Choir & Organ

Choir & Organ shines a global spotlight on two distinctive fields of creativity, celebrating inventiveness and excellence in all their forms. We aim to inspire our readers through giving a platform to conductors, organists, composers, and choirs of every kind; and showcasing the imaginative craft of pipe organ building across the centuries, critiquing new organs and tackling ethics in restoring historic instruments.

Voices of integrity

Choir & Organ

OWAIN PARK APPOINTED CHIEF CONDUCTOR OF THE BBC SINGERS

Richard Tanner named as the next Director of Music at Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue

Cathedral Music Trust announces latest awards

Organ at St James’s Church Piccadilly to be restored

IN BRIEF

GAVIN HIGGINS TO BE INAUGURAL THREE CHOIRS ASSOCIATE COMPOSER

The Organ Club celebrates centenary in 2026

Lambeth Palace Library celebrates 500 years of the Arundel Choirbook

PAST LIVES

RECRUIT A NEW ORGANIST! • Anne Marsden Thomas MBE and Hannah Gill, co-chairs of the Society of Women Organists

The soul of song: reclaiming melody at the heart of music • Composer Patrick Hawes explores melody as a natural expression of the inner-self, and as a connection between choir and audience

PREMIERES

RECITAL ROOM

Ken Burton • British choral and orchestral conductor, composer, performer and broadcaster

Emily Hazrati • Leah Broad explores the influences, collaborations and philosophy of a young composer

A new path • With its Grammy awards and numerous high-profile collaborations across 20 years, what makes The Crossing a choir of its time is more about the people and the risks they are willing to take, finds Hattie Butterworth

Northern soul • Based in Manchester, Kantos Chamber Choir is the only professional chamber choir in the North of England. As it celebrates its 10th anniversary, and with a debut album released, Megan Steller meets founder Ellie Slorach

Handel and Stanley • A wealth of fine organ music by these 18th-century English masters deserves tasteful interpretation

Maker of music • A major new choral release reintroduces a composer of daring originality, whose work spanned rock bands, midnight concerts and liturgical innovation. Jeremy Filsell introduces Calvin Hampton, a figure whose life was tragically cut short

Encouraging the American male voice • At a seminary in Texas, Jonathan Ambrosino finds something beyond the French names in a new instrument from the Noack Organ Company

Berner’s back • The Catholic church of St Johannis in Osnabrück has recently received a new organ by Flentrop Orgelbouw which seeks to reconstruct an 18th-century predecessor. Chris Bragg surveys the result

Saint Peter’s Hope (John 21) • Composer Conrad Asman commissioned a new text from Rory Stewart for his double-choir work that is both expressive and enigmatic. He talks to Matthew Power

Choral Communities • What began as a creative response to lockdown has evolved into a powerful new model for global choral connection. Clare Stevens meets the Choir of the Earth and WorldChoir, leading a digital revolution, blending music-making with community-building across time zones and continents

Clarity and colour • Paul Hale surveys three recent projects from Freiburger Orgelbau, one of the largest organ builders in southern Germany

Company history and tonal principles

IN THE STUDIO • EXPLORING THE WORLD OF CHORAL AND ORGAN RECORDINGS

REVIEWS • CONCERTS • KEYBOARD CDS • CHORAL CDS • DVDS • ORGAN MUSIC • CHORAL MUSIC • BOOKS

EARLY MUSIC

ARTIST Q&A • The Organist and Director of Music at Coventry Cathedral speaks to Choir & Organ ahead of her BBC Proms debut

CHORAL SELECTION

CHOIR &...