The Queens' Chapel Choir Tour

The Queens' Chapel Choir have had an exciting summer performing in a variety of cathedrals through the country. In August 2021 they completed their tour through the North-West of England, performing at Durham Cathedral, Wakefield Cathedral, Bradford Cathedral, and St Chad's, Toller Lane in Bradford.

If you would like to hear a recording of the Chapel Choir, click here to listen on Spotify.

Also new is the recently elected Choir Administrator, Katja Ruda, who has provided a piece on the choir's time during the tour:

"From the magnificence of Durham Cathedral to the intensity of St Chad’s Church in Bradford, Queens’ College Chapel Choir Tour 2021 was as much an emotional journey as a choral one. After 18 months of disruption to choir life, it was a real privilege to be able to come together with this generation of singers one final time. As well as concluding the academic year, this tour marked the end of an era of Queens’ Choir, with many long-standing members graduating and moving on to new adventures. This served only to make the experiences of touring more moving and poignant, and it was wonderful for our leavers to go out on such a high.

Our tour began in Durham, where we were warmly welcomed at the cathedral as the visiting choir for the weekend. On Sunday, we were honoured to lead the (live!) congregation in the first hymns sung there since March 2020, a powerful experience made more so by our stunning architectural surroundings and the deafening volume of the organ. Our next engagements were recitals at Wakefield and Bradford Cathedrals which gave us the opportunity to perform many of our favourite anthems in a more intimate setting. The tour was concluded with an unforgettable Choral Mass at St. Chad’s Church in Bradford, followed by an evening of fond farewells to our graduating singers.

Heartfelt thanks must go to the staff at Durham, Wakefield and Bradford Cathedrals, Hatfield and University Colleges, Durham, and St. Chad’s Church and the Midland Hotel in Bradford for doing their utmost to make us welcome on our tour. Further to this, thanks must go to Ed Stubbs, our (now previous) Choir Administrator; Ralph Allwood, our director; our organ scholars, Robin Pillinger and Benjamin Markovic; and our Chaplain, Max Bayliss, who kept us all going throughout this challenging year, and without whom this tour would not have been possible. We wish all of our leavers good luck for the future and look forward to welcoming our new singers in September."

We hope you enjoy the photos of the tour! For any queries about Queens' Chapel Choir, please contact Katja Ruda at choir.administrator@queens.cam.ac.uk, Or visit the Choir's website to find out more.