Cantus Ensemble information pack 2026

2026 Audition Information Pack Thank you for your interest in joining the Cantus Ensemble. I have put together this information pack to give you a little more information about the choir and the audition process.

This season the choir continues to celebrate its fifteenth anniversary year in 2026, with an exciting programme of projects, including a monumental performance of William Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast at Smith Square Hall on 21 November, Bach motets and Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erden in March, and Tallis’ Spem in alium and our Patron, Sir James Macmillans forty-part response to it Vidi aquam in June. We will also team up with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall for two concerts of music from film.

We have vacancies in all voice parts but are particularly looking for basses. We are looking for outstanding, London-based choral singers to join our team as we embark on a special season of high-quality music-making, featuring five concerts and a tour to Europe.

Formed in 2011, Cantus came from a desire to create a home for singers in London who wanted to continue singing to an exceptional standard but also enjoy a varied & fulfilling social life after leaving university. If you enjoy singing a wide range of choral repertoire to a high standard and are looking for a group with a vibrant social life, then the Cantus Ensemble is the choir for you.

The Choir Honorary Patron: Sir James MacMillan

Founded in 2011, the Cantus Ensemble is one of London’s leading non-professional chamber choirs. We thrive on passionate, precise, and gripping performances of works - large and small - from across the choral spectrum. The choir’s membership is comprised of some of the capital’s finest amateur singers, with day jobs ranging from teaching and accounting to fine wine and television production.

Most of our rehearsals take place on Tuesday evenings St Gabriel’s Church, Pimlico, with concert venues varying as dictated by repertoire and programming needs. We maintain an excellent relationship with St Gabriel’s, our home for the past 12 years. In exchange for our rehearsal space in the church, members are asked to sing up to evensong twice per term which, as well as keeping subs low, gives everyone an opportunity to sing those staples of choral evensong we all know and love.

We also tour to an international destination every season during one of the May Bank Holiday weekends, and regularly sing guest evensongs across the UK: recent venues have included St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.

The choir’s repertoire is varied, and we have become known for exciting and innovative programming that challenges the norms of choral concerts. We perform works from the renaissance period to the present day and have given the UK and European premieres of several works by living composers.

We enjoy tackling some of the most challenging and exhilarating works in the choral repertoire, from Strauss’ twenty-part Deutsche Motette, to Poulenc’s Figure Humaine. Recent immersive performances have included Joby Talbot’s Path of Miracles, Mason Bates’ Sirens and Grammy and Pulitzer Prize for Music winner Caroline Shaw’s epic Partita for 8 Voices. As well as introducing singers and audiences to new works, Cantus continues to sing choral favourites, from Duruflé and Mozart’s Requiems, to Bach Motets and modern classics by Tippett, Poulenc and more.

Cantus been consistently recognised for its excellence, with appearances on Classic FM, BBC Radio 3, Scala Radio, and ITV. We have developed an excellent relationship with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, whom we have now performed alongside in eight concerts at both the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall.

The choir has won admiration from composer Sir James MacMillan, conductor Nigel Short and choral luminaries such as Ghislaine Morgan and Will Todd.

The choir taking a break from rehearsal in September 2025

How does the choir operate?

Singers in Cantus are expected to take part in all concert projects, but we allow singers to opt out of certain projects based on their availability. We operate a degree of flexibility with members to ensure that singing in Cantus is a fulfilling addition to members’ busy lives, not an all-encompassing distraction.

Rehearsals are on Tuesday evenings from 1915-2100 in Pimlico, and there is an important Saturday lunchtime rehearsal once a term for most projects, also im Pimlico.

Cantus thrives as a group because of its loyal and committed members. All singers are expected to: • Attend all rehearsals for each project they commit to. Absences are at the discretion of the Director and Choir Manager and will of course be granted where necessary.

• Sing in at least three main concerts • Sing up to two evensongs per term at St Gabriel’s, Pimlico Our annual European tour, which this year is across the first May Bank Holiday in 2027, is entirely optional and members are not obliged to attend, thought it is one of the highlights of the season.

All social events (more on these below) are optional, although attendance is warmly encouraged!

The social side

One of the choir’s defining features is its welcoming, friendly social atmosphere. Aside from going to the pub after rehearsals there are regular social events ranging from wine-tasting to Ceilidhs. Once per project there is a Saturday rehearsal (usually around lunchtime) which is followed by a social of some kind: recent events have included a Six Nations rugby afternoon, Cantus Sports Day, and the fiercely contested Cantus Challenge. At the end of year, we hold an Annual General Meeting, after which friends and family join us for an evening Ceilidh.

We feel that a warm and vibrant social side contributes to a healthy exchange of musical ideas in rehearsals, and this is a key factor in the dynamic sound that we produce in concerts and services. We are a close-knit group of friends and welcoming to new members - in Cantus you’re guaranteed to make new friends for life. There are even four couples who met in Cantus who are now married!

