A come and sing event with one of the world’s best-known composers, a commemoration of Franz Joseph Haydn and a rare opportunity to hear a concert in the Senate House are among the offerings of Cambridge Cantat 800, a week-long celebration of Cambridge choirs, which kicks off this weekend (11 April).

As part of the University’s 800th Anniversary celebrations, the Festival will celebrate the University’s great choral tradition through concerts in college chapels, concert halls and even a late-night cabaret in a local bar.

The 200th anniversary of Haydn’s death is marked in several programmes, while Cambridge composers feature in many others. Three distinguished former Cambridge music directors are welcomed back to Cambridge for the Festival: David Hill will conduct a massed choir in Festal Evensong, Christopher Robinson will be giving a conducting masterclass and John Rutter will host a come and sing event.

Rutter, one of the world’s most famous composers and conductors, was a former undergraduate, and later Director of Music of Clare College. He is now an Honorary Fellow of the College and remains one of the foremost exponents of choral music in Cambridge and worldwide. His continued relationship with Cambridge is marked by this celebration of the joy of singing, which will include the music of another Cambridge alumnus, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs.
The historic architecture of Cambridge is another star attraction of the Festival, including a rare opportunity to hear a concert in the University's Senate House on Thursday, 16 April.

The Festival launches on Saturday, 11 April, with a concert in the iconic King’s College Chapel. The concert, presented in partnership with Easter at King’s, features some of Haydn’s church music, as well as the well-known trumpet concerto, performed by David Blackadder.

The choirs of seven Cambridge colleges (Downing, Jesus, Magdalene, Queens’, Selwyn, Sidney Sussex and St Catharine’s) will combine forces for a special evensong at Ely Cathedral on 15 April, featuring the music of Handel and Charles Villiers Stanford. The performance will also be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

Also on 15 April, the Gentlemen of St John’s, one of the UK’s brightest young male voice consorts, will perform a late-night concert of jazz standards and The Gents’ home-grown arrangements of contemporary pop music at La Raza in Rose Crescent.

There will also be several events for families, including a singing workshop on 16 April at Emmanuel Reform United Church. Led by Lyn Alcántara (member of BBC Singers, Director of Music at Wolfson College, Cambridge and singing teacher and choral animateur for the Choir of King's College, Cambridge), this workshop will be a relaxed and accessible introduction to the singing skills that underlie the excellence of choral singing in Cambridge.

There are many more events taking place throughout the Festival. Please visit the Festival website at www.800.cam.ac.uk/cantat800 for a full listing. Tickets are available through the Cambridge Corn Exchange box office on 01223 357851.
 

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