The Choir of Holy Sepulchre
The Choir of Holy Sepulchre is one of the UK’s leading professional church choirs, made up of singers from the finest vocal ensembles in the country. The group exists primarily to sing weekly Choral Evensong at Holy Sepulchre, the National Musicians’ Church, alongside a host of civic services. Central to this are the services of thanksgiving and remembrance for departed musicians, for which the choir has sung settings of the Requiem by Faure, Duruflé and Victoria. They have an ongoing partnership with the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble with whom they collaborate on performances at the Church. In addition, the choir has given concerts as part of the Church’s promotion of music and spirituality and has made a CD, Soul’s Desire, of music from Palestrina to the present day. They have made the premiere recording of Paul Fincham’s hugely successful carol, Ring the Bells, and have commissioned new works by Joshua Pacey and Lucy Walker. Their Director of Music is Peter Asprey.
“Your service was wonderful and the choir and organist are extraordinarily talented…I was transported by their musical abilities.”
Visiting Congregant
"The setting is intimate but the musical quality is on a par with that of London’s Cathedrals and the Abbey.”
Rogers Covey-Crump, tenor and founding member of The Hilliard Ensemble.
“The choir of The National Musicians’ Church is bright, well-balanced and animated.”
BBC Music Magazine.
Eve McGrath - Soprano
Eve has been singing with the choir of Holy Sepulchre since 2013, and has sung at a lot of memorable services over the years. Holy Week performances of Allegri’s Miserere mei, Deus – and the choir’s 2018 recording – feature Eve singing the famous top line. In addition to her liturgical and consort singing, Eve enjoys performing as an oratorio soloist and giving recitals. She also arranges for and sings with a capella groups, and plays fiddle in an Irish folk band.
Lowri Bufton -
Alto
Lowri began singing as a young chorister at Brecon Cathedral choir. After being accepted at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of music and dance she graduated with a BMus in Vocal Perfromance in 2022, where she held a senior scholarship with the Old Royal Naval College Chapel Choir. She now enjoys a freelance career as a soloist and deputy singer for churches across London whilst also being a St. Martins Voices Emerging Artist and performing regularly with St Martin’s Voices.
Recent highlights include Bach’s St John Passion, Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi Gloria and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.
Amy Blythe - Alto
Amy graduated with a BMus degree in 2012 from Cardiff University and was awarded the Geriant Evans Vocal Prize for outstanding final recital. Currently based in London, Amy sings regularly with Sansara, Polyphony and London Voices. In addition to concerts, tours and session work she sings in many London churches including All. Saint's Margaret Street, St. Paul's Cathedral and has been a member of Holy Sepulchre choir since 2017.
Recent solo performances include Durufle Pie Jesu, Vaughan Williams Mass in G Minor, Haydn Heiligmesse and Missa Sancti Nicolai, Pergolesi Stabat Mater and Vivaldi Gloria.
Gareth Thomas - Bass
Gareth Thomas read Music and was a Choral Scholar at Jesus College,
Cambridge. After a stint at Hereford Cathedral, he is now based in London and works with renowned ensembles such as Tenebrae, The Hanover Band and Dame Emma Kirkby's Dowland Works. He is also a regular member of the Choir of St Peter's Eaton Square. In addition to his singing, he publishes his own editions of early music (www.gareththomasmusic.co.uk), examines Music
Theory for ABRSM and teaches singing at Harrow School and Halliford
School.
Izzy Gibber
Izzy is delighted to be on the team as Music Administrator at Holy Sepulchre. She is an alumnus of Royal Holloway, University of London where she studied Music. When she isn’t organising the choir here at Holy Sepulchre, she is a freelance choral singer herself, having performed with ensembles such as Tenebrae, The Gabrieli Consort, SANSARA and The Carice Singers. If you pass her in the church do say Hi!
