“Unspeakably beautiful, a truly memorable performance. The Rodolfus Choir rises above the technical challenges to convey a sense of radiance and elation that is indelibly memorable. Exemplary in every respect.”
The Rodolfus Choir is a leading UK youth choir for young people aged 16-23. Our aim is to offer professional, high quality choral singing opportunities and to share the wonderful choral repertoire with diverse audiences across the UK and beyond.
Auditions
We hold auditions to join The Rodolfus Choir annually, and our next auditions will be in August/September 2024 in Central London. Auditions to join the choir for 2023 are now over.
You will need to prepare a solo unaccompanied piece for your audition. You should select a piece that shows off your voice to best advantage, and which you love to sing! During the audition you will be asked to complete a short piece of sight-singing. Advice on how to improve your sight-reading can be found here.
Membership
If you are offered a place in the choir, you will be asked to pay a small annual administration fee of £65 (financial assistance is available) to get access to a number of exciting events, workshops and opportunities we offer throughout the year.
Recitals
A key highlight in our annual calendar is the concert season between Christmas and New Year when the Choir performs one or two concerts of festive choral repertoire. In recent years they have been invited to sing Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols at St Martin-in-the-Fields as part of the Brandenburg Concert Series and performed at Old Royal Naval College Chapel Greenwich. Another regular fixture is the sold-out New Year’s Eve concert the Choir performs at Douai Abbey on alternate years. Go to our Events page to see what is coming up.
Choral Evensongs
The choir regularly provides singers for evensong at St Gabriel’s Pimlico and further afield. During the Easter holidays the choir schedule an evensong at a major London church or Cathedral. In recent years this has included venues such as Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral. The choir sing at least one BBC Radio 3 broadcast evensong each year.
We have also collaborated with charities such at Breast Cancer Haven and Thames Hospicecare to provide the choir for fundraising carol services at Christmas.
Educational Projects
Over the past few years the choir has been part of the Barnes Music Festival Community concert in South West London. Mentors from the choir take part in leading a workshop for local primary schools in rehearsal for a large community concert with school children and community choirs at the end of the Festival. Not only does this give joy and benefit the children but it also helps our singers to learn about choral directing and being part of music in schools.
40 singers mentored singers in Inner Voices to perform Spem in Alium in the skate park area and on the Royal Festival Hall Stage at the South Bank Centre.
Come & Sing with PMF
The choir leads two Come and Sing days a year in collaboration with Pimlico Musical Foundation and Brandenburg Concert Series. Singers of every ability are invited to join in the day when our musical director, Ralph Allwood, will take them through works from opera courses and oratorios to Gershwin and more contemporary programmes. The days are great fun for all involved and gives younger members of our choir an opportunity to take solos during the programme in an informal setting. The day concludes with an informal concert.
Recordings & Broadcasts
The Choir have been recording CDs since 1992 and have amassed an impressive back catalogue of some 20 CDs of some of the finest choral music.
“Outstanding by any standards… Sheer pleasure.”
Francis Grier: A Sequence for the Ascension - 1992 - Herald
Mater, Ora Filium - 1995 - Herald
Among the Leaves So Green - English and Scottish Folk Songs - 1995 - Herald
Francis Grier: Twelve Anthems - 1996 - Herald
Parry: Part-songs and Songs of Farewell - 1998 - Herald
Johann Ernst Eberlin - Sacred Choral Music - 2000 - Herald
By Special Arrangement - 2000 - Herald
A Christmas Collection - 2003 - Herald
Thomas Tallis: Latin and English motets and anthems - 2004 - Herald
Abendlied: German Romantic Motets - 2004 - Herald
Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 - 2007 - Signum Records
Choral Arrangements by Clytus Gottwald - 2007 - Signum
Choral Music by Herbert Howells - 2010 - Signum
Bach: Mass in B minor - 2010 - Signum
A Choral Christmas - 2011 - Signum
Edward Elgar: Go, song of mine - 2012 - Signum
the flowers have their angels - 2013 - Signum
Daniel Purcell: The Judgment of Paris - 2014 - resonus
Time and its Passing - 2015 - Signum
Guiding Light, Katherine Jenkins - 2018 - Decca
Festivals and Tours
An invitation to sing in a Festival is not to be missed and usually provides a good reason to take the choir on a UK tour. Most recently they have performed at the Three Choirs Festival in both Gloucester and Worcester Cathedrals, the Thaxted Festival, and the Barnes Music Festival. They have been further afield too – to the US and Norway’s Midsummer Festival Halden in recent years. Future plans include a tour of the North of England and a tour to the US.
HIRE THE CHOIR
Professional Chorus
The Rodolfus Choir are regularly asked to provide the choral singing to large orchestral works with major orchestras. This year, the choir sang Beethoven’s 9th with the the Philharmonia at the Royal Festival Hall. They have also sung with the English String Orchestra and the Hanover Band.
Film recordings, TV Adverts and Backing Vocals
The Choir always love a day in the studio and have provided backing vocals for Katherine Jenkins (Music from the Movies; Sacred Arias; and Guiding Light) and Alexander Armstrong (Hymn Song); and Christmas At Downton Abbey
Advertising includes a jingle for Scala Radio and the Go Compare adverts for Yellow Boat Music.
Cinema & TV: Urban Hymn (2015); Romeo & Juliet (score by James Horner); Magical Adventure (score by David Arnold); various soundtracks for EMI and library music for BSKyB.
Private Events
With as many as 300 members of the Choir, we can always find an octet, or more, to provide choral singing at corporate dinners, fundraisers, private parties and even a wedding choir for hire! Recent events include a private Christmas Dinner at Cliveden House (part of The National Trust), a wedding at The Houses of Parliament and a drinks reception at the University of Surrey.