Schola Cantorum of Oxford

Schola Cantorum is Oxford's longest running chamber choir. It was founded by Laszlo Heltay, and over the last three decades many of the choir's former members have become involved in professional music at the highest levels.

Former singers include Emma Kirkby and Jane Glover, whilst Andrew Parrott, Nicholas Cleobury, Ivor Bolton and Jeremy Summerly are among the choir's former conductors. Schola Cantorum's patrons are Lord Armstrong and Sir Yehudi Menuhin, and, for specific projects, the choir has worked under Leonard Bernstein, Gustav Leonhardt, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Neville Marriner as well as Britten, Tippett and Stravinsky in performances of their own music.

The choir tours extensively, both in Britain and abroad, and will be travelling in 1998 to Italy to compete in the international competition at Arrezo. Recent engagements have included a number of acclaimed concerts in Oxford; a collaboration with the East of England Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Kok, and with a concert of contemporary music with the orchestra of St John's, Smith Square. In addition, an historic first UK performance of a recently re-discovered work by Mendelssohn, Festgesang, was conducted by Mark Shepherd as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations.

The choir has recorded extensively, and has a broad representation of sacred and secular repertoire currently available on disc.

Schola Cantorum on Guild Music

• GMCD 7139 This Worldes Joie: Choral works by Sir Arnold Bax, Benjamin Britten, Herbert Howells and others

Link to Scola Cantorum: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~schola

Page revised 24.11.2000