Peter Asprey -
Director of Music
Peter Asprey is in demand both as a conductor, chorus master, singer and singing teacher. He is the Director of Music at Holy Sepulchre London, the National Musicians’ Church in the heart of the City of London and the Musical Director of Henley Choral Society. He has been a guest Chorus Master for the London Symphony Chorus, London Philharmonic Choir, Brighton Festival Chorus, The Whitehall Choir and the St Endellion Festival Chorus, working alongside conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Andrew Davis and Edward Gardner. Former posts include Musical Director of the Berkshire Youth Choir. Peter was a Choral Exhibitioner at Clare College, Cambridge and a founder member and singer in the Renaissance Music vocal ensemble Stile Antico, achieving during his time with the group a number of awards including a Gramophone Award for Early Music, a Grammy nomination and two Diapason d’Or. He also sang on a European Tour with Sting for his Dowland lute song project Songs from the Laybrinth. He completed his studies at the Royal College of Music having been a Choral Scholar in the choir of Clare College, Cambridge. He has given educational evenings on music at the Royal Academy of Art in London and master classes on Renaissance Music at the Music College in Dubrovnik. He has a particular interest in music and faith and has given talks on the spirituality of classical music and retreats on Haydn’s Creation. He is a singing teacher at Eton College.
Eleanor Bray - Soprano
Eleanor read Music and was a choral scholar at The Queen’s College, Oxford, and went on to gain a Masters degree in ensemble singing from the University of York. She is now a regular deputy for the BBC Singers, and other recent work includes The Marian Consort, Sonoro, Southwell Festival Voices, RIAS Kammerchor, RSVP Voices and EXAUDI. She is also a regular member of the choir at St Paul's Knightsbridge.
As a soloist, concert highlights include Haydn's Creation, Bach's St John Passion, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, and Handel's Messiah.
Daniel Thomson - Tenor
www.daniel-thomson.com or www.facebook.com/danielthomsontenor
Originally from Melbourne, Daniel Thomson is a London based tenor soloist, recitalist and chamber singer. Known for his expressive text-based performance, Daniel’s focus is on historically informed performance of music from the 16th to 19th centuries. Released in 2018 - Daniel’s debut solo album Secret Fires of Love, has been featured on BBC Radio 3 In Tune. In February 2019 Daniel made his debut performance in the Wigmore Hall alongside Dame Emma Kirkby for her 70th birthday celebration concert. He is a member of Lux Musicae London, Dowland Works and InVocare Ensemble.
Gavin Cranmer-Moralee - Bass
Gavin holds a regular position as a Gentleman of Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal Choir at Hampton Court Palace, singing at regular Sunday and week-day services and performing for royal occasions. He studied for an Undergraduate degree in Vocal Performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire and is in demand as a recording vocalist for film scores and TV/radio adverts. He sings with the BBC Singers and is the Vocal Coach to the choristers at Whitgift School who sing services at Croydon Minster. He is a member of the Association of Teachers of Singing and the British Voice Association.
Joshua Ryan - Organist
Joshua Ryan arco is a postgraduate organ student at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studies as a Bicentenary Scholar with Professor David Titterington. He is currently Organ Scholar at the Royal hospital, Chelsea, where he regularly accompanies the professional choir at weekly services, concerts, and occasions of national significance. He has recently been appointed Organist Elect of Hampstead Parish Church, London and Organist of Holy Sepulchre Church in the City of London.
Alongside his organ studies with Professor Titterington, Joshua also studies harpsichord (as a second study) with James Johnstone, and choral conducting with Patrick Russill. During his time at the Academy Joshua has had the opportunity to work, as a continuo player, accompanist, and soloist, with many leading musicians from a variety of fields, such as Philippe Herreweghe, John Butt, Rachel Podger, Edward Gardner, Susan Landale, David Ponsford, Eamonn Dougan, and Nicholas Mullroy. In 2022 Joshua made his debut performance at Wigmore Hall with the Academy Baroque Soloists under the direction of Rachel Podger. In recognition of his outstanding achievements at the Academy, Joshua was awarded a DipRAM.
Soul’s Desire album
To buy or stream the album, click on one of the buttons below:
A choral worship album and videos recorded by our choir
Soul’s Desire is an album of choral worship sung by our choir, designed to be used by others in their worship and to help them reflect on God. We hope that it will be used both by those who already love choral music and also a resource to introduce others to choral music as an aid to worship.
The programme follows a year of choral worship at Holy Sepulchre, including pieces sung at our weekly Evensongs, monthly Eucharists, and special services for Remembrance Sunday, Christmas and Holy Week (Easter).
The pieces range from old masterpieces like Allegri’s Miserere (1630’s) to new compositions by members of our community (Come Holy Ghost, God be in my Head, and Of the Dust of the Ground).