Collegium Regale at Leeds Parish Church

On Wednesday 14th April 2010 at 7.30 pm Collegium Regale – the close harmony group from King’s College Cambridge – will perform a concert at Leeds Parish Church in aid of the famous church’s Choral Foundation Appeal. Collegium Regale comprises fourteen Choral Scholars from the world famous Choir of King’s College Cambridge.

The Friends of the Music of Leeds Parish Church are delighted to welcome back Collegium Regale for a third time following two successful visits in 2009 and 2008. The concert is part of the Northern Tour of Cathedrals and Churches undertaken each year by the group. Faithful listeners to the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols broadcast worldwide on Christmas Eve will know that, when King Henry VI founded The King’s College of Our Lady and St Nicholas in 1441, he mandated that his college’s choir should include sixteen poor and needy boy choristers. Fewer knew that the chapel’s musical forces also included ten chaplains and six singing men, who, like the boys, sang in daily services, as well as playing the organ. It is from these historic beginnings that the men of today’s choir find solace when, after a Men’s Voices Evensong (ie a service without the boy trebles), they hear one tourist remark to another, Of course, that wasn’t the real King’s College Choir.

Collegium Regale’s meticulously disciplined singing ensures that these musical subtleties make their fullest impact – Daily Telegraph.

...their luxuriant blend of voices is lavished on two large-scale works by Lassus, enveloping the listener in an indulgent cocoon of sound. – The Sunday Times.

A retiring collection will be taken for the Parish Church’s Choral Foundation Appeal.