The Choir

The Fairhaven Singers was founded in 1980 by Stephen Armstrong, under the patronage of Lord Fairhaven of Anglesey Abbey. Under Musical Director Ralph Woodward, it has become one of Cambridge’s foremost chamber choirs. Spanning eight centuries, from the sacred to the secular, our diverse repertoire has delighted audiences in Cambridge and across Europe. Our concerts range widely in mood and style, from intimate evenings of a cappella music to major choral-orchestral works with world-class soloists, but every concert offers the Fairhavens’ trademark energy, quality and warmth.

We perform in some of the most beautiful college chapels in Cambridge, as well as in London and abroad. Recent highlights have included Bach’s St John Passion with The Parley of Instruments, and the world premiere of Will Todd’s Requiem for choir, soprano and electric guitar, a work we commissioned. The choir has performed several times at Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Suffolk, including concerts at the Aldeburgh Festival and Britten’s War Requiem at the Britten Festival, and at major venues in London, including St Martin-in-the-Fields and St John’s Smith Square. Our most recent international tours have taken us to Poland, Italy, and Germany; in June 2011 we head to the south of France.

The choir made its BBC Radio 4 debut in 2006, and more recently has appeared on BBC Radios 2 and 3 and Classic FM. In 2007 we recorded our first CD, The Blue Skies that Sparkle, a collection of choral works celebrating the beauty of nature. Our second CD, Will Todd, Requiem, was awarded five stars by Choir and Organ magazine, and an 18 certificate by Aled Jones! In 2011 we recorded our third CD, a selection of transcendent music dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and appeared with the Siam Philharmonic Orchestra in Southwark R.C. Cathedral, London, at a concert commemorating the 9/11 attacks.

We are dedicated to building audiences for our repertoire and sustaining the rich tradition that gave rise to it. We regularly premiere and commission new works from contemporary composers. Education and outreach also have an important place in our activities. We hold open singing days to share the process of music-making with our community, and we frequently reprise concert performances in villages outside Cambridge. Through our annual Choral Scholarship programme, we welcome talented school pupils and students to sing with the choir for a term. Our 2010 Remembrance Day concert featured a reading of a poem written by the winner of our poetry competition for local schoolchildren, judged by poet and prize-winning author Kevin Crossley-Holland.