Christopher Grey on his first disc with the Choir of St John’s School, Cambridge

Christopher Grey (Picture: Richard Marsham)

Christopher Grey has been director of music at St John’s School, Cambridge since 2023. He was previously director of music at Truro Cathedral and took over at St John’s from Andrew Nethsingha (now at Westminster Abbey). Throughout Might 2025, Christopher’s first recording with the choir is launched on the St John’s Cambridge label (at the side of Signum Classics); Lamentation & Liberation options the premiere recording of Joanna Marsh’s triptych Echoes in Time, Grey’s first fee for the Choir – setting poetry by Malcolm Guite. Two different current commissions for the Choir characteristic on the recording, Helena Paish’s The Annunciation and Martin Baker‘s organ prelude Ecce ego Ioannes, alongside Sir James MacMillan’s Cantos Sagrados and works by Roxanna Panufnik and Dobrinka Tabakova.

Up to date music has performed a big position at St John’s over the previous couple of years while Christopher has accomplished fairly a bit at Truro Cathedral together with releasing albums of music by Dobrinka Tabakova and Gabriel Jackson. Christopher needed to proceed this, but felt the brand new album ought to be seen as a complete, fairly than merely particular person tracks. He had not collaborated with Joanna Marsh earlier than and her new triptych consists of three items, commissioned for key dates within the liturgical calendar – The Hidden Mild was premiered on the Choir’s Creation Carol Service in 2023, Refugee for the Epiphany Carol Service, and ultimate motion Nonetheless to Mud for the Lent Meditation service.

For Joanna Marsh’s triptych, she labored with two of Malcolm Guite’s current poems they usually commissioned a 3rd poem. The thought was to take the Biblical narrative of Creation, Epiphany and Ash Wednesday and discover resonance on the planet of 2025, tying the Biblical story to right now due to the associations Guite makes. Seeing the Holy Household as refugees from Herod as dictator offers quite a lot of resonance with up to date conditions. [see my interview with Joanna Marsh at the time of the premiere of The Hidden Light]

Christopher Grey & the Choir of St John’s School, Cambridge (Picture: Keith Heppell)

The three actions of Joanna Marsh’s triptych are balanced by the three actions of James MacMillan’s highly effective Cantos Sagrados, which units poems by Ariel Dorfman and Ana Maria Mendoza about political repression in Latin America alongside conventional non secular Latin texts. James MacMillan’s work was premiered in 1990 and Christopher had been eager for the disc to not be solely about new music. Christopher first received to know James MacMillan’s piece as a result of it was one of many first recordings he purchased as an adolescent. They did the primary motion in Truro, however performing the entire work at St John’s was a giant enterprise that took an instructional 12 months. Doing seven providers every week means you’ll be able to gently construct music into the choir’s blood, they usually actually reside with items and get to know them deeply.

Christopher had labored with Dobrinka Tabakova earlier than, and her Flip our Captivity, O Lord stated precisely what he needed to say on the finish of the album, ending on a reassuring be aware. This balances the opening, the place Roxanna Panufnik’s Deus, Deus meus (taken from her Westminster Mass) strikes from a single voice to grittier writing. This was a piece that the choir already knew, and it opens the disc with the concept of looking for God, eager for God.

Helena Paish was a chorister at Truro Cathedral and she or he received the BBC Proms Encourage competitors while she was a Truro. St John’s typically helps rising musicians so Christopher was happy to have the ability to fee The Annunciation from her. Within the work, she writes for the choir fairly in a different way than the opposite items on the disc dividing the basses into six and the tenors into 4, including two alto solos. This use of a closely divided choir is just not one thing they do rather a lot however right here Christopher thinks it is rather efficient.

Martin Baker, the previous director of music at Westminster Cathedral, teaches improvisation to the school organ students Christopher is a superb admirer of Martin Baker’s work at Westminster, and Christopher felt that he was ideally suited to write down the organ piece giving his creativeness and improvisation.

The Choir of St John’s School, Cambridge recording on 17 July 2024 (Picture: Isabelle Freeman)

Christopher hopes folks will discover the disc a motion journey, a rigorously curated programme fairly than a disc to dip into. Generally, in music as in life, it’s a must to undergo challenges, and listening to the disc there’s consolation too.

