As well as the following special events, there is the regular service of Choral Contemplation on Sundays during term at 5.30 to which you are all most welcome:
 
Friday 7th February, 6pm-6.45pm, College Chapel
Choral Scholars' Recital
This annual event is a lovely opportunity to hear the Choral Scholars (including the Chloe and Helen Morton Scholars) of the College Choir perform as soloists, accompanied by our Organ Scholars and Margaret Irene Seymour Award holders.  The performance will include works by Bach, Händel, Schubert, Butterworth, and Elgar.
Free Entry
 
Friday 21th February, 6pm-7pm, College Chapel
Dante and the Music of Purgatory
During this interdisciplinary event, Katie Bastiman (4th year linguist and Choral Scholar) will guide us through the music of Dante’s Purgatory, looking at the psalms and hymns that Dante cites and why they are significant within the context of the poem. The College Choir will sing settings of these texts to music including MacMillan's Miserere, Howells' Collegium Regale Te Deum, and Tallis' Te Lucis ante terminum. Join us to learn about this celebrated Italian poet, and the importance of music for the structure, tone, and significance of his work.
Free entry
 
Sunday 8th March, 5.30pm-6.30pm, College Chapel
Music and Readings for Lent and the Spring
In this special event, the choirs of Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville College combine to celebrate International Women’s Day, in the 100th year of Women being allowed to graduate from Oxford.  The event will feature music by Amy Beach, Sarah Quartel, Rafaella Aleotti, Sarah MacDonald, Judith Weir and Greta Tomlins.
Free entry
 
Wednesday 11th March, 7.30pm-10pm, College Chapel
Bach: St John Passion
The biannual performance of Bach’s masterpiece is always a highlight of the college’s musical life.  Featuring the Oxford-based professional period-instrument orchestra The Instruments of Time and Truth, a professional Evangelist, and soloists from the choir, this great work is a must see event.  It tends to be very well-attended, so do please reserve your tickets as soon as you can.
 
Matthew Thomson: Evangelist
Benjamin Thompson: Christus
Arthur Landman: Pilate
Oliver John Ruthven: Continuo
The Instruments of Time and Truth
The Choir of Somerville College, Oxford
Will Dawes: Conductor
 
Tickets £10 (£5 for students) via [email protected]
 
Thursday 18th June, 7.30pm, College Chapel
Summer Concert
 
Saturday 1st May 2021, from 3.30pm, College Chapel
Choir Reunion
 
In addition to the above events, you might like to know about the following larger plans.
 
One of our ambitions is to increase the number of pieces in our repertoire by female and non-binary composers, so I’m delighted that the College has part-sponsored a major new venture from Mutitude of Voyces, who are publishing compilations of music composed by female composers.  We are performing numerous pieces from Volume 1 of this series (SATB anthems) this term and are also in discussions to be the primary sponsor of a volume of Secular music for SATB choirs
 
After our ground-breaking tour to India in December 2018, we’re heading abroad again this year, this time to Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau between the 11th and 21st July.  As in India, the trip will comprise major concerts, alumni receptions, and outreach.

The academic year 2018/2019 has culminated with a packed last few days for our choir. On Thursday we had the final concert of term, and on Friday it was leavers' dinner, at which we sang and said our goodbyes to some of our longest-standing choir members.

Then, on the Saturday, we had our very first choir reunion. It was lovely to see so many familiar faces back again and we are already looking forward to the next reunion in 2 years’ time.
 
As we are now facing a big gap until the beginning of the new academic year, Somerville Choir will be embarking on a mini-tour of the Channel Islands this month, from the 9th to 14th August!
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Starting with a small concert at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Centre on 10 August, we'll be going on to perform at the Chateau on 11 August – both these events will take place in Jersey. Then, on August 12th we'll catch the ferry to Guernsey, where we will perform in the Town Church that evening.

