The ever-popular Carols from Queen's returns this year on the 13th and 15th December. A staple in the Oxford musical calendar, The Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford presents a varied programme of glorious Christmas music combining old favourites with more recent arrangements. The concert reflects the shifting moods of the period from Advent to Epiphany, inviting personal reflection on the transformation of darkness into light of the Incarnation.

A glass of mulled wine or soft drink served in Queen’s beautiful Baroque Hall is included within the ticket price.

Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford
Owen Rees director

Tickets: £25 (£5 Student)

The ever-popular Carols from Queen's returns this year on the 13th and 15th December. A staple in the Oxford musical calendar, The Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford presents a varied programme of glorious Christmas music combining old favourites with more recent arrangements. The concert reflects the shifting moods of the period from Advent to Epiphany, inviting personal reflection on the transformation of darkness into light of the Incarnation.

A glass of mulled wine or soft drink served in Queen’s beautiful Baroque Hall is included within the ticket price.

Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford
Owen Rees director

Tickets: £25 (£5 Student)

This concert continues the acclaimed collaboration between the Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford and the world famous Academy of Ancient Music, a combination of the finest choral singing and an orchestra with a worldwide reputation for excellence in baroque and classical music.  Previous performances of Messiah in this collaboration, also with star-studded lineups of soloists, have sold out months before the event and early booking is advised. 

Choir and orchestra are conducted by Owen Rees, Director of Music at The Queen's College, hailed as 'one of the most energetic and persuasive voices’ in this field.

Mhairi Lawson soprano
Esther Lay mezzo-soprano
Ted Black tenor
Michael Mofidian bass

Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford
Academy of Ancient Music
Owen Rees   director

Tickets: from £15 (£5 Student)

Join us for a free concert featuring excerpts from Jonathan Dove’s choral song cycle The Sun has Burst the Sky and works by James MacMillan, Caroline Shaw and Kenneth Leighton. The concert also marks the launch of the Choir’s latest album of works by Vaughan Williams and Leighton.

Free entry, un-ticketed, on a first come first served basis. Doors will open at 7.30pm.

The Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford, and Instruments of Time and Truth join forces to perform three of Handel's famous coronation anthems alongside choral works by Giovanni Bononcini (1670-1747), Handel's main rival in London: there was little to separate the two in terms of public status and reputation, and they were dubbed the Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee of London’s music scene in the 1720s. Soon after his arrival in London Bononcini was afforded the honour of writing a grand orchestral anthem – When Saul was King – for the magnificent funeral of the Duke of Marlborough, included in this concert.

Programme

Zadok the Priest Handel
Ave maris stella Bononcini
When Saul was king Bononcini
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba Handel
My heart is inditing Handel
The king shall rejoice Handel

The Choir’s tour concludes in the timeless Heidelberg, where we perform Mass at the Jesuitenkirche.

11:00 3rd September 2023

Jesuitenkirche, Merianstraße 2, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany

Free entry

The Choir continues westwards heading for the town of Trier on the Luxembourg border. Here, we perform a concert in the majestic Liebfrauenkirche.

19:30 1st September 2023

Liebfrauenkirche, Liebfrauenstraße 2, 54290 Trier, Germany

Free entry

The Choir makes the trip north-west into the Palatinate to perform a pre-festival concert for the Neustadter Herbst festival in the stunning, gothic Stiftskirche, Neustadt.

19:30 31st August 2023

Stiftskirche, Am, Marktpl. 2, 67433 Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany

Ticketed entry (€19/€10)

On the resplendant shores of Bavaria’s Tegernsee, the Choir performs an intimate concert in the Maria Himmelfahrt Kirche.

19:30 30th August 2023

Maria Himmelfahrt Kirche, Fritz-von-Miller-Weg 4, 83707 Bad Wiessee, Germany

Free entry

The iconic Ludwigskirche concludes the Munich leg of the Choir’s 2023 Germany tour. Don’t miss out on this fabulous concert, with programme containing Queens’ very own Howells and Leighton as well as organ solos played on the reverberent 20th-century instrument.

20:00 28th August 2023

Ludwigskirche, Ludwigstraße 22, 80539 München, Germany

Free entry

The Choir’s tour of Germany continues with a concert in the Stephanuskirche! This intimate and clear acoustic is complete with the stunning Kleuker organ and promises to be fabulous evening.

19:30 27th August 2023

Stephanuskirche, Nibelungenstraße 51, 80639 München, Germany

Free entry

Catch the opening concert of the Choir’s tour to Germany! With a rich and varied programme from Byrd to Bruckner, Monteverdi to MacMillan, this is not one to miss. In the euphonic setting of the Theatinerkirche, this concert will showcase Queen’s Choir at their very best.

