Choirs of the Chapel Royal Hampton Court Palace and St-Mary-le-Tower Ipswich

Saturday 12th October 2024 at 7.00pm

Doors & bar open at 6.30pm

Tickets: £20

Tickets are available HERE

By phoning 01728 454022, or in person Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10-12pm at the AJH corner office.

The Choir of the Chapel Royal Hampton Court Palace

The Choir of St Mary-le-Tower Ipswich

Carl Jackson & Christopher Borrett conductors

Programme to include:

Vivaldi Gloria in D RV589

Ben Parry: Missa Brevis ‘Wolsey Mass’

In 2023, Ipswich and Hampton Court Palace (and other institutions) celebrated the 550th anniversary of Cardinal Wolsey’s birth. It is believed that Wolsey first went to school in the north transept of St Mary-le-Tower Church. Within his roles as Bishop of Durham (whereupon he became known as Prince-Bishop of Durham), and subsequently as Bishop of Winchester, he held much political power, and championed education, choral music, art and grand architecture, culminating in the construction of Hampton Court Palace. It is both the shared ‘Wolseian’ heritage and the shared commitment to the English choral tradition which brings these two choirs together for this occasion.

The Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace, is part of the Ecclesiastical Household of His Majesty the King, and has been the spiritual home of the Order of the Companions of Honour since 2017. The building of the Chapel began in 1528 by Thomas, Cardinal Wolsey, and is one of Hampton Court’s highlights as well as being home to one of Britain’s leading choirs. Many monarchs have heard sacred music sung beneath Henry VIII’s sumptuous ceiling, installed in 1535. From its beginnings, many of our nation’s greatest musicians have worked in the Chapel, amongst them Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons and Henry Purcell. Hampton Court Palace was central to many of the early developments of the Church of England, and of the Book of Common Prayer. Our services continue that Prayer Book tradition, and The Chapel Royal continues today as a place of worship, serving the King, the Palace community, regular worshippers and visitors. The current choir is comprised of the Director of Music, supported by the Organist and two Organ Scholars, together with six professional singers, and the boy choristers. Some recent highlights for the choir include featuring on documentary programmes produced by historians Tracy Borman and Lucy Worsley, performing for corporate clients and livery companies, and producing CD recordings with the record label, Resonus Classics. Following discs of music by Thomas Tallis, Thomas Tomkins, and a Christmas recording which featured on BBC Radio 3 Record Review as part of John Rutter’s Christmas selection, a CD of music by John Sheppard is due to be recorded by the choir in 2025.

The Choir of St Mary-le-Tower has long been recognised as a centre for choral excellence in Suffolk. Today it continues to offer a traditional style of choral worship and performance with an emphasis on the involvement of young people. The choir has appeared on BBC 1’s Songs of Praise programme, broadcast live on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Worship programme and recorded a number of services for the Church of England’s YouTube channel, including Midnight Mass for Christmas Eve in December 2023.  In December 2021, the choir’s carol recording The Road to Bethlehem was featured on Classic FM, as their ‘Discovery of the Week’ and was described as ‘spellbinding’ by presenter John Brunning.  A recording of Handel and Vivaldi is due to be released in December this year.