2024/25 SEASON
​
The Song of the Mass: German Romantic Choral Music
Musical Director: James Potter
​

• ​Felix Mendelssohn Jauchzet dem Herrn
• Felix Mendelssohn Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen
• Johannes Brahms Fünf Gesänge Op. 104
• Fanny Hensel Gartenlieder Op. 3
• Josef Rheinberger Mass in Eb major ('Cantus Missae') Op. 109

In the Beginning: Music of Myth and Creation
Musical Director: James Potter
​with Gabriella Noble (mezzo-soprano), Hebe Kan (harp), Charlotte Dalmijn (percussion) and Alexander Hamilton (organ)​​​
​

• ​Orlando Lassus In principio erat verbum
• Arvo Pärt Which was the son of
• Aaron Copland In the beginning
• Sarah Rimkus The God who sees me
• Sergei Rachmaninov Blagoslovi dushe moya (from All-night vigil)
• Leonard Bernstein Chichester psalms​

A Shepherd's Journey: Carols for Choir and Audience
Musical Director: James Potter
​​with Will Mason (organ)
​

• David Willcocks Birthday Carol
• John Rutter​ Jesus Child
• ​Michael Head The Little Road to Bethlehem
• Trad. German (arr. Rutter) Quem Pastores
• Poulenc Quem vidistis pastores
• Bob Chilcott The Shepherd’s Carol
• Tomás Luis de Victoria Quem vidistis pastores
• Handel Pifa, There Were Shepherds (recitative) & Glory to God (chorus), from Messiah
• Ben Ponniah Paradise Carol ​(An NCS Commission)
• Ben Rowarth The Shepherd Girl
• John Tavener The Lamb
• Trad. French (arr. Willcocks) Quelle est cette odeur agréable?
• Hector Berlioz The Shepherd’s Farewell, from L’enfance du Christ (Op. 25)
• John Rutter Shepherd’s Pipe Carol

​Re-imagined: Vaughan Williams and the Tudor Revival
Musical Director: James Potter
with Will Mason (organ)
​

• ​William Byrd Ave verum corpus
• Ralph Vaughan Williams Mass in G minor 
  (interspersed with Tudor organ pieces)
• Herbert Howells Salve regina
• Arnold Bax Mater ora filium
• Herbert Howells Master Tallis’ Testament (organ solo)
• Gustav Holst Nunc dimittis
• Roderick Williams Ave verum corpus Re-imagined​

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​2023/24 SEASON
​
​The Lark Ascending: Music from Nature for Choir, Cello & Violin
Musical Director: James Potter
with Freya Goldmark (violin) and Chris Terepin (cello)
​

• ​​​​​Stanford Eight Partsongs (Op. 119)
• Peteris Vasks Plainscapes
• Healey Willan Rise Up, My Love
• Caroline Shaw And the Swallow
• Becky McGlade The Oak
• Vaughan Williams (arr. Paul Drayton) The Lark Ascending​

Chorale: A Celebration of Melody
Musical Director: James Potter
with Will Mason (organ)
​

• Martin Luther (arr.  J.S. Bach) Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin
• Brahms Warum ist das Licht gegeben​
• J.C.F. Bach Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
• Mendelssohn When Jesus our Lord (from Christus, Op. 97)
• Luther (arr. Johann Crüger) Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland
• Philip Moore Evening Prayers (No. 3 from Three Prayers of Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
• J.S. Bach Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele
• Rutter Hymn to the Creator of Light
• Arr. Knut Nystedt Komm, süßer Tod, komm sel'ger Ruh'
  (The Immortal Bach)​​

Hallelujah!
Musical Director: Tim Brown
with Roland Robertson & Glen Dempsey (organ)
​

• Trad. Hodie (Liber Ursalis)​
• Praeteorius Puer natus in Bethlehem
• Trad. There is no rose of swych vertu
• Byrd From the Virgin's womb this day - Rejoice, rejoice
• J.P. Sweelinck Hodie Christus natus est
• Timothy Brown Remember, O thou man
• Trad. Entre le boeuf et l'âne gris
• Mendelssohn Frohlocket, ihr Völker auf Erden, und preiset Gott!​
• Max Reger (arr. Timothy Brown) Maria Wiegenlied
• ​Peter Cornelius Three kings from Persian lands afar
• Arr. Timothy Brown American Christmas Medley
• Trad. (arr. Timothy Brown) The Cherry Tree Carol
• ​Handel Hallelujah (from Messiah​)

