Portsmouth Cathedral Choir is made up of 24 boy choristers, and 12 Lay Clerks and Choral Scholars who contribute to the pattern of daily cathedral worship.
The choristers rehearse on weekday mornings before a normal school day in preparation for the week’s music. In any normal week, the Cathedral’s Choirs sing for at least 6 services.
The choir also sings at various special services and events both locally across the diocese and internationally, and has toured Holland, France, Estonia, Sweden and more recently Denmark and Belgium. At home in the UK, they have also sung at St Paul’s Cathedral, the Queen’s private chapel at St George’s in Windsor Castle and at Westminster Abbey.
Our links with the Royal Navy and Seafaring Community
The Cathedral Choir maintains strong links with the Royal Navy and takes part in a number of services for them. Highlights include the annual Royal Marines Band Service and the Second Sea Lord’s carol service on HMS Victory and we were particularly delighted to board HMS Queen Elizabeth for her commissioning in the presence of the late Queen.
TV & Radio Broadcasts
The Choir regularly broadcasts on TV and Radio including playing a major part in two BBC Songs of Praise programmes.
In the summer of 2022, the choir performed live on BBC Radio 3 for Choral Evensong and featured in a live television broadcast of Midnight Mass on BBC One and iPlayer for Christmas 2023. The choir is looking forward to a packed schedule in 2024, with BBC Radio broadcasts, European tours, and involvement in important events in Portsmouth and our diocese.
BBC Radio 3 and 4 were with us in France for D-Day 60 for a ‘Sunday Morning’ broadcast as well as a Wednesday ‘Choral Evensong’. We will sing again on BBC Radio 4 for D-Day 80, amongst other commitments for this national memorial.
Choir Recordings
The Choir has also made a number of recordings, including a reconstruction of music from Admiral Lord Nelson’s Funeral and ‘I look from afar’ – a recording of Advent and Christmas carols- all of these are available through the HeraldAV label.
We collaborated with Convivium Records on a number of high-profile projects over the last 10 years, and we have also released ‘Portsmouth Remembers’ through Guild Records – a re-release of a 1984 LP recording with an extra half-an-hour from the present-day choir.
More recently, we released Verbum Caro Factum Est (Christmas music) in 2018, which has featured regularly on ClassicFM and Te Deum Laudamus, a CD of organ music played by David Price on the Cathedral’s Nicholson organ.
Purchase our recordings
Our recordings (all available from the cathedral shop, or click the title to order online):
- 1996 Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis Volume 4 (Priory)
- 1997 Hymns from Portsmouth Cathedral (Herald)
- 1999 I look from afar – A sequence for Christmas (Herald)
- 2001 The State Funeral of Horatio, Lord Viscount Nelson K.B. (Herald)
- 2004 Portsmouth Remembers – Music for Remembrance (DDay 60) (Guild)
- 2006 Heavenly Harmonies (Herald)
- 2009 Sing to the Lord (Convivium)
- 2010 Valete in Pace/Requiem in Blue – Harvey Brough (Smudge Recordings)
- 2010 In your Image (Carols for Advent & Christmas) (Convivium)
- 2012 Music for Seafarers (Convivium)
- 2013 To Sing thy Love: The church music of June Clark (Convivium)
- 2014 Plainsong: the Echo of Angels (Convivium)
- 2017 Verbum Caro Factum Est (Herald)
- 2018 Te Deum Laudamus (The Nicholson organ of Portsmouth Cathedral played by David Price)
- 2024 A year at Portsmouth (Regent Records)
Reviews of Verbum Caro Factum Est
“wonderfully unhackneyed, and though many pieces are perhaps familiar to choristers and choir members, they form an attractively unusual selection…a delightful disc, and there is plenty of interest in it to brighten up a dull … evening.”
Rubert Hugill
“A splendid mix of contemporary and well-known pieces…Great accompaniments provided by Sachin Gunga.”
Andrew Palmer, Cathedral Music Magazine
Choir Tours
Our choir has traveled around Europe and other places further afield, performing at many prominent churches and Cathedrals. These trips wouldn’t be possible without the help of the PCCA and your donations.
Our previous tours
- 1998 Estonia: Tallinn, Rapla, Viljandi, Parnu (men and boys)
- 1999 Belgium and Holland: Antwerp, Gent, Vlissngen (men and boys)
- 2000 France: Bec, Rouen, St Wandrille (men and boys)
- 2001 Belgium: Antwerp, Brussels (men and boys)
- 2003 Sweden: Stockholm, Uppsala (men and boys)
- 2004 Belgium and Holland: Antwerp, Vlissingen, Arnhem (men and boys)
- 2004 France: DDay 60 – Caen, Bayeux (men and boys)
- 2006 Estonia: Tallin, Viljandi, Parnu (men and boys)
- 2007 Estonia: Tallinn, Tartu (men)
- 2007 Denmark: Copenhagen, Roskilde, Aarhus (men and boys)
- 2008 France: Alpe d’Huez, Chambery, Allemont (men)
- 2008 France: Paris, Rouen (Cantate)
- 2009 France: Alpe d’Huez, Chambery, Annecy (men and boys)
- 2009 Austria: Salzburg (Cantate)
- 2010 Belgium: Antwerp (men and boys)
- 2011 France: Alpe d’Huez (senior choristers and men)
- 2011 Germany: Berlin (men and boys)
- 2012 France: Alpe d’huez and Lyon (Cantate)
- 2013 Sweden: Uppsala and Stockholm (men and boys)
- 2013 Malta: Gozo (Cantate)
- 2014 France: Alpe d’Huez (men)
- 2014 Belgium: Antwerp and Ypres (men and boys)
- 2015 Estonia: Tallinn (men)
- 2015 Italy: Florence (Cantate)
- 2016 Germany: Cologne (men and boys)
- 2017 Cyprus (Cantate)
- 2018 Finland (men)
- 2018 Belgium: Antwerp (men and boys)
- 2019 Iceland (Cantate)
- 2020 Finland (Consort)
- 2022 Sweden (men and boys)
- 2023 Belgium (men and girls)
- 2024 Denmark (adults and boys)
