English Chamber Choir
The English Chamber Choir is a choir based in England. History. The English Chamber Choir came into existence in 1972; its earliest engagements included Haydn's "Nelson Mass", Fauré's "Requiem" and Kodály's "Laudes Organi" with Hertfordshire Chamber Orchestra, and live performances at the old Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, of the rock opera "Tommy" with The Who. These were followed by Rick Wakeman's "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall. Over the years the choir has performed in all the major concert halls in  London (South Bank, Barbican, St John's Smith Square, Cadogan Hall), in St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral and many other churches known for their musical traditions. It has sung abroad in Brussels, Antwerp, Basel, Zurich, Athens and Plovdiv (Bulgaria), and has visited many cities, towns and villages throughout the UK. It has appeared at the Chelsea Festival, the Byzantine Festival in London and as part of the Encounters exhibition at the Barber Institute in Birmingham. In May 2012 it made its debut at the Brighton Festival - England's biggest arts festival. It has sung by invitation for  the Lord Mayor of London at the Mansion House and HM The Queen at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. In 2012 it re-recorded Wakeman's "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" at Abbey Road Studios. Musical associations. The choir sings regularly with the Belmont Ensemble at St Martin-in-the-Fields, in London's Trafalgar Square, performing popular classics including Mozart's "Requiem", Fauré's "Requiem", Vivaldi's "Gloria" and Handel's "Messiah". It has also commissioned many new works, most recently the "Troparion of Kassiani" from the Greek-Canadian composer Christos Hatzis and "Sub tuum praesidium" by  Ivan Moody. The choir's repertoire spans at least five centuries. Although not a specialist 'early music' choir, it performs many a cappella works from the 16th and 17th centuries. It has in repertoire all the major choral/orchestral works of the baroque and classical era: Bach's "Passions" and the "B Minor Mass", Handel's "Dixit Dominus", "Solomon" and many other oratorios, the Masses of Mozart and Haydn together with Mozart's "Requiem" and Haydn's "The Creation". On occasion it has expanded its forces to perform Brahms' "Requiem" and Elgar's "Dream of Gerontius". Its a cappella repertoire  includes a wide spectrum from Tallis to Tavener. Britten and Poulenc feature prominently, together with Richard Strauss, Schoenberg, Arnold Bax and many other Romantic composers. For many years the choir featured on albums by Vangelis, and is probably best known for being featured on his . Other credits include the "Era" albums created by the French composer Eric Lévi. The choir's relationship with Rick Wakeman, begun in 1974, continues to this day. In 2009 it appeared live with Wakeman at Hampton Court in a revival of his first solo album "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" as part of the  celebrations of the 500th anniversary of Henry's accession to the throne and a few weeks later at Cadogan Hall in his 'unplugged' piano, choir and orchestra programme: P'n'O The choir has a special association with contemporary music written for the Orthodox Church and/or inspired by Eastern traditions. It has sung and recorded many works by John Tavener, Ivan Moody and Christos Hatzis, among others. It has also collaborated on several occasions with the William Tyndale Society in programmes exploring not only the words of Tyndale himself, but the use of vernacular texts in sacred music across Europe. Fortieth anniversary . In October 2012 the choir celebrated its 40th anniversary with a concert in St John's Smith Square. This included works by Bach, Bax, Tallis (the 40-part motet Spem in alium), Christos Hatzis and Ivan Moody. Paddy O'Connell and Rick Wakeman were guests. Film, television and radio. Film credits include "1492: Conquest of Paradise" and "Band of Brothers". The choir has appeared on Gordon Ramsey's "Christmas Cookalong" (when his guest was Gok Wan), on "Chris Moyles' Quiz Night" singing hymn-tunes to Stephen Fry, and from 2008 to 2011 has written and sung satirical versions of popular Christmas  Carols on Radio 4's "Broadcasting House" on the Sunday morning before Christmas. Partial discography. A selection of recordings including the choir includes: Featured on the track "Supertzar" on Black Sabbath's Sabotage album.