After I ask what he’s contemplating for future recordings, Christopher feedback that this can be a massive query for any group. When he was rising up, few choirs had been issuing CDs although St John’s School was one among them. Now, many of the repertoire has been coated and while there are good items which might be attention-grabbing, there may be the reason why these works haven’t been recorded. Although it’s attention-grabbing to solid gentle on uncommon corners of the repertoire, however analysis is required, and you’ll usher in private curiosity to, reflecting the historical past and legacy of the school and the choir, in addition to supporting new composers.

However Christopher feels that there’s something additionally about preserving acquainted items recent for every technology. He factors out that Christmas albums can typically get buried and that there’s extra of a solid to be made for reviving acquainted items at Christmas. To this finish, the choir’s subsequent album shall be a Christmas one. There shall be new materials however the album will principally be merely an pleasurable Christmas album. The repertoire will characteristic Poulenc’s Xmas motets together with Howell’s Three Carol Anthems (Howells having been music director of the Choir within the Forties). He’s planning an pleasurable disc with no agenda.

Christopher Grey & the Choir of St John’s School, Cambridge (Picture: Keith Heppell)

Shifting from cathedral to varsity has meant a change of rhythm for Christopher. On the nice seasons of Christmas and Easter, whereas the cathedral choir is furiously busy there are not any providers in school as a result of there are not any college students. This 12 months, for example as an alternative of Holy Week providers, Christopher and the choir had been within the USA on tour. He feels that it’s good for the choir to take two programmes round to a number of venues. In December there shall be an English tour after which the choir members go residence. It’s a very totally different rhythm, with St John’s greatest service of the 12 months being the Creation Carol Service.

There’s additionally a distinction in personnel between faculty and cathedral. On the faculty, your complete again row (altos, tenors and basses) turns over each three years. Which means when new college students be a part of them in September, there’s a actual rush to get them in control, notably for the Creation Carol Service which is broadcast. However Christopher factors out that younger singers are on the stage of their lives after they wish to be taught, there’s a tradition of studying, however the trajectory that they go in is certainly steep.

Andrew Nethsingha left a well-stewarded set-up within the choir, and Christopher got here to St John’s due to each the choir’s sound and its setup. However that stated, he feels that you just can not stand nonetheless. They’ve launched a choral graduate programme the place those that have graduated can spend a 12 months within the choir. Throughout Andrew Nethsingha’s time, women had been launched into the choir for the primary time. At Truro, they launched women however had women from the age of 13 to 18, whereas the boys are youthful. At St John’s each the ladies and the boys are within the 8 to 13 age group, 50/50 and Christopher feels that it’s working nicely. Musically, he admits that the choir is just not equivalent however the sound remains to be fairly shut and he feels that it’s a distinction that’s to be celebrated fairly than feeling that issues are worse than earlier than. And it feels just like the choir household is correctly full, particularly as they’ve ladies within the again row too. However he hopes that individuals recognise the musicianship of the choir, and its heart-on-sleeve strategy, anchoring all the pieces within the textual content. And he feels that vocal colouring is of their DNA.

They’re persevering with the choir’s pioneering work with up to date composers and Errollyn Wallen shall be writing one thing for them for December, and there are different attention-grabbing collaborations arising. A mix of the recent and the totally different with the usual. Once we spoke, the choir had a Bach cantata arising in six weeks together with a joint live performance with the Gesualdo Six.

Lament & Liberation
Choir of St John’s School, Cambridge
Alexander Robson (Herbert Howells Organ Scholar)
Christopher Grey (director)

SIGCD893
St John’s Cambridge imprint on Signum Data.

• Roxanna Panufnik – Westminster Mass: III. Deus, Deus meus
• Joanna Marsh – Echoes in Time
•    I. The Hidden Mild
•    II. Refugee
•    III. Nonetheless to Mud
• Helena Paish – The Annunciation
• Martin Baker – Ecce ego Ioannes
• James MacMillan – Cantos Sagrados
• I. Identification
• II. Virgin of Guadalupe
• III. Solar Stone
• Dobrinka Tabakova – Flip our captivity, O Lord