This choir from the London Oratory School which had the junior choir established in 1973 for children between 8 and 16. It performs from a large repertoire of choral works that span at least 400 years.
The choristers are taught Gregorian chants as well as many Catholic hymns and perform at the Mass on Sundays and Benediction on Tuesdays . They rehearse on a Friday and many of them are trained to become members of the The London Oratory Schola Cantorum which was formed in 1996 and often perform concerts and make recordings. They are led by the choral director Charles Cole.
Outside of the school they have regularly performed at productions by the Royal Ballet and been heard at the BBC Proms. They have made many appearances at the major London concert halls and been broadcast in performances on BBC Radio 3. It has also toured Italy where the choir performed in Venice and Rome.
The choir has performed on many recordings that include the award-winning Johann Sebastian Bach‘s St. Matthew’s Passion and with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir on Monteverdi’s Vespers. Other recordings the choir have performed on are Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols, Francisco Valls: Mass “Scala Aretina”, Laetare Jerusalem and Palestrina/Victoria as well as The Christmas Album by Roberto Alagna, Vaughan Williams:The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains by City of London Sinfonia and Corydon Singers, Want One by Rufus Wainwright, Ca Ira (There Is Hope) by Roger Waters and the soundtrack of the motion picture The Phantom of the Opera.
Roberto Alagna recordings
Adeste Fidelis (Frederick Oakeley/John Francis Wade)
EMI 57017 (CD: The Christmas Album)
Arranger – Thomas Greatorex
Conductor – Robin Smith
Tenor – Roberto Alagna
London Symphony Orchestra
New London Children’s Choir
Smithills School Junior Choir
London Oratory School Choir
Choir of St. Johns College, Cambridge
Sources:
- https://www.london-oratory.org/co-curricular-activities/music
- https://www.bromptonoratory.co.uk/the-oratory-choirs
- https://www.londonoratoryschola.com/schola
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Oratory_School_Schola#:~:text=The%20London%20Oratory%20School%20Schola,Callow%20and%20composer%20James%20MacMillan.
- https://charlescole.com/london-oratory-junior-choir/
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/london-oratory-choir-mn0001333691#credits
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/843441-The-London-Oratory-Junior-Choir