Oakham School Chamber Choir was established only 10 years ago and is now an acclaimed, auditioned ensemble of around 30 pupil singers that has won plaudits for its concert and competition performances in a wide range of repertoire. The choir has performed major works such as Cecilia McDowall Ave maris stella, Elgar Songs from the Bavarian Highlands, Haydn The Creation, Purcell Ode for St Cecilia’s Day, Rutter Requiem and Scarlatti Stabat Mater, as well as music from Blow to Britten and from Schubert to George Shearing. The choir’s performances usually take place in Oakham or in local churches, but most recently to outstanding acclaim in King’s College Chapel, Cambridge on 21 March 2010, where the composer Cecilia McDowall described them as a group of “really superb voices...simply excellent – you found such colour and richness there and it was wonderful to hear such clear and vitally rhythmic singing”. They have made several CD recordings. The Chamber Choir has achieved outstanding success in the BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year competition, reaching the national Youth Choir finals in 2006 and the national selection stage in 2008. For their concert at Saint Bartholomew's (Saturday 10 April at 8pm), the choir will perform a programme of:

• Vaughan Williams - Five Mystical Songs
• Haydn - Little Organ Mass
• Mendelssohn - Hear my prayer
• and music by Boyle, Holst, James MacMillan & Philip Moore