2010

 

 

'[The Choir's] singing of the choruses was fresh, exacting, fired with energy, well punctuated and articulated; Brown's attention to text, dynamics, diction, language, pronunciation and phrase-endings is reflected in the enthralling performance of this choir.' - The Jerusalem Post

The Christmas Oratorio - Israel Tour - December 2009

 

 

'There's no doubt [Vaughan Williams] would have doffed his boater to the last recording...from Clare College...the sweeping energy and rich detail of Tim Brown's interpretation draw out the best from his young singers, in matters musical and mystical.' - Classic FM

'This performance, lovingly moulded and well balanced in the play of solo voices and full choir, is in the best tradition.' - Gramophone

'Compliments to the Naxos sound team for achieving clarity within a faithful representation of the St John's College acoustic...what impresses about this performance is the exceptional sense of shape, both in overview and in tiny details...This comes with a strong recommendation.'  - BBC Music Magazine

CD Review - Vaughan Williams 'Sacred Music' - July 2009

 

 

 

'...exemplary choral clarity made even Stanford's Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in A sound thrilling...starred firsts all round for the performers...' - The Times

BBC Proms: Prom 8 - 800th Anniversary of the University of Cambridge - Royal Albert Hall, London - July 2009

 

'...the Clare College Choir and soloist Raphaela Papadakis sang with great beauty...'

'...Timothy Brown's pacey direction illuminated the Requiem's often neglected dramatic dimensions rather than its more characteristic intimacy...' - The Guardian 

Fauré Requiem - King's Place, London - May 2009