 Director of Chapel Music Will Dawes writes about the Choir’s tour to India last December:

On Monday 10th December, 30 singers and two organ scholars set off from Heathrow to begin a trip that would take in Mumbai and Goa, and see us giving concerts, working with hugely talented yet underprivileged local children, and absorbing Indian culture.
 
The atmosphere on our journey from Mumbai airport to our hotel was distinctly quiet, with the group taking in the sights and sounds of this densely populated mega-city. From the bikes weaving skillfully between cars and trucks, to the elegant Haji Ali Mosque surrounded by water, a vast outdoor laundry and the bright posters everywhere in Roman and Devanagari script, there were reminders everywhere that this was a city that mingled millions of people, of different faiths and cultures, living in close proximity.
 
For one day, we were tourists, visiting the sixth-century Elephanta caves. Our guide was truly brilliant at showing us round the caves, which mostly consist of monuments and iconography dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.  We also encountered some extremely cheeky monkeys – one of which pinched a bottle of soda from the group!
 
From a musical point of view, we gave three concerts in three very different venues: The first was in the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai: in a 1,000-seat performance space featuring a pipe organ – one of only a handful in India.

We had some challenging and contemporary pieces to start with, but eventually branched out into real Christmas favourites such as The Twelve Days of Christmas, Ding dong! merrily on high and Away in a Manger.  These all went down a treat, with plenty of whoops and cheers!
 
The second concert was at the Mehboob studios, in a barn of a Bollywood film studio which could well have been an aircraft hangar.  After a concert of music on the theme of water (including works by Palestrina, Holst and arrangements by several former Kings Singers), we were able to enjoy the sounds of traditional Indian instruments such as the tabla and santoor, the latter an Asian dulcimer, playing alongside a Western jazz trio in the open air.
 
After travelling to Goa, the third concert was performed in the 17th century Church of St Francis of Assisi. There was no electricity, it was swelteringly hot, and we had several animal friends join us both physically and vocally during the concert, including pigeons, bats, dogs, and a rat that ran straight through the choir whilst we were singing.  Coupled with the colour of the lights, and the glorious stonework the sound of the music was sublime.
 
The undoubted highlights of the trip were our workshops with the charities Songbound and the Karta Initiative. The latter was a cross-college effort with choir, tutors, and principal all combining to give 30 bright and personable 16-17 year olds a morning interacting with members of the University. The sessions that we had with the children from Songbound – which uses music to make a difference to the lives of some of India’s poorest children – will live long in the memory. We spent an hour in each session teaching them songs, learning from them, sensing their great joy at making music when the rest of their days were known to be troubling.

It was a pleasure for us to be part of such an extraordinary trip and to be able to act as ambassadors for both the College and wider University. As a college choir, we have arrived back with those memories and experiences firmly in our thoughts. The trip reminded us that Somerville is part of a global community, with alumni and well-wishers all around the world. Through the shared enjoyment of music, I hope that we strengthened the ties between Somerville and our friends in India. I’m thrilled that we’re already considering the next tour. More on that soon…
 
First-year experimental psychology student, Miriam Remshard:

When I joined the choir, I did not know of the plans to do a tour of India. So, when I received my first email in September informing me that I would be travelling to India in less than four months, I was excited to say the least. Seeing a country which is so different to the UK was an incredibly eye-opening experience. From the hot and humid climate, the animals (such as cows and goats) standing in the middle of the road, the hectic traffic, to the friendly, smiling and welcoming people, it was unlike anything I had ever experienced. There are many memories I will cherish from this tour. For me as a first-year student and new to the choir, it was a really special event and a fantastic opportunity to get to know the other members of the choir a lot better. Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to our next tour!

Thank you!

We are thrilled to announce that this morning (24th November) we have reached our crowdfunding target of £10,000! A huge thank you to everyone who has supported this initiative so far. We are immensely grateful for this generosity and for your making this tour possible for all the choir. 

Our campaign remains live until Friday 30th November, so it’s not too late to support us if you haven’t already, please do so here: https://somerville.hubbub.net/p/indiachoirtour2018.

