About the Chapter House Choir
About the Chapter House Choir
Formed in 1965 to raise funds for the York Minster Appeal, the Chapter House Choir continues to build on its reputation as one of the North of England’s finest amateur chamber choirs. We are a progressive and dynamic ensemble that regularly commissions new music and seeks to programme accessible and beautiful yet challenging programmes from the whole range of the choral repertoire.
Benjamin Morris has been Musical Director of the Chapter House Choir since 2017. Benjamin is Assistant Director of Music at York Minster. You can read more about Ben on the Musical Director page.
The choir is extremely proud of its long-standing relationship with York Minster, and we are delighted to be one of York Minster’s associate choirs.
How to Join the Choir
Entry to the choir is by audition and numbers are limited in order to keep the voice parts balanced. We also have four choral scholar positions. You can read about how to join the choir or become a choral scholar here.
Recordings and Commissions
Over the years, the Chapter House Choir has published recordings in various formats. Several are available for purchase. You can listen to extracts and find out more on our Recordings page.
In recent years the Chapter House Choir has continued its tradition of commissioning new choral music and you can read about the latest works on our Premières & Commissions page.
The Chapter House Choir with composer Lillie Harris (centre), March 2020
The choir’s founder, Andrew Carter, meets the incoming and outgoing Musical Directors (Ben Morris and Stephen Williams) after the summer concert in June 2017
Supporting Choral Singing
The Chapter House Choir is a registered charity and has always supported choirs and choral singing. We have held successful ‘Come and Sing’ days with eminent composers John Rutter and Bob Chilcott, and in 2016 we established the Chapter House Youth Choir. The young singers now perform regularly on their own, and also join the adult Chapter House Choir for two or three concerts each year.
Support from our patrons, or through sponsorship and advertising, enables us to commission new works and to enrich our region’s musical culture through hosting community events such as Come and Sing days and choral collaborations. Do read more about how you can support the Chapter House Choir, as your support is really valuable. Another way of raising funds to support our community ventures is by hiring the choir.
Handbells
The Chapter House Choir has used handbells at Christmas since the choir was first formed in 1965. The choir owns its own set of handbells and has a lovely library of music especially composed for them. You can read about the bells and arrangers on our Handbells page.
Choir History
The Choir History page has more information about the choir’s history as well as details of past programmes and past musical directors – it is well worth a look.