Latest News
Posted: Thursday 8th July 2010
'the internationally-renowned Ex Cathedra returns to Lichfield' - Birmingham Post preview
'Choral music on a grander scale resounds in the Cathedral next Friday, when the internationally-renowned Ex Cathedra returns to Lichfield ... with the kind of programme which has marked out director Jeffrey Skidmore’s imaginative and questing approach ever since the chamber chorus’ foundation 40 years ago.' Read the Birmingham Post preview of the Lichfield Festival...
Posted: Thursday 3rd June 2010
2010-11 tickets on general sale
Tickets for Birmingham concerts in our 2010-11 season go on general sale today. Call 0121 780 3333 or visit our concert diary to book online. Don't forget that you can benefit from up to 30% off by booking a concert package, and packages start from as few as 3 concerts. Download our season brochure for more details.
Posted: Tuesday 20th April 2010
'a Monteverdi extravaganza' - BBC preview of the Lichfield Festival concert
'Ex Cathedra will be re-creating 1610 in the cathedral with a Monteverdi extravaganza'. Read the BBC preview of the Lichfield Festival...
Posted: Monday 23rd November 2009
Listen to Jeffrey being interviewed on In Tune
Jeffrey Skidmore is interviewed on BBC Radio 3's "In Tune" programme, discussing our approach to Gerontius, with an example from the 1920s conducted by Elgar. Listen again online (until Monday 30 November 2009). The interview begins at 1:12.
Posted: Saturday 21st November 2009
Listen to Elgar's trombone on BBC Radio 4
Sue Addison, Principal Trombone for Ex Cathedra and the OAE's concerts of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius will be playing Elgar's own trombone. It is much softer-sounding than modern instruments. Listen to her playing it on BBC Radio 4's "Today" programme on Friday 20 November.... (The interview is at about 2:52. Please note that this content will expire on 27 November 2009)
Posted: Saturday 21st November 2009
Watch Elgar's trombone - BBC News
'Sir Edward Elgar might be one of the best known British composers, but playing the trombone did not number among his many musical skills.' Watch Sue Addison play Salut d'amour in the BBC Radio 4 studio...
Posted: Friday 20th November 2009
Elgar failed to master the trombone - Daily Telegraph
'Elgar tried to take up the trombone in middle age but was so bad at it that a friend was forced to leave the room, it has emerged.' Read the rest of the story...
Posted: Friday 20th November 2009
Blowing the trombone for Edward Elgar - The Times
'I have Elgar’s trombone in my hands. I feel a certain kinship, having resumed the French horn at 40 after a long lay-off.' Read the rest of the story...
Posted: Friday 20th November 2009
Great composer, shame he couldn't play - The Independent
'Letter uncovered in museum reveals how Edward Elgar was so bad at the trombone it made people laugh.' Read the rest of the story...
Posted: Friday 20th November 2009
Even Elgar couldn't play the trombone - The Guardian
'Elgar's comic struggles with the trombone give hope to all fellow enthusiastic but incompetent musicians.' Read the rest of the story...
Posted: Friday 16th October 2009
Forty years a choirmaster
Jeffrey Skidmore still looks remarkably youthful for the founder of a choir which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this season. But then he started early, having actually launched the group when he was still at school in his native Birmingham. Read a preview of our 40th anniversary season in the Birmingham Post...
Posted: Wednesday 7th October 2009
From Machaut to Dunachie - October with Ex Cathedra
Our 40th anniversary season is finally here! We have a busy autumn and hope that you share our excitement about the forthcoming concerts. The first thing to tell you is that we have an additional concert taking place this weekend. The season 'proper' gets underway with A New Heaven on Saturday 17 October at The Oratory, Birmingham, a concert which surveys a 1000 years of sacred choral music, and contains music from Machaut to Poulenc, and from Tallis and Byrd to Parry, Bainton, MacMillan and Dunachie (the youngest member of the choir)! To read more, sign up to our newsletter...
Posted: Sunday 20th September 2009
Listen to a Classic FM podcast about our 40th anniversary season
Listen to the Classic FM podcast in which Jeffrey talks about the forthcoming season
Posted: Monday 7th September 2009
A fun, FREE concert
Join us on Saturday 12 September for a FREE taster of our forthcoming season as part of ArtsFest weekend. Lasting 45 minutes, you will hear a selection of anniversary-related music by Henry VIII, Purcell, Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn and a tune by Tarrega which is perhaps the most famous ringtone of them all! It was a lot of fun last year, and Town Hall was full to the gunnels - so don´t miss out! To read more, sign up to our newsletter...
Posted: Friday 17th July 2009
Sanctus and Lalande now available
Limited stock of our Sanctus and Lalande Regina cœli CDs are now available.
Posted: Thursday 9th July 2009
A few of Jeffrey's favourite things
Jeffrey Skidmore is to give a FREE talk at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham at 6.30pm on Wednesday 15 July. Part of a series titled 'These are a few of my favourite things', we hope you will join him, and advise that tickets should be reserved by calling Ikon on 0121 248 0708. Read more at www.ikon-gallery.co.uk.
