Hyperion Records

The Choir of King’s College London is one of the most acclaimed mixed-voice university choirs in England. Founded in its present form in 1945, it consists of about 28 choral scholars reading a variety of subjects. King’s College London, part of the University of London, was itself founded in 1829. Besides providing music for the services in the magnificent (and recently restored) Scott-designed Chapel at King’s, the choir has a burgeoning reputation, particularly for its performances of Renaissance polyphony. Their recording of music by the Spanish sixteenth-century composer Alonso Lobo, on the Sanctuary Gaudeamus label, received favourable reviews, BBC Music Magazine speaking of an ‘astonishing’ performance ‘by a choir as passionate as it is disciplined’. A recording of John Taverner’s Missa Corona spinea (2000) and motets by William Byrd was nominated for a Gramophone Early Music Award. Recent recordings have included music by Sebastián de Vivanco for Sanctuary Gaudeamus and a disc of music for the season of Advent for Herald. In 2008 they recorded Rodion Shchedrin’s monumental The Sealed Angel jointly with the Choir of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, which was an Editor’s choice in Gramophone. In addition, they have made three recordings of music by the French Dominican priest André Gouzes, the latest being music for an office for St Thérèse of Lisieux.

The choir has given many concerts, both in England and abroad. In September 2009 they toured the East Coast of the USA and in the last two years they have given no fewer than twenty concerts in France, which have included festivals in Paris, Lyon, Uzès and Toulouse. The choir has appeared on French television and regularly broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensong, in particular for their Epiphanytide services.