“Splendid”, “magnificently sung”, “superbly sung”, “wonderful” – these are recent critical plaudits for the BBC Singers. Britain’s only full-time professional chamber choir is an ensemble internationally recognised as belonging to the first rank. Its breadth of repertoire and range of activities are unsurpassed anywhere else in the world. Established in 1924, the versatility of this virtuoso 24-voice ensemble is second to none. It is this flexibility which makes the Singers both an important resource in the broadcast music-making of the BBC and a significant presence in British musical life.

The BBC Singers’ breadth of repertoire is unrivalled by any other choral group, singing everything from Renaissance music to the latest contemporary scores. Their unique expertise with the latter has brought about creative relationships with some of the most important composers and conductors of the 20th and 21st centuries. At home on the concert platform, as much as in the recording studio, the BBC Singers regularly work with the BBC’s own orchestras, a wide range of period instrument and contemporary music ensembles and with a host of internationally-renowned conductors.

With a public profile that takes in concerts and broadcasts across the whole of the United Kingdom, a repertoire that embraces music ancient, modern, and all points in between, and a rapidly expanding education programme without equal on the British choral scene, the BBC Singers are a unique presence in the musical life of the UK. They are a world-class choral ensemble committed to sharing their enthusiasm and creative expertise with audiences and performers, amateurs and professionals, young and old, throughout the nation and across the whole spectrum of the choral community.

For more information about the group, visit
www.bbc.co.uk/singers

Stephen Cleobury - conductor

Stephen Cleobury has been Director of Music at King’s College, Cambridge since 1982, and, since 1983, conductor of the orchestra and chorus of the Cambridge University Musical Society. In November 1995 he was appointed Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers. Stephen is active as a conductor and organist both in the UK and abroad, frequently visiting North America, Australia and Europe in these roles.

During his time the King’s College Choir has performed with leading soloists and orchestras, among them Lucia Popp, Brigitte Faessbender, Robert Tear, Thomas Allen, and Olaf Bär: the ECO, RPO, LPO and Philharmonia, the City of London Sinfonia, the Hanover Band, the Academy of Ancient Music and the Brandenburg Consort. With this last the choir has recorded Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Handel’s Israel in Egypt. As well as being dedicated to an approach to earlier music which is stylistically aware, Stephen Cleobury has commissioned many works for the choir from important contemporary composers.

Stephen’s work with the BBC Singers includes studio recordings, invitation concerts and public engagements, across a range of choral repertoire from the Renaissance right up to the present day. He has recorded five CDs with the BBC Singers and recent collaborations have included concerts in Stratford, Canterbury and Cambridge, a performance of Schnittke’s Choir Concerto for the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s Schnittke Festival, the world premiere of BBC Singers Associate Composer Edward Cowie’s Gaia with the Endymion Ensemble and, outside the UK, concerts in Belgium, Budapest and the Netherlands.

released:
One Star - Carols for a New Millennium
Choral Images: Sir Michael Tippett
Man I Sing
Remoter Worlds Choral Music by Judith Bingham David Hill conductor

www.bbc.co.uk/singers