We look forward to updating you on our activities during the tour, and thank you once again!

Best wishes,

The Somerville College Choir

It is just a matter of weeks before we embark upon our groundbreaking India tour. The choir have already raised a substantial amount to make this tour possible, and we are now on the final push for any support to make this trip of a lifetime affordable for every choir member. For full details of the tour and how you can support us, please visit our crowdfunding page: https://somerville.hubbub.net/p/indiachoirtour2018.

This will be the first visit to India by a choir from Oxford University and is an incredible opportunity for the members of the choir to visit such a culturally rich part of the world. The College has exceptionally strong and meaningful links to India, with distinguished alumnae that include Indira Gandhi, India's first woman Prime Minister and Cornelia Sorabji, the first Indian woman at Oxford in 1889, and the first Indian woman lawyer to practice in both the UK and India. We are also the home of the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development which advances India’s sustainable development by bringing different academic disciplines and sectors together.  The Centre develops future leaders by offering scholarships to exceptional Indian students to study at Oxford. As a result, we view this as a wonderful chance to explore and develop our existing links with this great country.

We will be visiting India in December 2018, to perform concerts and run workshops in Mumbai and Goa. The choir will run several workshops during our visit, and we are looking forward to taking part in activities with the Mumbai-based charity Songbound. 

We will also be running educational workshops with students of The Karta Initiative, a social mobility mission which aims to widen access to world-class higher education and opportunity for brilliant low income students from developing and emerging countries. This will involve members of the choir talking to the students about their own subjects, different pathways and university life in general.

In addition to these workshops, we are thrilled to have an invitation to perform in the National Centre for Performing Arts (Mumbai), and we will give several other performances during our visit including at the Mehboob Film Studios as part of the Times Literary Festival, and the Church of St Francis of Assisi in Goa.

We would be extremely grateful for any donation, big or small, which will help us get to India. Our aim in this campaign is to make the tour more affordable to members of the choir regardless of background or financial circumstances. We already have raised a substantial amount towards the tour, including from choir contributions, support from Somerville College, generous external donations and our modest fundraising activities.  By raising this amount of £10,000, we are able to bridge the final funding gap to make this tour financially possible for all members. 

However, money isn’t everything. If you feel you would like to help in other ways, you could help us promote our crowdfunding page to friends, family, and online, so that we reach as many people as possible. Maybe you could share our posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or even just tell someone about us. Every little helps!

Somerville College Choir will be hosting a 24-Hour Music Marathon in the College Chapel this Friday and Saturday, in order to raise funds for its tour to India, taking place in December.

Featuring performances by members of Somerville College, the marathon will incorporate a wide variety of musical styles, ranging from jazz standards to organ symphonies, from an open-mic session and lute songs. The final running order will be confirmed here and on Facebook on Thursday evening.
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Entry will be by donation, with all the money raised going towards the tour more details of which can be found here. If you can't attend in person, do check out the live stream.

Schedule

Friday 12th October
2pm-3pm - Opening Concert (featuring the full choir and solo recitals)
3pm-4:20pm - Solo Singing Recital (featuring members of the choir)
4:20pm-5:45pm - Instrumental Concert (featuring marimba, percussion, lute and recorder duets, and organ works)
5:45pm-7pm - Instrumental Recital (featuring clarinet, voice and piano)
7pm-8pm - Chinese Instruments Concert
8pm-9pm - Organ recital, performed by the college's two organ scholars
9pm-9:40pm - Lute Song Recital (featuring members of the choir accompanied by Quentin Miller)
9:40pm-10:10pm - Song Recital: Director of Chapel Music Will Dawes sings Finzi's Earth, Air and Rain
10:30pm-11pm - Jazz Standards (performed by choir members Max and Eloise)
11pm-12am - Piano recital (featuring works by Granados, Makholm and Beethoven)

