We just love to sing!

​

Whether it’s the Brahms Requiem at Christ Church Cathedral or Rutter’s Feel The Spirit at home in Wallingford…it’s that passion that’s kept our choir singing for 30 years.  

 

And new singers keep joining us. Many are finding their voices again, remembering how they loved singing at school. Others have caught the singing bug more recently, using our choir as a friendly place to build up confidence.

 

“The choir is extremely welcoming,” said one new member recently. “Rehearsals are fun while developing our abilities.”

 

That focus on improving is key for our choir. Loving to sing means learning to sing better. We’re a non-auditioned choir with different levels of ability, but we’re all committed to achieving the best we can.

 

“Our choir certainly has fun,” Music Director Crawford Wiley told BBC Radio Oxford recently, “but they also take our concert rehearsals very seriously - in the way that people take what they really enjoy seriously. They love singing but they value it too.”

 

Why not give us a go…and see if we’re right for you. We offer three free sessions so you can try us out before you join.

​

Crawford Wiley sets our music direction

 

A good choir heavily depends on its musical leader for success. We’re delighted to introduce you to our Music Director, Crawford Wiley. 

​

Crawford, a native of Florida, took his Master's in Sacred Music from the University of Notre Dame, studying organ with Professor Emeritus Dr Craig Cramer, and conducting with the late Dr Carmen-Helena Téllez.

 

Before beginning his current post as a bass lay clerk in the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, he served for seven years as the Director of Liturgy and Music at St Jude the Apostle in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. During this time, Crawford was a member of the vocal ensemble Aperi Animam, as well as the Milwaukee Chamber Choir and the Chant Claire Chamber Choir. Since his move to Oxford in 2021 he has sung with the Oxford Schola Cantorum, the Delius Singers and the Oxford Oratory Choir, and plays continuo for the Basilinda Consort. When not sorting music as the choir librarian at Christ Church, he enjoys baking, reading and poking around churches.

​

Crawford joined us in 2023 leading us in a delightful selection of part songs for our concert Songs of Summer. Our Christmas concert in 2023 was a mix of well-known and not so well-known Advent and Christmas carols.

​

Then in February 2024 we performed Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle in St Mary's Wallingford. Judging by the faces of the choir and the praise of the audience, we can safely say this was one of our best concerts ever. Thank you to our excellent soloists, Anne Light on piano, Benjamin Sheen on organ and, of course, to Crawford for his patience, encouragement and enthusiasm during rehearsals and on the night. 

​

More recently the choir has performed John Rutter's Requiem and Feel the Spirit, also by John Rutter. 

​​​

It's our 30th anniversary year!

 

In addition to our recent wonderful concert in Christ Church, Oxford singing the Brahms Requiem, we will soon be rehearsing for Haydn's Missa Sancti Nicolai.  

​

This will follow our short concert in Wallingford on Sunday 31 August at 1pm as part of Bunkfest. We will be singing some of the Brahms Requiem as well as some of Sir John Rutter's Feel the Spirit.