Guest Conductor announcement

We’re thrilled to announce that Ellie Slorach will be conducting our next two concerts.

Our Artistic Director Tom Herring is taking a sabbatical this Autumn and whilst he’s off we have two London performances which will be led by Ellie.

Find out more about Ellie via her website.

On Thursday 7 November, SANSARA will open the 2024 Joy & Devotion festival of Polish sacred music at St James’ Piccadilly. And on Saturday 14 December, the choir will join forces with United Strings of Europe and oud master Basel Saleh to present our Sanctuary & Solidarity programme at the Barbican’s Milton Court.

Head over to our events page to book your tickets now.

Our new podcast series

traces of the white rose

The Podcast

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our new podcast series, Traces of the White Rose which is released today via University of Oxford Podcasts and available to listen now.

New Record Deal

New Record Deal

We’re thrilled to announce a new three album record deal with our label partners Platoon.

Future recording projects include collaborations with renowned ensembles Fretwork and United Strings of Europe, opening the next exciting chapter of our recording work.

“I’m over the moon to be working with Platoon and can’t wait to build on our existing recordings with three new ambitious projects”

— Tom Herring, Artistic Director

New Single 'My North' out now

My North - Rebecca Dale

Our latest release is out now on all streaming platforms.

My North is a new piece by Rebecca Dale, commissioned as part of our Rite to Grieve project.

Premiered on 29 March 2022 at a commemorative event at the National Covid Memorial Wall, My North was commissioned as part of our ground-breaking Rite to Grieve project, uniting choral music with peer-to-peer grief support in the wake of the pandemic.

Dale's stunning new piece sets fragments from W H Auden's Funeral Blues and seeks to capture something of the collective grief experienced by society since early 2020.

Improvised passages of the piece are used during our Rite to Grieve workshops, presented in partnership with The Grief Series. As such, this piece captures the creative process of these sessions in a musical memorial for participants and the wider public.

This initial release will be followed by a second version of the piece featuring spoken word using text submitted by participants in our workshops.

Arvo Pärt with Fretwork

Stabat Mater

We’re excited to announce our collaboration with renowned viol consort Fretwork with concerts in Oxford, Winchester and London.

With concerts at some of our favourite venues, this series is not one to miss. We’ll be returning to SJE Arts in Oxford on Thursday 31 March before performing at our spiritual home of St Cross, Winchester the following week on Thursday 7 April. The third and final performance will take place at St John’s Smith Square in London as part of their Easter Festival.

General Booking for London opens on 21 February

“the finest viol consort on the planet ”

— London Evening Standard

join our board

TRUSTEE RECRUITMENT

We are excited to be recruiting new trustees to join our Board.

Trustees will have a key role in delivering our Giving Voice creative strategy - a forward-thinking and progressive vision, designed to increase our social impact and build long-term sustainability as we continue to develop and grow.

Wiltshire Music Centre Live Videos

Live performances from our concert at the Wiltshire Music Centre are now online.

Back in June, we had a wonderful time performing at the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford on Avon. The concert was our first with a live audience and was also streamed to a virtual audience watching from home. We’re now able to upload the majority of the concert to share online and have created a special playlist on our Youtube channel and added the videos to our Media page.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation

We’re delighted to have received a grant of £18,000 from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Part of PHF’s Emergency Fund, the grant will go towards projects Rite to Grieve and White Rose as well as contributing to our core costs. This support is a huge boost to both projects, putting them on sure footing as we take the next steps in delivering our Giving Voice creative strategy.

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Paul Hamlyn Foundation

Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF) was established by Paul Hamlyn in 1987. He died in 2001 and left most of his estate to the Foundation, creating one of the largest independent grant-making foundations in the UK. PHF use their resources to support social change, working towards a just and equitable society in which everyone, especially young people, can realise their full potential and enjoy fulfilling and creative lives.

Schama on Blake

On 12 August 2018, we performed at the unveiling of a new tombstone for the poet and artist William Blake as part of a special event organised by The Blake Society. We sang a beautiful setting by composer Chris Williams which has recently been featured in a special profile on Blake by the historian Simon Schama for BBC Radio 4.

You can listen to the radio show here and catch a clip of our live performance at the very end.

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