Cathedral Choir
Christ Church is unique in that it has both a Cathedral Choir (Director Stephen Darlington) and a College Choir (Director William Waine). The Cathedral Choir comprises twelve men and sixteen boys. The men are made up of lay clerks and choral scholars, or academical clerks. The boys, whose ages range from eight to thirteen, are chosen for their musical ability and attend Christ Church Cathedral School. Aside from the director, there is also a sub-organist and two organ scholars. The College Choir, on the other hand, is always a student run society, and sings Evensong once a week in term time. In the vacation, services are sung by The Cathedral Singers of Christ Church (Director John Padley) - a choir drawn from semi-professional singers in and around Oxford. The Cathedral also hosts visiting choirs from time to time during vacations.
Throughout its history, the Cathedral Choir has attracted many distinguished composers and organists - from its first director, John Taverner, appointed by Cardinal Wolsey in 1526, to William Walton. The present director of music (known as the Organist), is Stephen Darlington. In recent years, the Choir has commissioned recorded works by contemporary composers such as John Tavener, William Mathias and Howard Goodall, also patron of Christ Church Music Society.
The Choir, which broadcasts regularly, has many award-winning recordings to its credit and was recently the subject of a Channel 4 television documentary, Howard Goodall's Great Dates. The film was nominated at the prestigious Montreux TV Festival in the Arts Programme category - and has since been seen throughout the world. The Choir's collaboration with Goodall has also led to their singing his TV themes for Mr Bean and The Vicar of Dibley. They appeared in Howard Goodall's Big Bangs, broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 in March 2000. Treasures of Christ Church is the choir's most recent recording, and debuted as the highest new entry in the UK Specialist Classical chart. The disc featured on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ on Monday 26 September, and on Radio 3’s Breakfast Show on Tuesday 27 September.
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