Libera Dreams

THE CHOIR OF NEW COLLEGE OXFORD is firmly established as one of the most
acclaimed British choral ensembles. Celebrated for its distinctive sound, it embodies the
splendour of the English choral tradition. The choir frequently performs in prestigious venues
worldwide, and its versatility is reflected in its diverse core repertoire, with a particular
scholarly focus on renaissance and baroque music.

When William of Wykeham founded his ‘New’ College in 1379, a choral foundation was at its
heart, and daily chapel services have been a central part of college life ever since. The choir
comprises sixteen boy choristers and fourteen adult clerks; the latter a mixture of professional
singers and undergraduate members of the college.

New College Choir is often to be heard in concert around the world, on broadcasts and
recordings, as well as via regular webcasts. Touring is an important part of the choir’s profile,
and recent highlights have included singing for Pope Francis in the Sistine Chapel, Rome,
concerts in Hungary and Normandy, and visits to both the east and west coasts of the USA.

The choir is looking forward to returning to the USA in spring 2023, to perform concerts in Houston,
Dallas, Charlotte and New York.

The choir has performed with many of the UK’s finest ensembles, including the Academy of Ancient
Music, The Orchestra of the Enlightenment, The English Concert, and more recently in performances
of Bach and Handel with Instruments of Time & Truth. Bach is fundamental to the choir’s year, with a
regular cantata programme and an annual performance of the St John Passion, most recently with James
Gilchrist as Evangelist. In March 2022 the choir made a triumphant return to the concert platform, in
the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, with a performance of Handel’s Coronation Anthems with the Choirs
of Christ Church and Magdalen College.

The choir has an impressive discography of over 100 recordings, reflecting the diversity of its repertoire
and relish of different performance styles. Equally at home in baroque and contemporary music, the
choir has attracted stellar reviews for its distinctive sound and expressive interpretations. It was the first
choral foundation to establish its own recording label, Novum, and has also recorded for
Decca, Erato, Hyperion and CRD. Notable among the discs released with director Robert
Quinney are John Blow: Symphony Anthems, which won acclaim on BBC Radio 3 CD Review
and was an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. Nowell sing we! celebrates the choir’s renowned
Christmas carol services alongside The Gate of Heaven: Favourite Anthems from New College, which
features music with an Oxford connection, including two new commissions. The choir’s
Parry: Songs of Farewell and other choral works, celebrated the centenary of C. H. H. Parry (1848-
1918) by focusing on Parry’s interaction with the music of his European contemporaries and
received excellent reviews in Gramophone (December 2018) - ‘laudable precision and
unfailing perception…The performance hits radiant heights…piercingly expressive’; and Choir
& Organ (January 2019) ‘near perfectly judged, the choir’s tone bright and full’. In 2020 the
choir made its debut recording on the renowned Linn label with John Sheppard: Media vita: ‘A
consistently radiant sound with strong, purposeful phrasing…[it is] thrilling to hear such
young voices do justice to one of Sheppard’s finest works’ (Gramophone, December 2020).

The choir has a long record of commitment to new music, and in June 2024 will premiere a
new commission from one of the world’s most renowned choral composers, Sir James
Macmillan. The premiere will coincide with the launch of the choir’s second disc with Linn
Records: New College: Commissions & Premieres which celebrates a century of new work written
for the choir or performed by it for the first time. It includes works by William Harris, Herbert
Howells, Kenneth Leighton, Matthew Martin, Deborah Pritchard & Joanna Marsh.

THE SAINT THOMAS CHOIR OF MEN AND BOYS is considered to be
the leading ensemble of its kind in the Anglican choral tradition in the United States. While its
primary raison d’être is to sing five choral services each week, the choir also performs regularly
with Orchestra of St. Luke’s and New York Baroque Incorporated as part of the Saint Thomas
Church concert series. Live webcasts of choral services and further information concerning
recordings, tours, and concerts given by the choir can be found at
www.SaintThomasChurch.org. Over recent years, the choir has toured throughout the U.S.,
Europe, and Scandinavia with performances at Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral
in London, King’s College, Cambridge, the Aldeburgh Festival, the Vatican, Dresden, and at
the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. Domestically, the choir has appeared often at National AGO
Conventions. The boy choristers make frequent appearances on local and national television
programs, such as the TODAY program, and the classical music radio station WQXR. They
have sung with Sting at the tree lighting ceremony in Rockefeller Center, performed at the
new Steinway Piano Hall on 6th Avenue, and in 2019 they appeared as the opening act at the
Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.

Besides the annual performances of Handel’s Messiah, the choir’s concerts at Saint Thomas
Church have included presentations of the Fauré, Duruflé, and Mozart Requiems, the J.S. Bach
Passions, the Mass in B Minor; Handel’s Israel in Egypt, and James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words
from the Cross. The choir has given the U.S. premieres of works by John Tavener and Nico
Muhly, and in recent times has commissioned new choral music by Julian Wachner and Francis
Pott. In 2016, a concert in memory of former Director of Music John Scott was
performed with Orchestra of St. Luke’s under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle.

The choir has made many commercial recordings under successive Directors of Music, Gerre
Hancock and John Scott, and most recently did so under the direction of Jeremy Filsell: The
Music of Gerre Hancock, an album of music indelibly associated with Saint Thomas Church.
This year, the choir marked the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd by recording
the Byrd Propers for the feast of Corpus Christi, within the recreation of the pre-Reformation
Sarum Rite Mass. This recording will be available in the spring of 2023.

The Gentlemen of the Saint Thomas Choir are all professional singers, and the Boy Choristers
all attend the Saint Thomas Choir School, instituted in 1919; nowadays the only remaining
educational establishment of its type in the US. The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys is
represented by Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc.