About us |
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Choir's origins
The choir, eventually to be known as Exmoor Singers of London, was founded in the early 1980s as a student choir based at London's Imperial College. The first public performance was of Horowitz's Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo in 1983, performed next to the elephant house at London Zoo.
Originally nameless, the group decided to commemorate the departure of its progenitor Alan Moore by becoming the "Ex-Moore" singers. A few grammatical adjustments along the way, and that joke remains.
Music director James Jarvis was a founder member of the choir and on taking up the baton has steered the group from its days singing in student halls through to being Sainsbury's Mixed Voice Choir of the Year, and thereafter maintaining its position as one of the UK's finest and most adventurous amateur chamber choirs.
A short biography of Exmoor Singers and James Jarvis is also available as is a promotional flyer.
Repertoire
Exmoor Singers' repertoire is primarily unaccompanied and ranges from chamber performances of works from the baroque and classical periods to a long-term project, sounds: voices of our time, promoting and commissioning works by today's composers.
Recent larger scale performances have included Handel's Messiah, Bach's St Matthew Passion, St John Passion, and B Minor Mass and Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610. The group regularly performs with acclaimed period instrument ensemble Charivari Agréable.
For more details of our repertoire refer to performances , new music and recordings. In addition there are audio clips such as these on a number of pages:
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Monteverdi - Vespers (Domine) |
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Mozart - Requiem (Dies Irae) |
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Mozart - Requiem (Sanctus) |
Performance venues
The choir performs in a wide variety of locations from concrete bunkers and castles to some of the most prestigious venues in London. Recent venues and the respective performances include:
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Competitions and Festivals
The choir entered Sainsbury's Choir of the Year competitions in 1994, 1996, and 1998, and won the accolade of 1998 Mixed Voice Choir of the Year. Since then the group has taken part in a number of competitive and non-competitive music festivals:
- Cheltenham International Festival of Music, 1999
- Let the Peoples Sing, 1999
- Incontro Internazionale Polifonico "Citta di Fano" Festival, Fano, Italy, 2000 (by special invitation)
- Canterbury Festival, 2000
- Florilège Vocal de Tour, France, 2001 (Finalist)
- Baugé Music Festival, France, 2001
- Sligo International Choral Festival, Ireland, 2001 (First prize and Bank Ireland of Trophy)
- The North Wales Choral Festival, Llandudno, 2003 (First prize)
- International Choir Festival of Flanders, Maasmechelen, Belgium, 2005
Tallis Festival Weekends
Exmoor Singers regularly hosts Tallis Festival Weekends when the group is joined by over 100 singers to form The Tallis Festival Choir, which rehearses intensively together and gives a high quality public performance on the Sunday evening.
The programme always includes Thomas Tallis 40-part motet, Spem in alium - the raison d’être of the festivals - and a large scale choral work often with orchestra, for example recently including Monteverdi Vespers, Rachmaninov Vespers, and Tippets' A Child of Our Time.
The 2006 Festival included a new 40-part work, commissioned especially for the Weekend, and intended as companion piece to Spem in Alium. The Festival concert included the first performance of Tentatio, by Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi. The 2007 Festival included a new 40-part commissioned work, Love You Big as the Sky, by Manchester-based composer Peter McGarr.
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The Tallis Festival 2007 was recorded by the BBC and featured on Radio 3's The Choir on 28 October 2007. |
RecordingsOur recent recording projects have included special choir-only programmes for BBC1's Songs of Praise, a BBC documentary on Handel's Messiah, two CDs for The Tablet magazine, a commissioned recording for BBC Radio 3, an art installation for Commissions East and the National Trust, music for a theatre performance of Henry V, and a sound track for a documentary film on the Crusades. In 2008 Exmoor Singers released a new CD "CURTAIN", featuring music entirely by living composers. Recordings from the CD have been broadcast on Radio 3 and Classic FM. NEW CD AVAILABLEIn October 2007 the choir collaborated with rock band Bloc Party in a live concert at the Camden Roundhouse as part of the BBC Electric Proms. The choir performed with the band to create unique choral arrangements of Bloc Party songs. The concert was broadcast on BBC2 television and BBC Radio 1. The choir has since recorded two tracks with Bloc Party for the band's album Intimacy and a track for another rock band, Snow Patrol for the album A Hundred Millions Suns. Members of the choir subsequently performed with Snow Patrol on BBC1's Later...With Jools Holland. |
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Rehearsals
The choir rehearses every Sunday from 6pm-9pm at Imperial College, South Kensington, in Central London. The group is committed to attaining high choral standards. Our rehearsals are intensive and disciplined for serious music making, whilst being friendly and enjoyable. Exmoor Singers is not a list choir and members of the group generally perform in every concert. There are regular solo opportunities for members.
Social activities and weekend retreats
A visit to our local public house, the Queen's Arms, after rehearsal is our most regular social activity, but we also arrange choir meals, parties and other outings. Members are also actively involved in all aspects of the management and development of the choir, through an elected committee.
The choir regularly goes away together for a 'weekend retreat' to Orford Ness in Suffolk, where amongst what must be the most mysterious landscape and buildings in the country, the choir stays in a building converted for group accommodation to both rehearse and socialise. The weekends culminate in public performances in venues such as Orford Castle, Framlingham Castle, St Bartholomew's Church, Orford, and the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Aldeburgh.