The Audition Process

Auditions this summer will take place over the following dates: Tuesday 8 September (1830-2130) Tuesday 15 September (1830-2130) The venue for both days is St Gabriel’s Church Halls, Churchill Gardens, London SW1V 3AA. Audition Format Audition for Cantus are run in an inclusive and friendly manner. For most of your audition you will be singing as part of a quartet (the other three parts being made up by current Cantus members who are not re-auditioning). This will - hopefully - put you more at ease while allowing us to assess the most important things for a choral singer in a tight-knit ensemble: blend, intonation, and awareness of the other parts.

On the day, you will be asked to sight-read an additional, short piece for vocal quartet. With sight-reading, rather than looking for absolute perfection, we will spend a few minutes working on the piece together to assess how you take direction and how quickly you are able to get up to speed.

The full audition format is as follows: +Welcome and informal chat +Scales to assess range +Simple aural tests +Prepared quartet piece +Sight-reading with quartet Auditions take up to fifteen minutes.

To book an audition please fill in the form on the audition page of our website, www.thecantusensemble.com/join, offering as much availability as possible. We will then contact you individually with a time slot and a link to your audition pack.

The choir performing at the Royal Albert Hall in a programme of video game music with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Membership subscriptions

Members of the choir typically pay around £180 across the entire season, which is substantially less than any other choir we know of. These subs cover rehearsal and performance costs only and any leftover fees are reinvested into our exciting programming schedule.

Members are offered many paid opportunities throughout the year (especially around Christmas), which tends to offset this cost, whilst singing additional evensong services with can bring it down even more.

No singer should feel unable to sing in Cantus because of the modest costs involved and so we are always able to use discretion to discuss this with singers on an individual basis.

2026/27 Season Dates & Repertoire

Full details of all projects and the rehearsal dates can be found on the following pages, which includes our regular Tuesday evening rehearsals, and our importnant, termly Saturday rehearsals.

For our exciting Belshazzar’s Feast project in November, we will have a massed forces rehearsal on Sunday 15 November with the Symphony Orchestra, Brass Bands and two other choirs.

Project 1: Belshazzar’s Feast Concert: Sat 21 Nov (2-5pm rehearsal / 7.30pm performance) Project 2: A Cantus Christmas Concert: Sat 19 Dec (2-5pm rehearsal / 7pm performance) Project 3: Singet!

Concert: Sat 20 March (2-5pm rehearsal / 7pm performance) Project 4: European Tour Rehearsal: Tue 27 Apr; Tour: Sat 1 - Wed 5 May Project 5: RPO Film Music Gala Saturday 29 May Project 6: A sea of voices Concert: Sat 12 June (2-5pm rehearsal / 7pm performance)

The choir performing Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil in 2022

PROJECT 1

BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST

A celebration of Cantus’ fifteenth anniversary at Smith Sqaure Hall Joined by Hampstead Chamber Choir, Covent Garden Chorus & Orchestra of the City Sir William Walton Orb and Sceptre March WW A Litany WW Coronation Te Deum WW Belshazzar’s Feast Tuesdays 29 September; 6, 13, 20, 27 October; 3, 10, 17 November Saturday 10 October (12-4), Sunday 15 November (2-5) Concert: Sat 21 November (2-5pm rehearsal / 7.30pm performance)

PROJECT 2

A CANTUS CHRISTMAS

Cantus’ annual, sold-out Christmas carol concert - St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Tuesdays 24 November; 1, 8, 15 December Concert: Sat 19 December (2-5pm rehearsal / 7pm performance)

PROJECT 3

SINGET!

Gems of the choral rerpertory for double choir - St George’s Church, Bloomsbury Orlando di Lassus Jubilate Deo Orlando Gibbons O Clap your hands together J.S. Bach Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf Jonathan Harvey Come Holy Ghost JSB Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied Arnold Schoenberg Friede auf Erden Tuesdays 26 January; 2, 9, 16, 23 February; 2, 9, 16 March Saturday 30 January (12-4) Concert: Sat 20 March (2-5pm rehearsal / 7pm performance)

PROJECT 5

RPO FILM MUSIC GALA

Our biannual collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall Saturday 29 May, all day Rehearsal in morning at concerts at 3pm & 7:30pm

PROJECT 6

A SEA OF VOICES

Stunning music performed in the round, including Spem in alium, and Sir Jame Macmillan’s forty part response to it; Vidi aquam - St Mary-at-Hill John Sheppard, Media Vita Eric Whitacre, Cloudburst Thomas Tallis, Spem in alium Sir James Macmillan, Vidi Aquam Tuesdays 11, 18, 25 May; 1, 8 June Saturday 8 May (12-4) Concert: Sat 12 June (2-5pm rehearsal / 7pm performance)