Choir of Merton College, Oxford

The Choir of Merton College, Oxford, maintains regular duties at the college chapel while maintaining an active calendar of performances throughout Britain and abroad. Its recordings appear exclusively on the Delphian label.

Although choral music has been heard in Merton College Chapel since its establishment in the late 13th century, the present ensemble was established in 2008 as a mixed adult group. Thirty Oxford undergraduates and postgraduates constitute its membership, with many participating as Choral Scholars who receive financial assistance in return for their service. A separate Merton College Girl Choristers ensemble was formed in 2016 and occasionally joins the main choir; together the two groups rank as the most recent additions to Oxford’s roster of collegiate choirs. The ensemble’s first foreign engagement came in 2009 with a tour of France, a country it has since visited on four further occasions. Additional travel has taken the singers to the United States three times and once each to Sweden and Italy; in 2017 the choir took part in the inaugural Anglican liturgy celebrated at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Within Britain it appears regularly at London locations such as the Temple Church, St. John’s Smith Square, and Cadogan Hall, as well as at prominent English cathedrals. During Oxford terms it continues to sing chapel services at Merton College.

Its programming spans an unusually broad spectrum, from Thomas Tallis’ Spem in alium through large-scale works by Bach, Handel, and Mozart to Carl Orff’s secular Carmina Burana and a wide selection of recent compositions. World premieres entrusted to the choir include pieces by Harrison Birtwistle, Ēriks Ešenvalds, and Cecilia McDowall. The Delphian association, launched in 2011 with the mixed-program recital In the Beginning, has continued with subsequent releases including the 2020 album Sleeper’s Prayer: Choral Music from North America. In 2022 the choir issued a recording devoted to music by Herbert Howells and Ian Venables; the following year saw the appearance of two further discs, one presenting Bob Chilcott’s Christmas Oratorio and the other offering anthems by George Dyson, Howells, Elgar, and Gerald Finzi, among others.