Worcester College Choir

Worcester is unique among the Oxford colleges in that it has not one, but two flourishing chapel choirs of equal status, which share out the weekly services between them. There is a mixed-voice choir constituted of all choral scholars and auditioned volunteers, which sings Evensong on a Monday at 6.15pm and Eucharist at 6 p.m. on a Thursday, and also a choir in which the tenors, basses and male and female altos of the mixed choir sing with boy trebles from Christ Church Cathedral School. This choir sings Evensong on Sundays at 6.00 pm and Tuesdays at 6.15 pm.

These choirs are run on a day-to-day basis by Worcester’s two Organ Scholars, who are supervised and trained by a professional Director of Chapel Music, Stephen Farr, who also conducts and trains the choir on a regular basis.

A wide variety of music is performed in Worcester chapel, ranging from the early, such as Palestrina, right through to the very modern, such as the work of Dr Robert Saxton, the current fellow in music at the college. Student composers studying under Dr Saxton for the degree in music are also given the opportunity to write works for the choir. In this way, members of the choir are able to experience music of all kinds, and gain a broad knowledge and understanding of the sacred choral repertory. The choirs also give concerts in most terms, have made numerous tours and recorded several CDs, which can be purchased from the Porters' Lodge.