The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge

On Friday the Choir sang in our penultimate Quincentenary concert, in Ely Cathedral. After Elgar's concert overture, In the South, and Des Knaben Wunderhorn by Gustav Mahler, sung by Ann Murray and former Choral Scholar, Leigh Melrose, our Choir joined with four other Cambridge Choirs (from Caius, Clare, Jesus and Trinity Colleges) and the Philharmonia Orchestra to perform Walton's dramatic oratorio, Belshazzar's Feast. Melrose sang the baritone solo and the large choir was boosted by more St John's alumni as well as some alumni from other Cambridge Choirs. The concert and its place in the Quincentenary Celebrations of the College were featured on ITV Anglia News that evening. It's a good job we had some sort of success on Friday evening – I'll pass over the shameful loss which the Gents suffered in a football match against Coll. Reg. (the men from King's)...12-3. This week we look forward to the Advent Carol Services and the first performance of our final Quincentenary commission, The Annunciation by Jonathan Harvey.