Classiscsonline Home > Artists > W > Winchester College Chapel Choir

Winchester College Chapel Choir

Winchester College is one of the oldest and best-known schools in Great Britain. Founded in 1382 by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and twice Chancellor of England, it enjoys an enviable reputation for academic and musical excellence and for the breadth and quality of the education given to its pupils. William of Wykeham's original foundation included seventy scholars, and although the school has now grown tenfold in size, the same number of scholars continues to live in medieval chambers next to the College Hall and Chapel. Wykeham also made provision for sixteen singing-boys called Quiristers, whose duty was to sing at Chapel services. For over 600 years Winchester College has maintained its Quiristers, and they now form the treble line in Winchester College Chapel Choir, besides singing a good deal in their own right as a boys' concert choir. The lower voices in the Chapel Choir are provided by senior pupils (and some staff) from the College, many of whom have themselves been Quiristers or choristers at English Cathedrals and other choral foundations. These singers in turn often go on to study music at university: in the past decade, pupils from Winchester College have won over forty choral and organ scholarships to Oxford and Cambridge. Winchester College Chapel Choir sings a full range of choral services in the College Chapel. It gives recitals, broadcasts and records for BBC Radio and Television, and makes regular tours abroad. The Choir has given performances at St John's Smith Square in central London, while the

more....

Discography