Songs of Freedom
Musical Director:​ Tim Brown
with​ Glen Dempsey (organ)
​

• ​Mendelssohn Hear my Prayer
• Tippett Five Spirituals from A Child of our Time
• Giles Swayne Missa Tiburtina
• Rutter Ukrainian Prayer
• Howells Psalm-Prelude, Set 1: No. 1, Psalm 34:6 
• Christopher Brown De Profundis 
  ​(World première of new work to celebrate the composer's 80th birthday, inspired by the Prisoners’ Chorus from Fidelio)​
• Mendelssohn Psalm 22

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2022/23 SEASON 

J.S. Bach: St Matthew Passion
Musical Director: Graham Walker | Orchestra: Cambridge Baroque Camerata | OLEM Song School Choir
​

• J.S. Bach​ St Matthew Passion

​Saturday 10 June 2023, 7.30pm 
Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs, Cambridge



Songs of Springtime
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​

• Rutter There is a flower
• Howells A spotless rose
• Otto Goldschmidt​ A tender shoot
• Trad. (arr. Charles Wood) King Jesus hath a garden
• Gibbons Fair is the rose
• Vaughan Williams The Willow Song (Three Elizabethan Part Songs, No. 2)
• Robert Pearsall Lay a garland
• Elgar There is sweet music
• Moeran Songs of Springtime (R54)
• Arthur Sullivan To daffodils
• Harold Darke To daffodils
• Roger Quilter To daffodils
• Britten Five Flower Songs (Op. 47)

Christmas Around the World
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​

• Trad. (arr. Willcocks) Angelus ad Virginem (14th century Irish carol)
• José Ramón Gomis (arr. Cifre) A la nanita nana (Andalucian carol)
• Sergei Rachmaninov Bogoroditse devo (Russian Liturgy of Vespers, Op. 37)
• Simon  Beattie Angel and Unicorn (Basque carol)
• Hector Berlioz The shepherds’ farewell (French, from L'enfance du Christ, Op. 25)
• Trad. (arr. Rutter) Quem pastores laudavere (14th century German)
• Trad. (arr. Willcocks) Quelle est cette odeur (French carol)
• J.S. Bach Ehre sei Gott (German, from Christmas Oratorio)
• Trad. (arr. Willcocks) The Infant King (Basque carol)
• Trad. (arr. Willcocks) Infant holy, infant lowly (Polish carol)
• Chesnokov O Tebe Raduyetsia (Russian Liturgy of St Basil the Great)
• William Mathias A babe is born (Welsh, Op. 55)
• Leontovich (arr. Wilhousky) Carol of the Bells (Ukrainian)
• Trad. (arr. Pearsall) In dulci jubilo (16th century German)
• Trad. (arr. Wilberg) Ding Dong merrily on high (16th century French)
• J. Pierpoint (arr. Roberts) Jingle, bells (American)

Music for Peace
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​

• Mikolaj Zielenski In monte oliveti
• Jan Dismas Zelenka Tristis est anima mea ​
• Maksym Berezovsky ​Do not reject me in my old age
• Dmitry Stepanovich Bortniansky Cherubic Hymn
• Pavel Chesnokov Cherubic Hymn
• Artemy Vedel Blazhen Muzh
• Pavel Chesnokov Blazhen Muzh
• Mykola Lysenko Prayer for Ukraine
• Henryk Gorecki Totus Tuus
• Antonín Dvořák Songs of Nature
• Mátyás György Seiber Yugoslav Folksongs

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2021/22 SEASON

Shakespeare on Song
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​

• Jaako Mäntejärvi Four Shakespeare Songs
• Tavener Three Shakespeare Sonnets
• Vaughan Williams Three Shakespeare Songs
• Tim Watts A Spell to Lure Apollo​
  ​(A New Cambridge Singers commission)
• Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Romancero Gitano

Spring Concert 2022
Musical Director: Graham Walker | Organ: Benedict Turner-Berry
​

• Frank Martin Mass for Double Choir
• Pergolesi Stabat Mater​

​​

Saturday 12 March 2022, 7.30pm
Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs, Cambridge

Sunday 20 March 2022, 7.30pm
​St Mary the Virgin, Fen Ditton

A Festive Celebration
Musical Director: Graham Walker | Organ: Benedict Turner-Berry
​
Having missed the opportunity to sing for Christmas 2020 we were determined to pull all the stops out this year! A selection of popular and less-well-known carols, combined with plenty of opportunities for audience singing, was sure to keep the festive spirits going.​​​

Autumn Concert 2021
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​

• J.S. Bach Jesu, meine Freude
• H. Schütz Musikalische Exequien​

​​
Saturday 16 October 2021, 8pm
Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs, Cambridge

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​2019/20 SEASON

A Christmas Collection
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
​The festive period begins here! We intersperse movements of Stephen Dodgon’s quirky and original A Christmas Collection (world première) with familiar and less-well-known music by Palestrina, Mathias, Rütti and Rutter, alongside plenty of audience carols in a concert which is sure to lift the spirits. 

