Next Performances

2nd October 2026

Michaelmas 2026 Termcard

12:00am

Michaelmas Termcard 2026

15th October 2026

Choral Evensong

6:15pm

VOLUNTARY Byrd Voluntary in C
INTROIT Tallis O nata lux
RESPONSES Ayleward
PSALM 117 (Purcell)
READINGS Mark II: 1–12; 13–17
CANTICLES Héloïse Werner (Clare 2010) Magnificat *;
Holst Nunc dimittis
ANTHEM Byrd Gaudeamus omnes
HYMN 484 (t. 167 (Aurelia))
VOLUNTARY J. S. Bach Ciacona ex g, BWV 1179

* commissioned and premièred by Graham Ross and the Choir in 2023 as part of the College’s 50th Anniversary of Co-
Education

Social Media

  • Take him, earth, for cherishing… 👌🏻 A celebration of Herbert Howells for our first Sunday Choral Evensong of the year tomorrow at 6pm BST. Join us live in person @chapelofclarecollege or LiveStreamed as always on our @youtube channel. Howells’ organ voluntaries frame a service that includes two of his choral works with American roots: the rarely-performed Dallas Service, and his much-loved anthem ‘Take him, earth, for cherishing’ written for the memorial of J. F. Kennedy. The service also includes music by Undine Smith Moore and Kenneth Leighton, and is preceded by a 5.25pm recital of Bach and Franck by Clare’s Sir William McKie Senior Organ Scholar @j.costard24. Drinks and Dinner in @clarecollege Great Hall follow Evensong - all welcome. #Clare #Cambridge #ChoralEvensong #Howells #choir @choirofclarecollege @mrgrahamross 📸 @hedgehoghugh
  • A new song… The new academic year begins today, with our first Choral Evensong of Term tonight at 6.15pm, @chapelofclarecollege. Music by Ayo Bankole, Leighton, Bairstow, and ‘A new song’ by James MacMillan. 45 minutes of music, liturgy and peace to end the working day - all welcome. #newyear #newterm #newsong #Clare #ChoralEvensong @clarecollege @choirofclarecollege @mrgrahamross 📸 @andrewstaples_official
  • We’re excited to share ‘Magnificat’, the third single from our forthcoming album, ‘Reaching Farther’. These settings of the canticles by our Director of Music @mrgrahamross here receive their premiere recording. “My Clare Service, written during an enjoyable week in the summer of 2024 for the Choir for a @bbcradio3 broadcast that year, explores the more tender side of Mary in the Magnificat, with a fragile melodic fragment in the opening organ accompaniment serving as the nucleus for much of the musical material of both canticles”. ‘Reaching Farther’ spans works by composers with direct connections to @clarecollege, from William Denis Browne’s canticles composed as a student in 1911, through to world premiere recordings of new commissions including @nicomuhly’s title anthem, @heloisewerner’s canticles, and a setting by current undergraduate @thomasalban307. 🎧 Listen now! ➡️ https://open.spotify.com/track/0O8yBOktBwiZyE1JY4s6Rv?si=iBlw4ZIbSF6_y0wRDVFLGw&utm_source=copy-link #clarecambridge #choral #classical #newsingle #Magnficat
  • 👏 A wonderful first few days with our new Choir members! A big @choirofclarecollege welcome to Zach, Oscar, Levi, Leo, Alex, Eva, Otis, Aurora, Jerry, Hannah, Yipeng, Zoë, and Anna! ❤️ And our huge thanks once again to Rev’d Simon Taylor and @standrewstapleford for hosting us so generously today for our first service of the year. 🕯️ Choral services at @chapelofclarecollege resume next Thursday, with many highlights this Michaelmas Term including Duruflé Requiem, a joint service with our sister College @orieloxford, our popular Advent Carol Services with a new commission from @cherylhoad, and a 2-week tour across USA with @mrgrahamross to bring our year-long 700th anniversary celebrations to a close. 📖 Full details of all music and services for the Michaelmas Term in the Termcard here: https://www.clare.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2026-09/Updated%20Michaelmas%20Termcard%202026.pdf #ClareChoir @clarecollege @cambridgeuniversity #newyear #newterm #newchoir #Clare
  • 🥉 🏆 Starting the week off as No. 3 in @applemusic’s Choral Chill with our new single ‘Now the day is over’ by @joshua.pacey! One of the tracks of our new @signumrecords album ‘Reaching Farther’, released worldwide next month. (Also nice to see our recent Palestrina album feature as No. 4!) @choirofclarecollege @mrgrahamross @signumrecords #ReachingFarther #Applemusic #ChoralChill #playlist https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/choral-chill/pl.199a4a15f63741538e0c8e271ed2a347
  • Good luck to former @choirofclarecollege Choral Scholar @josephinestephenson_ (@clarecollege 2008) whose new work ‘That the sunrise not leave us unmoved’ receives its world première tonight at the First Night of the BBC Proms, performed by @bbc_singers @bbcsymphonyorchestra and conductor @daliastasevskaofficial. @bbcpromstagram #ClareCollege #Clarealumni #musicatClare #BBCProms #premiere
