Sports & Societies THE EAGLE
The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge Once again the Choir has had another incredibly busy year, having sung at nearly two hundred College Chapel services during the course of the year, book-ended by the Matriculation and Graduation services. There are several particular services worthy of specific mention: the Choir was joined by members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for three Cantata Evensongs. Putting these excellent Bach pieces back into the liturgical context they were written for has proved immensely popular and has provided the opportunity for the Choral Students to sing solos with some of the best orchestral players in the country. The Choir was also joined by string ensembles to perform Viennese Masses for two Sunday Eucharists in the Easter term. In September the BBC invited the Choir to film music for two Songs of Praise programmes. BBC Radio 3 broadcast the traditional Advent Service on Advent Sunday and a memorable Choral Evensong on Wednesday 28 April, during which the Choir sang the thought-provoking canticles by Honorary Fellow, Jonathan Harvey. BBC Radio 4 broadcast a service from the Chapel for Morning Worship in February. Once again the Choir climbed the 163 feet to the top of the Chapel tower to commemorate Ascension Day, as usual hundreds of people gathered in the court below. The candle-lit Epiphany Carol Service has grown in popularity over recent years, to the extent that this year the decision was taken to hold two, on the first Saturday and Sunday of the full Lent term. The Chapel was full on both occasions creating an incredibly special atmosphere. Returning Johnians are warmly welcome at this and all services.
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SPORTS & SOCIETIES
The Choir has one of the largest and most wide-ranging repertoires of any of its kind and this has been exemplified this year by two new collaborations. The first collaboration in January was a contract with Chandos Records to record five CDs. The first of these was a disc of music by former Acting Organist of the College, Herbert Howells which was released in March 2010. The Choir recorded a disc of Choral Favourites in April, which will be released in November 2010, and teamed up with His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts in July to record a disc of music by the sixteenth century Flemish composer, Orlando Lassus. Always keen to promote new choral music, the second collaboration saw the Choir enter into a year-long partnership with Choir & Organ Magazine. This involved the commissioning of four new choral and two organ works to be premiered by the Choir and Organ Students in Chapel in conjunction with articles in the magazine. It was particularly pleasing to perform a work by Richard Wilberforce, former Alto Choral Student. Another highlight was the commission