Brahms: German Requiem & Cello Sonata in E Minor
Musical Director and Cello: Graham Walker | Piano:​ Maurice and Thanea Hodges
​

• Brahms German Requiem
• Brahms Cello Sonata in E Minor

​​​​
Saturday 9 November 2019
Little St Mary’s Church, Cambridge 

Saturday 16 November 2019
St Andrew’s Church, Swavesey 

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2018/19 SEASON

Songs of Farewell
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​

• Victoria Requiem Mass
• Parry Songs of Farewell

Saturday 22 June 2019
Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge

J.S. Bach: B Minor Mass
Musical Director: Graham Walker | Orchestra: Cambridge Baroque Camerata | Mezzo-soprano: Lucy Taylor | Sopranos: Jessica Kinney & Sophie Cotton | Tenor: Gopal Kambo 
​

• ​J.S. Bach B Minor Mass​ ​

​

​Saturday 16 March 2019
St John’s College Chapel, Cambridge ​

The Big Sing: Fauré's Requiem
Musical Director: Graham Walker | Orchestra: ​Cambridge Baroque Camerata
​

• Fauré Requiem
• Fauré Cantique de Jean Racine
• Mozart Ave Verum Corpus​

​​
On behalf of everyone at CPSL Mind, I would like to say a huge thank you for the second financial installment of £4,865 from the Big Sing 2019, making a grand total of £8,101.68! This is an amazing amount to have raised and we are simply overwhelmed by your support.
​
As requested, this donation will be used for our Sanctuary service, helping local people in mental health crisis. Last year the Sanctuary received 1,857 visits from people needing practical and emotional support and this year we expect the demand to be just as high, so your support really does help a lot.

Many thanks again for choosing us as your charity.

Saturday 19 January 2019
Great St Mary’s Church, Cambridge

Christmas Concert
Musical Director: Graham Walker | ​Piano: Maurice Hodges | Harp:​ Rohan Platts | Sinfonia of Cambridge | Sylvia Armit School of Dance
​

• Menotti Amahl and the Night Visitors
• Britten A Ceremony of Carols 

​

Saturday 8 December 2018
St Vigor’s Church, Fulbourn

Saturday 15 December 2018 ​
St John the Evangelist Church, Cambridge​

In Remembrance: Duruflé Requiem
Musical Director: Graham Walker | Organ: Christopher Whitton
​

• Rachmaninov Movements from Vespers
• Jonathan Harvey Come Holy Ghost
• Bairstow Blessed City, Heav’nly Salem
• Nunn Rejoice We
• Duruflé Requiem

​
Saturday 10 November 2018
St George’s Church, Littleport

Saturday 17 November 2018
Church of Our Lady & the English Martyrs, Cambridge​

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2017/18 SEASON

O How Glorious
Musical Director: Graham Walker | Organ: Gregory Drott
​

• Purcell I Was Glad
• Wesley The Wilderness
• Harwood O How glorious is the Kingdom;  Bainton And I saw a new Heaven
• Finzi Lo, the full final sacrifice
• Jonathan Harvey The Annunciation
• Woolf Salve Regina
• Hilary Burgoyne Fantasia on an Anthem by Tallis (World Première)

​
​​Saturday 30 June 2018 
All Saints’ Church, Haslingfield

Sunday 8 July 2018
Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge

Music for the Madonna
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​

• Poulenc Mass in G
• Duruflé Motets 

​

Sunday 20 May 2018
St Botolph's Church, Cambridge

Stabat Mater
Musical Director: Graham Walker | Organ: Timothy Gowers​
​
​Including:

• Scarlatti Stabat Mater
• James Macmillan Cantos Sagrados

​
​Saturday 24 March 2018
Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge

Christus Natus Est
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​With King's Junior Voices, directed by Lynette Alcántara
​
Including:

• Poulenc Quatre Motets pour le temps du Noel
• Stanford Latin Magnificat
• Margaret Haley A Fisherman’s Baby (World Premiere)

