Ex Cathedra

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Ex Cathedra (pronounced|ɛks kəˈɵeɪdrə, "") is a British choir and early music ensemble based in Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It performs choral music spanning the 15th to 21st centuries, and regularly commissions new works.

Ex Cathedra was founded in Birmingham in 1969 by Jeffrey Skidmore, who is its artistic director and conductor. Originally conceived as a chamber choir, it now comprises a full choir of about 20 to 40 singers, the Ex Cathedra Consort made up of ten young professional singers who feature regularly as soloists, and a Baroque ensemble/orchestra.

Each year, the choir presents a season of eight diverse programmes in a variety of venues in and around Birmingham and London. It has also participated in concert series and festivals across the UK and in Europe, including the BBC Proms, Brighton Early Music Festival, Kilkenny Festival, Lichfield Festival, Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music, Spitalfields Festival, Three Choirs Festival and York Early Music Festival.citation|title=Ex Cathedra|url=http://www.ex-cathedra.org/about.php|publisher=Ex Cathedra|accessdate=2008-06-19.] In 2008 it was invited to the Newbury Spring Festival, St. David's Cathedral Festival, Chelsea Festival and Chichester Festivities. [citation|title=Ex Cathedra by Candlelight, Chichester Cathedral, Thursday July 10|url=http://www.chifest.org.uk/eventdetail.aspx?id=499|publisher=Chichester Cathedral|year=2008|accessdate=2008-06-19.] Programme for Ex Cathedra's performance "Parisian Vespers: Summer Vespers by Candlelight" at The Oratory, Birmingham, on 18 June 2008.] The choir has also appeared at festivals in Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy and Spain. The ensemble collaborates regularly with other Birmingham-based arts organizations, including Birmingham Royal Ballet and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. It became an Associate Artist at the Birmingham Town Hall in 2007.citation|author=Terry Grimley|title=Ex Cathedra launches new season|url=http://www.birminghampost.net/life-leisure-birmingham-guide/birmingham-culture/tm_headline=ex-cathedra-launches-new-season&method=full&objectid=19935332&siteid=50002-name_page.html|newspaper=Birmingham Post|date=2007-10-11.]

In 2009 Ex Cathedra will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a programme, "XL Anniversary", that will include performances of Mendelssohn's "Elijah" on 18 October 2008 and Elgar's "The Dream of Gerontius" in November 2009, and commissions from James MacMillan and Fyfe Hutchins. The choir also plans to make recordings of John Joubert's oratorio "Wings of Faith", and pieces from its annual "Christmas Music by Candlelight" concerts.

Ex Cathedra Baroque Orchestra

The first period instrument orchestra to be established in an English regional city, Ex Cathedra's Baroque Orchestra was founded as part of the choir's 1983–1984 season and made its début with a performance of Bach's "Mass in B Minor". The orchestra's musicians include many of Europe's top period instrumentalists, and its principals regularly give master classes and coach students at the Birmingham Conservatoire as part of its early music programme.

Music education

Ex Cathedra has its own youth and children's choirs, the Academy of Vocal Music (for singers aged 16 years and upwards, trained by Jeffrey Skidmore) and the Junior Academy (6 to 16 years, trained by Rebecca Ledgard and Ex Cathedra vocal tutors), which meet on a project basis. In addition, since 1990 the choir has been involved in education programmes in schools and local communities. It runs Ring of Sound, an intergenerational choir for the Perry Common Regeneration Project; the Singing Medicine project at five wards of the Birmingham Children's Hospital; and singing workshops for Key Stage 2 boys at an inner-city Birmingham primary school; [Programme for Ex Cathedra's performance of John Joubert's "Wings of Faith" at The Oratory, Birmingham, on 22 March 2007.] In the 2007–2008 academic year, Ex Cathedra conducted its Singing Playgrounds project in 24 schools in Birmingham, Coventry, Derby and London as part of the government's Sing Up initiative. It also introduced a project called Singing Mix, based on Singing Playgrounds, to help new Polish immigrant children to integrate. In addition, Ex Cathedra conducts activities for the Birmingham City Council's Arts Champions and Creative Futures schemes. [citation|title=Ex Cathedra education|url=http://www.ex-cathedra.org/education.php|publisher=Ex Cathedra|accessdate=2008-06-19.]

Recordings

Ex Cathedra has made a number of critically-acclaimed recordings for ASV Records and Hyperion Records, and on its own label. It is well known for its recordings of French and Latin American Baroque music.

Information in this table was obtained from the following websites: citation|title=Recordings|url=http://www.ex-cathedra.org/recordings.php|publisher=Ex Cathedra|accessdate=2008-02-20; [http://www.amazon.co.uk Amazon.co.uk] (album release dates).

ee also

*Arts in Birmingham – classical music
*Jeffrey Skidmore
*List of choirs
*List of early music ensembles

Notes

Further reading

*citation|last=Dunnett|first=Roderic|title=Ex Cathedra, Lichfield Cathedral concert review|url=http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article281434.ece|newspaper=The Independent|date=2000-04-19.
*citation|last=Church|first=Michael|title=The Jesuits invent fusion|url=http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/features/article209211.ece|newspaper=The Independent|date=2001-09-09.
*citation|last=Northcott|first=Bayan|title=Ex Cathedra, St John's, Smith Square, London: Rome's genius resurrected|url=http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article219579.ece|newspaper=The Independent|date=2002-02-01.
*citation|last=Northcott|first=Bayan|title=Ex Cathedra/Skidmore, St John's, Smith Square, London: When world music met the Baroque preview of the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music 2002|url=http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article189759.ece|newspaper=The Independent|date=2002-05-24.
*citation|last=Norris|first=Geoffrey|title=Dies Irae to didgeridoo review of the Lichfield Festival 2004|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/07/15/bmgn15.xml|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=2004-07-15.
*citation|last=Stewart|first=Pat|title=Eastern Early Music Forum: Lalande day with Jeffrey Skidmore|url=http://www.eemf.org.uk/Lalande_Skidmore_published.htm|magazine=EEMF Newsletter 59|date=July 2005|accessdate=2007-04-08.
*citation|title=From the priest-hole era|url=http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=13703|newspaper=Church Times|date=2005-11-18|issue=7445
*citation|last=Dunnett|first=Roderic|title=Ex Cathedra, Oratory, Birmingham review of "A Latin American Christmas" concert|url=http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article333126.ece|newspaper=The Independent|date=2005-12-14.
*citation|last=Morley|first=Christopher|title=The full Monte by candlelight: Ex Cathedra at Birmingham Oratory|url=http://icstafford.icnetwork.co.uk/tm_headline=the-full-monte-by-candlelight&method=full&objectid=19340211&siteid=50002-name_page.html|newspaper=Birmingham Post (reproduced at icStafford.co.uk)|date=2007-06-22

External links

* [http://www.ex-cathedra.org Official website of Ex Cathedra]
* [http://www.goldbergweb.com/en/interpreters/orchestras/7732.php Ex Cathedra on Goldberg, the early-music portal]
* [http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/artist_page.asp?name=excathedra Ex Cathedra on the website of Hyperion Records]
* [http://www.sanctuaryclassics.com/index.php?section=4&subsection=1&getArticleId=64 Ex Cathedra on the Sanctuary Classics website of ASV Records]