Welcome to the home of the English Chamber Choir – one of London’s leading and busiest vocal ensembles.
For the past 50 years we’ve been at the forefront of musical life in the capital, and for almost all of that time we were led by our music director Guy Protheroe. Guy has recently stepped back to become Conductor Emeritus, and we are now led by our new artistic director, Rufus Frowde.
We take great pride in our versatility, the variety of our repertoire, and our professionalism. But, most of all, we’re proud of our sociability and the sheer delight we get from singing together. We are passionate about singing all types of music, from renaissance to rock, polyphony to pop, and classical to cabaret.
Over the years preceding we have performed a wide variety of music across many different venues. Highlights included The Royal Albert Hall (Harry Potter, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Gladiator live), the Royal Festival Hall, the London Palladium, the Barnes Festival, Temple Church, the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St Sophia, Holy Trinity Sloane Square, St Mary's Twickenham, the Church of the Holy Cross Ramsbury and, of course, many concerts at St Martin in the Fields (Mozart Requiem, Handel Messiah, Fauré Requiem) with our friends the Belmont Ensemble of London.
The 2024 season started with with Evensong at the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace on 2nd March and continues with Stainer's 'Crucifixion' at Holy Trinity, Sloane Square on 29th March.
Here you can find out more about us, including where you can next hear us perform, who we are, how to apply to sing with us, or even book us to sing for you.
Open Rehearsal 28th September
We are holding an Open Rehearsal at St Marylebone Parish Church on Saturday 28 September (2.30 - 5.30pm).
If you are an accomplished choral singer and wish to attend, please contact the membership secretary, Helen Gironi (membership@englishchamberchoir.co.uk) to book your place.
The rehearsal is free of charge.
Our Forthcoming Concerts
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Immortal Fire
Sunday 29th September 6pm
St Marylebone Parish Church
Free Concert with retiring Collection
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A Ceremony of Carols and other works
Thursday 19th December, 8pm
St James Piccadilly
Artistic Director, Rufus Frowde, pictured alongside his predecessor
and our Conductor Emeritus, Guy Protheroe
Rufus Frowde - our new Artistic Director.
Rufus said: "I am thrilled to have been appointed to lead The English Chamber Choir in its next chapter. My father appeared as a violinist with the choir in many of their collaborations with Rick Wakeman - as such, recordings of the choir were a fond part of the soundtrack of my childhood.
"There are very few choirs that can tackle the range of repertoire that has become the hallmark of ECC. I look forward to nurturing Guy and Ann’s remarkable legacy, as well as exploring new opportunities, ensuring that this family of excellent singers maintains an enviable reputation for adventurous programming, consistently performed with professionalism."
A freelance conductor, organist, pianist and composer, Rufus was Organist and Assistant Director at the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace from 2003 – 2023. He holds many varied conducting posts including VIVAMUS Chamber Choir, Dacorum Community Choir (founder), and orchestral work for Hertfordshire Music Service (where he has been the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Schools’ Galas at the Royal Albert Hall since 2014). He is also the Accompanist of Hertfordshire Chorus.
Rufus studied music as an Organ Scholar at Merton College, Oxford University. He subsequently became Organ Scholar of Worcester Cathedral and undertook prize-winning postgraduate study in Choral Direction and Church Music at the Royal Academy of Music.
Rufus has always maintained a versatile approach to music-making, both in terms of genre and with the musicians with whom he works, seeking to ensure that barriers to quality music-making are overcome. As such, alongside his work as a performer with professional musicians, he leads the music curriculum at his local primary school as well as working as an animateur for the Chorister Outreach Project at St Albans Cathedral.
Performances have included numerous UK cathedrals, Westminster Abbey, La Madeleine (Paris), Kaunas Cathedral, St Thomas’s Leipzig, St Paul’s Basilica (Rome), Cologne Cathedral, Haarlem Cathedral and Longwood Gardens (Pennsylvania). He has worked with musicians and performers including Emma Johnson, Crispian Steele Perkins, Kiri te Kanawa, José Carreras, Ian McMillan and Michael Rosen. He works with numerous orchestras as a guest conductor and has conducted The Hanover Band, Brandenburg Sinfonia, Southbank Sinfonia and the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists in collaboration with his choirs.
He appears as a conductor, organist and composer on the Signum Classics, Resonus Classics, and Divine Art record labels.
Rufus took over as Artistic Director from Guy Protheroe at the beginning of 2024 and Guy became Conductor Emeritus
50th Anniversary Concert, Cadogan Hall, 24th October 2022
Photograph by John Watson
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