​
Sunday 10 December 2017
St Mary’s Church, Church Lane, Newmarket

Thursday 14 December 2017
Emmanuel United Reformed Church, Cambridge

In the Beginning
Musical Director: Graham Walker | Organ: Robin Walker
​

• Copland In the Beginning
• Golovanov Otche Nash
• Janáček Otčenaš
• Kodály Missa Brevis​

​
Saturday 18 November 2017
Church of Our Lady & the English Martyrs, Cambridge
​
Saturday 11 November 2017
The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Harlton

Rachmaninov All-Night Vigil (Vespers)
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​In partnership with the Brandenburg Choral Festival of London. 
​
Rachmaninov transforms the plainchant melodies of the Orthodox Church into an incredible symphony of choral writing, offering staggering textural intricacy and emotional power, showing a composition genius at the height of his powers. The evocative chant-link melodies and legendary low bass writing are bound to be all the more atmospheric in the beautiful surroundings of a candlelit St Martin’s.
​
​Thursday 28 September 2017
​St Martin-in-the Fields, Trafalgar Square, London

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2016/17 SEASON
​
Rachmaninov: Cello Sonata and Vespers
Musical Director & Cello: Graham Walker | Piano:​ Marie-Noëlle Kendal
​

• Rachmaninov Cello Sonata in G minor
• Rachmaninov All-Night Vigil (Vespers)​

Renaissance Reimagined
Musical Director: Graham Walker | Newe Vialles and The Guildhall Sackbutts and Cornetts (directed by Jeremy West)
​

• Byrd Mass propers for Ascensiontide (from Gradualia II)
• Tallis Canon in 8 parts
• Tallis Spem in alium
• Lassus Missa Bell’Amfitrit altera
• Giles Swayne Everybloom
  (A New Cambridge Singers commission)​
• Paul Newton-Jackson Then the Angel Showed Me the River...
  (A New Cambridge Singers commission)​

Renaissance Reimagined was made possible by grants from Arts Council England's Grants for the Arts and the RVW Trust, and by contributions to our New Music Fund and the New Cambridge Songs Scheme

Additionally performed on Saturday 22 April 2017 in St James's Sussex Gardens, London.

The Big Sing: Handel's Messiah
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​

• Handel Messiah​

​

Saturday 21 January 2017 
​Great St Mary's Church, Cambridge

Victorian Christmas by Candlelight
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
Many of our cherished Christmas traditions began in Victorian times, so get in the mood and join us for our festive performance of music from the Victorian era, atmospherically lit by candles around the church. There will be some carols for all the audience to join in.
​

Saturday 10 December 2016
St Mary's Church, Burwell 
​
​Tuesday 13 December 2016
Great St Mary's Church, Cambridge

Fauré Requiem
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​

• Fauré Requiem
• Vierne Messe solennelle
• Poulenc Quatre petites prières de Saint François d’Assise​

​

"The New Cambridge Singers absolutely slayed it yesterday evening! The Missa Solemnis by Vierne was amazing and gave me shivers."
​
"The concert was lovely – the Poulenc was new to us, and very impressive, and the Faure was magnificent – it’s the first time I’ve heard it with the organ rather than an orchestra. The singing was brilliant. Thanks for a great evening – we came away feeling positively uplifted!"
and a lady on the way out simply said 'ethereal'.

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2015/16 SEASON

​​O for the Wings...
Musical Director: Graham Walker | Organ: Jonathan Hellyer-Jones
​
Choral favourites from across the centuries are presented in a smorgasbord of popular classics for choir. Mendelssohn’s justly famous O for the Wings of a Dove and Parry’s majestic setting of I was Glad – sung at the Royal wedding in 2011, as well as every coronation since 1902 – provide a contrast with madrigals and partsongs from early to modern times. The concert will conclude with choral arrangements of popular songs from the twenties and thirties by Cole Porter and friends.
​​

Saturday 2 July 2016
St Mary’s Church, Newmarket

Saturday 25 June 2016
Great St Mary’s Church, Cambridge

Mozart Requiem and Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
Musical Director: Graham Walker | Violin: Julia Hwang | New Cambridge Players
​
A wonderful evening of classical masterpieces - the exuberance of Mozart’s Figaro Overture and the tragedy of his Requiem are set alongside the lyrical eloquence of one of the greatest of the Romantic violin concertos.


This Worldes Joei
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
​The pomp and bombast of Elgar’s Give unto the Lord and Stanford’s For Lo, I raise up contrast with the hauntingly beautiful This Worldes Joie by Arnold Bax and the effervescent The Twelve by William Walton. Howells’ posthumously published Requiem and Britten’s A Hymn to St Cecelia complete this survey of British music from the first half of the 20th century.

