Cardiff Polyphonic Choir

A short history of the choir

Cardiff Polyphonic Choir, now in its 44^th year, has a proud history. The Choir has been an ambassador for Welsh music, touring the USA on nine occasions. Its tours of Italy, Brittany, Austria, Germany, Canada, Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Prague have helped to earn the choir’s international reputation. At home, too, the Choir’s reputation is strong.

It has performed in all the major London musical venues. In the 1980s and early 1990s it worked with many of the great conductors and orchestras of our time – the Philharmonia, the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the London Baroque, the London Mozart Players and the Hallé.

And it has sung under the baton of Sir Colin Davis, Sir Charles Groves, Richard Hickox, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Andrew Davis, Jane Glover, Paavo Berglund, and John Alldis.

In the past two years the Choir has given performances of the Brahms Requiem, a Radio 3 broadcast of Britten’s War Requiem with the BBC National Chorus of Wales, Mozart’s Requiem and the Pizzetti Requiem. In December 2006 with a group of exciting young soloists led by the Welsh Soprano Rebecca Evans the Choir gave an acclaimed performance of Messiah.

2007 brought Bruckner's Mass in E minor, the Welsh premiere of Paul Spicer's Deciduous Cross and a performance of Fauré's Requiem in the Welsh Proms. The Choir's performance of Finzi's  Lo, the Full Final sacrifice was particularly well received.  March 2008 brought a performance of the choral suite of The Armed Man - A Mass for Peace – with the BBC National Chorus of Wales. In April the Choir sang the Verdi Requiem in Guildford Cathedral and in May sang the UK premiere of Cant de les Estrelles by Granados as guest of Coro Cervantes in the Queen Elizabeth Hall.