  • Switzerland/Italy Tour Blog Day 5: Ischia We arose to Ischia sunshine, about as far from Cambridge’s grey skies as we could get. A small group of early risers followed Daniel ‘roam ten thousand miles’ Livermore to the promise of a lighthouse on the other side of the island, but ended up on a beach 10mins from La Mortella. After a wonderful breakfast, the others descended on the nearby beach. Some took to sunbathing, others ventured into the unknown. For Izzy ‘mermaid’ Theodosius, the peril proved too great when she developed an unexpected connection with a sea urchin. After a delicious 3-course lunch provided by our generous hosts at La Mortella & yet more pool time, we rehearsed for our final concert of the year. The performance got off to an eventful start: Evie ‘organ shoes’ Perfect, separated from the organ loft, struggled to adapt to the intricacies of risers at ground level. This began a rather disturbing domino effect, with Martha ‘Day Tripper’ Alban following suit in the second half. Maria Teresa ‘her Italian is much better than mine’ Maddison’s ‘Blue Bird’ solo was rudely interrupted by an Aristophanic chorus of frogs, whilst Daniel ‘where’s my passport’ Livermore’s rendition of ‘The Turtle Dove’ was underpinned by distant revellers. The concert proved an emotional farewell for the 12 choir leavers, and we’re immensely grateful to all at La Mortella for providing us with such a picturesque venuw for our final outing. Before the applause had even finished, our obligatory pool party had already commenced. Not content with a trap remix alone, Amelie ‘DJ’ Huntley attempted to film a music video, giving Graham a run for his money with her elaborate choreography. Meanwhile, Cheryl ‘Mock the Week’ Jeyakumar ran her traditional ‘Quotes Quiz’, and Luca ‘I hate pools’ Zucchi got in the pool. Our final full day with the choir proved memorable in all the best ways. As outgoing Senior Choral Scholars, we will miss our regular services alongside special events like these. We couldn’t think of a better place to end our three years. Time to hand over to the next generation… This was our experience of Clare Choir. Maria Teresa (Can Sop) & Eoin (Dec Bass)
  • “May William Walton happy be in health, and wealth, and harmony” Herbert Howells’ ‘A Grace for 10 Downing Street’, written for a 70th birthday dinner for Walton hosted by Prime Minister Edward Health in 1972, sung in the pool of Walton’s home La Mortella on the island of Ischia in Italy. An amazing setting for our final concert of the year! #ClareChoir #WilliamWalton #Ischia #LaMortella
  • Switzerland / Italy Tour Blog Day 4: The Clare Choir Clan arose early to depart from our wonderful hostel to go to Lugano station, where several trains passed us by in a game of “is this or is this not our train?” After having made it to Milan, there was a streamlined and seamless transition from one train to another. There, Sophia “get me on the DJ decks” Foster and Amelie “I make trap remixes for funerals” Huntley thus began the Grammy award-winning saga of mixing and mastering their remix of none other than Clare’s own Shepherds Pipe Carol, albeit with a few more beat drops and quantising of rhythmic cells than Rutter had originally intended, all of which was completed over the span of our 7 hour journey to Napoli. When they said that Clare College Choir required stamina, one might not have been aware of the physical efforts that this implied, with Choral Scholar Eoin “gym bro” Jenkins showing us how it’s done by hauling out our suitcases from the bus, the first stage of our total wipeout crash course speed run to the ferry, which was followed by a hell for leather sprint to the docks, dodging crazy busses and falling suitcases, between which Graham “race across Napoli” Ross put us all to shame by not even breaking a sweat and being able to video the entire chronicles of this experience … the footage of this has been purposefully lost. Ross’ review of Huntley and Foster’s magnum opus proved rewarding and may in fact be featuring on the next album for this physically tired College Choir. A dash to the supermarket was made before being bussed up the mountain to the site where the uttered music went missing, William Walton’s estate, where we enjoyed light snacks in celebration of health, wealth, and harmony. This choir’s physical training didn’t stop there as many laps of Walton’s wonderful water world swimming pool was made but completely (not) in silence, just as Daniel “no gaps” Livermore requested. This was my experience of the day. Kathryn (Dec Sop)

clarechoir

Clare College Choir

@clarechoir ·
10 Oct

Take him, earth, for cherishing… 👌🏻

A celebration of #HerbertHowells for our first Sunday Choral Evensong of the year tomorrow at 6pm BST. Join us live in person @ClareChapel or LiveStreamed as always on our @YouTube channel.

@ClareCollege @ClareChoir @mrgrahamross

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