The History of York Cantores

York Cantores was formed in 1993 by Stephen Hartley, (former Head of Music at Ripon & John College) and ex students of the College. Cantores inaugural concert was held in the Chapter House of York Minster on 19 May 1993, the concerts repertoire mostly consisted of English choral music. In its early years concerts were held in St Olaves Church, The Guildhall in York and in St James Church Wetherby where Stephen Hartley was resident choir master and organist. The choir's president has always been Dr Francis Jackson who has supported and performed with the choir over the years. Cantores attracted press coverage for a concert in York Minster on 26 November 1994 when Dr Francis Jackson arranged the first instrumental movement of Finzi Requiem for piano, thus completing the work for performance without orchestra. Dr Francis Jackson accompanied the choir himself on the Minster organ, making the performance a world premiere.

On 7 December 1996 Cantores performed a concert of English Cathedral Music in St Olaves Church in York under the new musical direction of Marion Best. Marion conducted a concert of York Composers in the summer of 1997, where Dr Francis Jackson, David Martin, Andrew Carter and Dick Blackford had pieces performed by the choir. Among other notable concerts was a programme of Taverner and Tavener performed in York Minster in May 1999 and the world premiere of Dick Blackford’s work 'The Prophet' 25 March 2000. The choir performed with the choir of the Church of Christ the King, Frankfurt am Main over Easter weekend 2000 works of Taverner, Taverner and J S Bach. In March 2003 Cantores held a 10th anniversary concert, commissioning works by Dick Blackford, Philip Moore and Dr Francis Jackson for the occasion. A concert of music from Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Norway performed in St Olaves Church in November 2003 was particularly memorable. In October 2004 the choir held a choral day inviting others to join a performance of Spem in Alium. March 2005 saw a concert programme of music entirely composed by women, from the 16th to 21st century, which was performed both in York and at the University of Huddersfield as part of International Women’s Week. The March 2006 concert date fell on the Feast of the Annunciation and the programme was therefore entirely devoted to Marian music, including works by Palestrina and Monteverdi.

Elsewhere on the site you can find a link to our current brochure with details of our 2006-07 programme.