Abbey Gate College Chapel Choir

Abbey Gate College Chapel Choir was formed in 1983 by its current Director of Music, Stewart Smith. It began as a Chamber Choir of 15 members which has now expanded to a membership of over 70.

As Chester Cathedral has no choir school Abbey Gate College is amongst a group of schools fortunate to benefit from educating some of the boy and girl choristers with the obvious advantages they have in choral singing which is a great asset to the Chapel Choir. In addition to two annual school services at Christmas and Passiontide, held in Chester Cathedral, the Choir gives regular concerts and sings for services in the local area as well as further afield.

The Choir recorded its first CD in March 1997 in Chester Cathedral, which includes the Fauré Requiem, Zadok the Priest and the Hallelujah Chorus. The second CD ‘Bright the Vision’ was recorded in 1999. In celebration of Abbey Gate College’s 25th Anniversary a third CD was recorded in Chester Cathedral on March 6th and 7th 2003. A CD has been made from live performances made during the Choir’s 2006 tour of the Czech Republic and in October 2009 the choir recorded a CD of ‘Christmas favourites’.

The Choir has toured Holland, Denmark, Germany, Austria, France, the Czech Republic and the USA on two occasions. Each year the Choir sings Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral, London and will return there in April 2012. The Choir has sung in most major English Cathedrals on summer tours over the past 25 years. In October 2006 the Choir sang Evensong at St George’s Chapel Windsor. In the summer of 2008 the choir sang the daily evensongs for a week in Ely Cathedral. In July 2009 the choir toured Northern Italy and Venice and included a performance in St Mark’s Basilica, Venice. In the summer of 2010 the Choir performed in Brussells, Brugges, Ghent and at the Menin Gate at Ypres. The Choir sang Evensong for a week at Westminster Abbey in London in the summer of 2011.

In addition to performances to be found on the events page, the Choir will sing Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral on April 16th and the weekday Evensongs at Norwich Cathedral July 16th – 20th 2012.  Plans are being made for a Concert Tour to Eastern Europe in 2013.