Clare College choir will perform at Fairmount Presbyterian Church

The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, will perform at Fairmount Presbyterian Church on Dec. 14. [Photo by Nick Rutter]

The Choir of Clare College of Cambridge University, England, is coming to Cleveland Heights on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 7:30 p.m., to perform a holiday concert at Fairmount Presbyterian Church. Admission is free.

This small choir of 29 students enjoys a reputation as one of the top mixed-voice collegiate choirs in the world. Selected by competitive auditions, these talented young singers perform with the clear sonority and delicate expressiveness that has made British chapel choirs famous throughout the world.

Dedicated and enthusiastic, the singers learn vast amounts of music each term, leading choral evensong services three times a week in the college chapel. They quickly become confident sight-readers, as rehearsals are brief and intense, and there is little time for mistakes.

Individual singers have multiple chances to sing solos throughout the year, in chapel, on tour, and on recordings. The group also has two gifted organ scholars, who take turns singing when not accompanying the choir.

Clare College, founded in 1326, is the second oldest, and now one of the most musically renowned, of the 31 colleges that make up Cambridge University. Given the long history of the university, the choir’s founding in 1971 seems relatively recent.

John Rutter, the choir’s second director, held the post briefly before demand for his compositions became too great. Still actively involved, Rutter often uses his discerning ear in the producer’s booth during recording sessions, and continues to compose, especially for the choir. This U.S. tour will include the world premiere of Christ is the Morning Star. 

Timothy Brown, whose 30-year tenure raised the choir to international standing, succeeded Rutter. Since 2010, Graham Ross, Clare College fellow, principal conductor of the Dmitri Ensemble, and former member of the choir, has directed the group. This tour marks the choir’s first visit to the United States under Ross’s direction.

Before coming to Cleveland Heights, the choir will perform in Princeton, N.J.; Boston; Concord, N.H.; St. Johnsbury, Vt.; and Cincinnati. The tour coincides with the release of a new CD, “Veni Emmanuel,” on the Harmonia Mundi label, the first in an ongoing series of music for the church year. The "Veni Emmanuel" concert program and CD feature music for Advent, that special period of expectation and mystery leading up to Christmas.

Touring is nothing new for the choir, which keeps an active recording and broadcasting schedule, and has performed on almost every continent.

Its debut recording, with Graham Ross, of choral works by Imogen Holst was hailed as “thrilling” and “immaculate,” and earned Le Choix de France Musique and Diapaison d’Or. It was short-listed for a 2013 Gramophone Award.

Currently choir-in-residence for the Aurora Orchestra, with a repertoire including Bach’s St. John Passion and B Minor Mass, and Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb, the singers recently toured and recorded an all-Handel program with the European Union Baroque Orchestra.