About us

Formed in 1994, Cambridge Chorale swiftly gained a reputation for its inspirational and high-quality performances. Under its founding director, Michael Kibblewhite, the choir performed throughout East Anglia and in many prestigious venues further afield, including St Paul's Cathedral (London) and Basilica di San Francesco (Assisi). In 2002 the choir's unique qualities were further recognised by its winning the Gran Premio del Pubblico (Audience Prize) at the Riva del Garda International Choral Competition, in which the choir was also awarded gold medals in each category it entered.

Under the musical direction of Julian Wilkins since January 2005, Cambridge Chorale continues to perform to the highest musical standards. Since then, performances have included a varied and challenging repertoire, including Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, Orff's Carmina Burana (with Cambridgeshire youth choir Phoenix Chorale), and works in sixteen languages (English, Latin, French, German, Latvian, Korean, Welsh, Italian, Russian, Tamil, Zulu, Hebrew, Spanish, Afrikaans, Igbo and pseudo-Lappish). Other projects have included recordings for BBC Radio 2's Sunday Half Hour and performing alongside English Touring Opera in Julian Joseph's jazz opera Bridgetower. The choir's CDs Salvator Mundi (released March 2011), A Christmas Celebration (2007), and My spirit sang all day (2005) demonstrate both the high quality and the versatility in performance that have become the hallmarks of Cambridge Chorale.

In 2008, Cambridge Chorale was recognised as one of the UK's top six adult choirs, being selected from over 100 contenders to win a place in the finals of the BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year competition. The judges commented that the performance was 'bright, clear and precise' and 'assured and polished throughout'.

Future plans include touring (both nationally and internationally), further recordings and an exciting programme of concerts.

Photo on this page by Stephen Pledger Jones.