Sidney Choir to perform live on BBC Radio 3

The hour-long programme will include performances from Sidney’s critically-acclaimed Choir and Organ Scholar Luca Myers, and feature recent works by Composer-in-residence Nico Muhly. Sidney’s Chaplain, The Reverend Dr Brett Gray, will provide the readings.

Dr David Skinner, Fellow and Osborn Director of Music, said: ‘Our first BBC Choral Evensong - in the form of Latin Choral Vespers - was back in 2011, during the anniversary year of the great Spanish composer Thomás Luis de Victoria, who has featured heavily in our various tours to Spain. 

‘It is wonderful to be invited back for a more traditional Choral Evensong. It was certainly an excellent impetus to get the new Choir up and running early in the academic year, in preparation for another very busy year ahead.'

Over the past two decades, Sidney’s Choir has received international attention, with tours across Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

In June this year, the Choir released Jheronimus Vinders - Missa Fors Seulement & Secular Songs (Inventa). Gramophone magazine described the Choir’s performance as ‘a revelation’, adding that, ‘Under David Skinner’s directorship they shape lines with elegance and purpose, allowing Vinders’s complex textures to come across very legibly. That a choir two-dozen strong sounds so focused is remarkable.’ Vinders was the Editor’s Choice in the magazine’s August edition, securing a place in its list of the ‘Best Classical Music Albums of 2023’. 

The programme for Choral Evensong will include two works by another unsung Renaissance master, Jacquet de Mantua (1483-1559). Following the success of Vinders, the Choir will be recording Jacquet’s music in Tanzenberg Castle, Austria, in April 2024. Jacquet spent most of his life in Italy and his music will also feature in the Choir’s summer tour to Italy, which includes the Cinque Terre, Pontremoli, Mantua and Verona. 

Choral Evensong will be broadcast live from Sidney Sussex Chapel from 4pm-5pm on Wednesday 22 November, with the recording then available online.