We're Singing to Celebrate Cecilia McDowall
Experience Carefully Curated Choral Concerts
Revel in the Joy of Music
Rhythm, Soul and Irresistible Energy fills our summer concert celebrations
Rutter | Birthday Madrigals
Chilcott | Little Jazz Madrigals
Williams | Laura |Love bade me welcome
Fats Waller | Ain’t misbehavin’
Chilcott | The Making of the Drum
Take 6 | Let the words of my mouth
Bob Chilcott’s The Making of the Drum, inspired by the powerful traditions of African drumming — a cradle of jazz — shapes the spirit of the evening. His witty Little Jazz Madrigals uncover the ‘inner jazzer’ of Orlando Gibbons and three of his contemporaries.
Rutter’s Birthday Madrigals, were dedicated to the great jazz pianist and composer George Shearing. Among Shearing’s early influences was Fats Waller, whose classic Ain’t Misbehavin’ we perform alongside other irresistible arrangements of jazz standards and spirituals.
2025-2026 Save the Dates!
Tuesday
14 July 2026
Evensong
5:30pm
Charterhouse
Tuesday
7 July 2026
Rhythm in Song
7pm
St Vedast-
alias-Foster
Tuesday
19 May 2026
Evensong
5:30pm
Charterhouse
Saturday
9 May 2026
Gala Concert
7:30pm
Holy Trinity Sloane Square
Tuesday
24 March 2026
Five
Seasons
7pm
Gresham Centre
Come & Sing Workshop
Saturday
24 Jan 2026
St Mary-at-Hill
Recent Events
Stephen Jones | conductor
Modulus quartet
Tomos Xerri | harp
Rachel Broadbent | oboe
Tom Jesty | piano
From the awakening light of Roth’s Dawn Chorus, alive with the vibrant stir of birdsong, this programme moves through the mysteries and universal patterns of everyday life.
Gjeilo’s Dark and Luminous Night depicts the wonders of night, while Radiohead’s magical Pyramid Song reflects on death, rebirth, and the cyclical nature of existence.
At the heart of the programme lies Cecilia McDowall’s Five Seasons, a highly original and wonderfully evocative hymn to the rural British landscape and our farmers, whose unceasing labour feeds us and cares for the health and beauty of our Isles.
Gjeilo’s rich setting of Rossetti’s The Rose captures the poem’s bittersweet tone, while Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs captures treasured moments shared with his wife.
Inspired by John Dowland’s famous motto—always grieving—explore the richly textured soundscape that captivated Jacobean audiences at our “Semper Dowland, semper dolens” workshop day.
Alongside Dowland’s iconic laments, including his celebrated Flow My Tears, we’ll explore a programme of works by Dowland, Weelkes, Schütz and Purcell that also offers moments of brightness and wit.
Whether you are drawn to the quiet intensity of Dowland’s sorrow or the vivid and lively pair of Weelkes’ madrigals, Thule and The Andalusian Merchant, join us for a day of expressive storytelling through song—early music at its most evocative.
John Dowland (1563-1626)
Flow My Tears
Thou mighty God
Go, Crystal Tears
Come Again, Sweet Love
Thomas Weelkes (c1576-1623)
Thule, the period of cosmography
The Andalusian merchant
Death hath deprived me
Noel adieu, thou court’s delight
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)
Die Himmel erzählen de Ehre Gottes
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Let mine eyes run down with tears
Stephen Jones | Conductor
Richard Pinel | Organ
From the radiant chime of Csányi-Wills’ Christmas Bells to the serene hush of Still, Still, Still and the luminous splendour of Judith Weir’s Illuminare, Jerusalem, this programme sparkles with musical treasures old and new.
Journey through centuries of Christmas wonder — from the rich harmonies of Lassus and Pearsall to the tender mystery of McDowall’s The Magi.
Illuminare!
The radiant light of a choral Christmas
Step into the shimmering warmth of a concert that glows with festive joy and timeless beauty.
Balulalow | Peter Warlock
Christmas Bells | Michael Csányi-Wills
Christmas Day 1666 | Bob Chilcott
Da pacem Domine | Melchior Franck
Illuminare, Jerusalem | Judith Weir
In dulci jubilo | Robert Lucas Pearsall
Ivy, Chief of Trees | Sarah Cattley
Maria durch ein Dornwald ging | arr. Stefan Claas
No Small Wonder | Paul Edwards
Omnes de Saba venient | Orlande de Lassus
Peace on Earth | Errollyn Wallen
Still, Still, Still | arr. Andrew Gant
The Holly and the Ivy | Matthew Owens
The Magi | Cecilia McDowall
With moments of reflection, joy, and radiant choral beauty, this is a celebration of Christmas in all its shining glory.
7:30pm Tuesday
16 December 2025
St Mary's Bourne Street
London SW1W 8JJ
Zoltán Kodály | Laudes Organi
Rheinberger | 'Cantus Missæ'
Arvo Pärt | The Beatitudes
Kenneth leighton | Passacaglia
Benjamin Britten | Rejoice in the Lamb
The City Chamber Choir’s Autumn Concert is an exhilarating program of choir and organ music from 19th and 20th century Europe, showcasing St Mary’s Bourne Street’s magnificent organ crafted by Henry Willis & Sons in 1928.
Kodály’s Laudes Organi celebrates a virtuosic union of pipes and voices in his brilliant swansong. The ‘19th century’s Palestrina’, Rheinberger’s magnificent Mass in E flat is rich in harmony and melody whilst Arvo Pärt’s The Beatitudes is an enchanting blend of sound and silence. Recognized as a masterwork, Leighton’s solo organ Passacaglia leads us to the conclusion of the program with Britten’s beloved gem, Rejoice in the Lamb.
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