An Elizabethan Christmas
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
Christmas Elizabethan-style, with works by Gibbons, Tallis and Byrd contrasting with familiar melodies from Piae Cantiones , a volume first published during Elizabeth’s reign but rediscovered much more recently. Festive refreshments will complement what promises to be an entertaining and informative evening.
​
Saturday 12 December – St James’ Church, Hemingford Grey
Tuesday 15 December – Corpus Christi College Chapel

Songs of Love and Loss
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
New Cambridge Singers begins its new season with an exploration of music for choir and piano for two and four hands. Interesting and unusual works by Schubert and Britten are presented alongside the ever-popular Liebeslieder Waltzes and Faure’s Madrigal. The choir is joined by Maurice and Thanea Hodges, who as well as accompanying the choir will perform two intriguing works for piano duet.
​
Saturday 7 November – St Mary’s Church, Ashwell
Saturday 15 November – Emmanuel United Reform Church, Cambridge

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​2014/15 SEASON
​
Haydn and Duruflé
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
New Cambridge Singers and East Anglia Chamber Orchestra join forces for the first time in a performance of Haydn’s thrilling Nelson Mass and Duruflé’s achingly beautiful Requiem. Soloists Helen-Jane Howells, Lynette Alcántara, Stefan Kennedy and Alex Ashworth will join the choir and orchestra on stage in what promises to be an exhilarating and memorable concert.
Saturday 20 June 2015
​St John’s College Chapel, Cambridge 

One Equal Music: Music for double choir by Bach, Martin, Harris and Lassus
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
A programme of exquisite music for double choir. Two of Bach’s motets, the joyful Singet dem Herrn and the yearning Komm, Jesu, Komm, are contrasted with two classics by Sir William Harris: Faire is the Heaven and Bring us, O Lord. Contrasting mass settings by Lassus and the 20th-century Swiss composer Frank Marin complete the programme.
Saturday 28 March 2015
Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge
​
Sunday 29 March 2015
St Vigor’s Church, Fulbourn ​

Songs of Celebration
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
An hour of glorious choral music from Byrd to Finzi
This hour-long afternoon concert presents a selection of celebratory music in a wide variety of styles. Finzi’s well-known God is Gone Up and The Heavens are Telling from Haydn’s Creation are performed alongside Ascensiontide motets by Byrd and works by Handel, Monteverdi, Bach and Vaughan Williams.  ​
Saturday 14 February 2015
​St Edward’s Church, Cambridge 

Christmas Through the Ages
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
Christmas music for choir and organ from the 14th to the 20th century
A panorama of festive music from Mediaeval to the present.  We begin with works by anonymous 14th-century composers; move through Byrd to Bach, Schutz an beyond to Bruckner and Berlioz; and conclude with an exploration of 20th -century Christmas music from Europe and the USA.​
Saturday 13 December 2014
St Peter & St Paul Church, Steeple Morden

Thursday 18 December 2014
Little St Mary’s Church, Cambridge 

Hear My Prayer
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
The Psalms of David have provided inspiration to musicians and composers across the centuries.  In this programme, NCS explores settings of psalms both joyful and sorrowful, by composers as diverse as Byrd, Schutz, Allegri and Mendelssohn.  Two settings of Psalm 90, by Vaughan Williams and Ives, open and close the concert.
Sunday 16 November 2014
​Sidney Sussex College Chapel, Cambridge 

Choral Favourites
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
One of the first events to be held in Histon’s new community centre – this concert features Allegri’s Miserere, Mendelssohn’s Hear my Prayer, and other deservedly favourite works by Bach, Byrd, Finzi, Gibbons, Harris, Rachmaninov and Stanford.
Saturday 15 November 2014
​St Andrew’s Centre, Histon 

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2013/14 SEASON
​
June 2014
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
Summer concert
Sacred music by Byrd, Stanford and Howells as well as secular music by McCabe, Finzi and a few Colombian songs!

February 2014
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
An hour long concert of music by Byrd and Rachmaninov.

Christmas Concert: Out of Darkness
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
Telling of the Christmas story with wonderful music through the ages

November 2013
Musical Director: Graham Walker
​
A programme of French masterpieces including Duruflé’s Requiem, Langlais’ Messe Solenelle, Poulenc’s Litanies a la Vierge Noire and Messiaen’s O Sacrum Convivium.