Posted: Thursday 18th June 2009
2009/10 tickets on general sale
Tickets for our 2009/10 season concerts in Birmingham are now on general sale. Visit our concert diary for more information. Book online via the links on each concert page, or call the THSH Box Office on 0121 780 3333. Don't forget you can make a saving by booking a concert package - see our brochure for more details.
Posted: Friday 12th June 2009
From the English Restoration to the 21st-century US via South America
We've got an exciting week coming up with four concerts in eight days. The repertoire takes from the English Restoration to the 21st-century United States, via large parts of Latin America, but you can hear us at Sherborne Abbey, The Oratory (Birmingham), St Jude’s Proms (London) and the V&A Museum. Sign up to get our news...
Posted: Friday 12th June 2009
Proms at St Jude's preview
'... the very excellent Ex Cathedra choir.' Read the rest of Michael White's preview at www.telegraph.co.uk.
Posted: Saturday 16th May 2009
2009/10 season concerts announced
Ex Cathedra is delighted to announce its 2009/2010 concerts, its 40th anniversary season. Download our season brochure here (1.1MB). Priority booking for concert packages is underway now. There will be a priority booking period for our Host of Angels who do not want a concert package from 11 June. Tickets will be on general sale from 18 June. A booking form and full details are set out in the brochure.
Posted: Wednesday 6th May 2009
Audience survey winner announced
Congratulations to Mr Seivewright, winner of two tickets for The Dream of Gerontius in November. The winning form was picked at random by Jeffrey Skidmore from the completed audience survey questionnaires undertaken at our 'Christmas Music by Candlelight' concerts in Birmingham last December.
Posted: Thursday 23rd April 2009
Festivals take centre stage
The Hagley Music Festival begins on April 29 with a concert given by children from Hagley Primary School and their vocal tutors from Ex Cathedra. Read the rest of the story in the Birmingham Post
Posted: Tuesday 14th April 2009
Elijah 1846 on BBC Radio 3
Ex Cathedra's recreation of the original 1846 version of Mendelssohn's Elijah with OAE is to be broadcast by BBC Radio 3 on Friday 8 May, 7pm. Jeffrey Skidmore will be interviewed live in the studio during the programme.
Posted: Friday 3rd April 2009
Ex Cathedra helps give Hagley School its singing voice
Budding performers at Hagley Primary School will renew a fruitful relationship with leading chamber choir Ex Cathedra later this month. The choir’s resident vocal tutors will help the children stage their own concert on Wednesday April 29 as part of Hagley’s five-day Music Festival. Read the rest of the story in the Birmingham Post
Posted: Friday 27th March 2009
Coming up in April: Goodall, Bach & Stravinsky!
Following an unusually structured but very successful concert at The Oratory earlier this month (read the review), Ex Cathedra has been gearing up behind the scenes for a very busy April… Sign up to receive our email newsletter
Posted: Thursday 26th March 2009
Requiem Eternal Light treads new ground
Eternal Light will be performed at Birmingham Hippodrome from Wednesday onwards as part of a three-ballet programme presented by the Rambert Dance Company, with the music delivered by the Ex Cathedra Academy of Vocal Music and Rambert’s associate orchestra, London Musici. Read an interview with Howard Goodall in the Birmingham Post...
Posted: Tuesday 24th February 2009
Forthcoming broadcasts on BBC Radio 3
Next Monday, 2 March, at approximately 2.40pm you can hear music from a performance given by Ex Cathedra at Lichfield Cathedral in 2007 comprising J.S Bach’s double-choir motet Komm Jesu, komm and a wonderful piece called Shared Ground which was partly inspired by that motet. The concert was conducted by Jeffrey Skidmore.
Posted: Friday 17th October 2008
Elijah's coming home
... on Saturday Jeffrey Skidmore and his expert choir, reinforced with a reunion of past members, perform in Birmingham Town Hall probably the greatest of the festival’s commissions – greater even, possibly, than Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius – Mendelssohn’s epic oratorio Elijah. It will be given in its original version, which has never been heard since its Town Hall premiere. Read an interview with Jeffrey Skidmore in the Birmingham Post
Posted: Thursday 16th October 2008
Ex Cathedra revive Mendelssohn's original Elijah
It was last performed 162 years ago at Birmingham’s Town Hall but has not been heard since. Read the rest of the story in the Birmingham Post
Posted: Sunday 1st June 2008
Birmingham International Concert Season 2008/09
The city of Birmingham has established itself very firmly as a leading venue for classical concerts in the UK. Read the rest of the preview at Musicweb International
Posted: Wednesday 23rd April 2008
Crowds turn out for Charles and Camilla in Birmingham
... invited guests were treated to a performance of three choral arrangements by Ex Cathedra. Read the rest of the story in the Birmingham Post
Posted: Friday 28th March 2008
Ex Cathedra celebrates 40 years
Birmingham chamber choir Ex Cathedra is embarking on an ambitious three-year programme to mark its 40th birthday. Founder-director Jeffrey Skidmore tells Terry Grimley his plans. Read the rest of the interview here