18:30 26th August 2023

Theatinerkirche, Salvatorplatz 2A, 80333 München

Free entry

The USA meets the UK in this special joint concert given by Stanford Universty Chamber Chorale and The Choir of Queen’s College.

This free concert will feature works by Monteverdi,Vaughan Williams, Hogan, Bruckner, Barber, Byrd, Leighton and Lili’uokalani.

Free entry so do come along!

Enjoy the glorious setting of the Fellows’ Garden at Queen’s, where the choir will sing madrigals, part-songs, and close-harmony arrangements while you enjoy a glass of wine or a soft drink, included in the ticket price. 

The first half will be sung in the College’s beautiful baroque chapel, with the choir performing Kenneth Leighton’s Veris gratia. This is a stunning early work of the celebrated composer, written for The Eglesfield Musical Society during his time at Queen’s and first performed in 1950. Leighton’s settings of medieval poems are powerful and evocative depictions of our relationship to nature. With clear influences from the pastoral of Finzi and Vaughan-Williams, Leighton’s luxurious musical style provides the perfect setting for a summer’s evening at Queen’s.

Handel Messiah

Handel's Messiah lies at the very heart of Christmas musical festivities. The oratorio follows Christ's life from the prophecies of the Old Testament through to his birth, passion and resurrection, and the final conquest of sin with the promise of eternal life. Handel uses his consummate skill as an opera composer to inject vivid colour and intense drama into his score. First heard in 1741, it remains just as popular today as it did in Dublin nearly 300 years ago. Arias of mesmerising beauty and triumphant courage sit alongside virtuoso choruses of stunning power - including the famous 'Hallelujah Chorus'.

This concert continues the acclaimed collaboration between the Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford and the world famous Academy of Ancient Music, a combination of the finest choral singing and an orchestra with a worldwide reputation for excellence in baroque and classical music.  Their last Messiah together in 2021, also with a star-studded lineup of soloists, sold-out months before the event and early booking is advised. 

Choir and orchestra are conducted by Owen Rees, Director of Music at The Queen's College, hailed as 'one of the most energetic and persuasive voices’ in this field.

Julia Doyle soprano
Esther Brazil mezzo-soprano
Guy Cutting tenor
Tristan Hambleton bass-baritone

Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford
Academy of Ancient Music

Owen Rees director

Tickets £40/£35/£30/£15 £5 (students)

A drinking club with music, or a music club with drinking? The ‘Noblemen and Gentlemen’s Catch Club’ was founded in 1761; a more down to earth version of its elegant cousin, the Academy of Ancient Music. With scant regard for historical accuracy, we recreate the essence of these social occasions, with music by Purcell, Arne, Boyce and others, including those whose bawdy texts required anonymity.

The Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford, directed by Owen Rees, is joined by the star baritone Christopher Purves for this concert. Freud's is an Oxford insitution: an amazing converted church with legendary cocktails! Food will be available throughout the evening, and the bar will be open between sets. An unmissable evening.

Christopher Purves (Baritone)

Rowan Pierce (Soprano)

Christopher Bucknall (Harpsichirdist)

Jonathan Byers (Cellist)

Choir of The Queen’s College, Oxford (Ensemble)

Owen Rees (Conductor)

Book tickets here

THIS PERFORMANCE HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

All ticket holders should have received an email and a refund. Please contact choir@queens.ox.ac.uk for any queries regarding this.

Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford
Owen Rees director

A candlelit concert of carols old and new -  our annual Christmas celebration. Early booking advised as we sell out every year.

A glass of mulled wine or soft drink served in Queen’s beautiful Baroque Hall is included within the ticket price.

Tickets: £20 main chapel (£5 students), £5 ante-chapel

THIS PERFORMANCE HAS NOW SOLD OUT. Our Director Owen Rees will be conducting a very similar programme of festive favourites and traditional carols with his professional vocal group Contrapunctus in Queen’s College Chapel on Sunday 12 December. Tickets are still available for that performance here.

Please CLICK HERE to be added to the waiting list for returns for ‘Carols from Queen’s’ on Friday 17th December (this will also show any return tickets which have become newly available for purchase).

Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford
Owen Rees director

A candlelit concert of carols old and new -  our annual Christmas celebration. Early booking advised as we sell out every year.

A glass of mulled wine or soft drink served in Queen’s beautiful Baroque Hall is included within the ticket price.

Tickets: £20 main chapel (£5 students) / £5 ante-chapel

Handel Messiah

Handel's great masterpiece narrates the story of Christ from nativity to resurrection and the triumph of life over death.

Rowan Pierce soprano
Esther Brazil mezzo-soprano
Ted Black tenor
Ashley Riches bass-baritone

Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford
Academy of Ancient Music

Owen Rees director

Tickets £40/£35/£30/£15 £5 (students)