Saturday 13th October
12am-12:30am - Gu-qin Music (performed by Xiaoyi Ouyang)
12:30am-7am - Various piano music throughout the night (performed by Alastair Flynn, Andrei Diaconu, Xiaoyi Ouyang, Aidan Quinlan, Robin Leach, Jack Pegg, Ilona Clayton and Joel Summerfield)
7am-7:35am - Instrumental Recital by Andy Wang and Emma Line
7:35am-9am - Leanne Yau performs various pop, acoustic and folk songs accompanied by guitar
9am-9:30am - Trumpet Duets (performed by Aidan Quinlan and Ellen King)
9:30am -10am - Organ Recital by Rory Moules
10am-11am - Singthrough of European Sacred Music, led by Will Dawes
11am - 12pm - Singthrough of Popular Songs from the Musicals
12pm-1pm - Piano Recital by Marianna Kapsetaki (featuring 10 Preludes, op. 23, by Rachmaninoff)
1pm-2pm - Closing Recital, featuring the full choir and solo works including Dichterliebe (performed by Will Dawes) and Frauenliebe und -leben (performed by Georgie Malcolm)

​Click here to download a PDF file of the full programme detailing the specific performers and repertoire in each recital.

The Choir of Somerville College is busy fundraising for what will be the choir’s most ambitious tour to date. In September we plan to travel to New York City and Washington DC to give concerts, workshops and sing services. The tour comes on the back of a hugely successful first year under the directorship of Benjamin Goodson: we have performed a sold-out performance of Bach’s John Passion, while upcoming plans include a concert of Anglo-American music and a performance of Tallis’s Spem in Alium at one of London’s most prestigious venues, St Martin-in-the-Fields. The choir is going from strength to strength, and we are sure that now is the time to showcase this special choir to new audiences on the other side of the Atlantic!
 
We need to fundraise to get us there. The choir has already been working hard at this, by raising money through concerts and events. This term in particular we have hosted an American themed bake-sale, an open-mic night and as a choir we have busked on the streets of Oxford. In addition, each member of the choir will be contributing towards the cost of the tour. But we now need your help!
 
To get us over the finish line we are using Somerville’s crowdfunding platform to collect donations towards our cause. We would be extremely grateful for any donation, big or small, which will help us get to New York. If we manage to exceed our target, your donations will still be worthwhile, as it will go towards subsiding the individual contributions for members of the choir who would otherwise struggle to pay for it.
 
Donations can be made here: https://somerville.hubbub.net/p/choirtour2016
 
From all of us, thank you very much in advance for your generosity.

On Thursday 26th May at 7.30pm the Choir of Somerville College will give a concert of British and American choral music in Somerville’s Chapel.

The concert is eclectic, paying tribute to the diversity of the choral repertoire to have emerged from these two countries. The programme begins with music from the English Renaissance and ends with brand new music from some of America’s most exciting contemporary composers. All proceeds will count towards the choir’s fundraising efforts for their upcoming concert tour to New York and Washington in September 2016.

Please join us! 

Thursday 26th May, 7:30pm
Somerville College Chapel
 
Tickets from [email protected]

The first video recording of our concerts and services in America has now been uploaded to YouTube: 

The Choir of Somerville College (conducted by David Crown and accompanied by organist Robert Pecksmith) sings Charles Wood's Expectans expectavi at Washington National Cathedral.

UPDATE

More live recordings from our US tour:

Charles Wood: Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in D
(Washington National Cathedral, 1 July 2014)

Arthur Somervell: O Saviour of the World
Andrew Carter: Go before us, O Lord
(St. John's Episcopal Church, Northampton/Massachusetts, 5 July 2014)

John Joubert: O Lorde, the maker of al thing
Paul Simon: Bridge over troubled water (arr. Sechler)
(Christ Church Christiana Hundred, Wilmington/Delaware, 3 July 2014)

Full programmes of all our six concerts and services in America are now available for download from the tour page.