Instrumental ensembles

The following musical activities take place at different times during the week. Locations, members of staff involved and times are advertised in Short Roll. In addition, boys meet informally to play together in varying compositional groups and styles from string quartets to bagpipes.

Here is the current Music Diary.

Academy Orchestra

The Academy Orchestra is predominately a string based group made up of first and second year men in the School. It meets every Wednesday evening for forty minutes, working on repertoire which has ranged from Purcell to Debussy. The main focus is on ensemble playing and experiencing the enjoyment of music making as part of major School music events.     

Chamber Orchestra

Winchester College Chamber Orchestra is made up of the most able musicians in the School who come together on Thursday afternoons to work on repertoire ranging from Bach to Bartok. The orchestra sometimes involves players from St Swithun's School, the Hampshire County Youth Orchestra, and the specialist music courses at local sixth form colleges. As well as giving performances in the School, the Chamber Orchestra gives regular concerts in London in aid of Fairbridge.  

Double Reed Ensemble

Comprising players of the oboe and bassoon, the Double Reed Ensemble plays an eclectic mix of old and new music, as well as focusing on the particular needs of both instruments - reed-making and care, tone production and ensemble.    

Glee Club

Open to boys, their parents and staff, Glee Club is the School's choral society, a large mixed un-auditioned choir which gives two concerts a year, including one large-scale work each November. Recent performances have included the Brahms Requiem with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Walton's Belshazzar's Feast with Peter Harvey, and Elgar's The Apostles. Listen to the Kyrie from Mozart's Mass in C.         

Brass Ensembles

There are currently two brass groups - a 15-strong brass group which plays everything from Gabrieli to Cole Porter, and a brass quartet with a similarly eclectic range of repertoire. Click here to listen to the ensemble.  

Saxophone Ensemble

This ensemble incorporates soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, and gives performances ranging from Bach to Burt Bacharach in a variety of venues inside and outside the School.  

Shagwagg

Shagwagg, the School's soul band, meets twice a week and gives several performances each year, including a number of outside engagements. Membership is by audition, and is open to boys in the top three years. 

St Michael's Choir

This 40-strong choir sings some 20 services a year in St Michael's Church (the School's second chapel) and in College Chapel. Membership is drawn from boys in the lower two years,   

Symphonic Wind Band

Open to all wind and percussion players of grade V and above, the Symphonic Wind Band rehearses throughout the year and performs in November, February and early summer.       

Symphony Orchestra

This 80-piece orchestra performs a major symphonic work and one or more concertos with boys each year. Recent performances have included the Brahms Violin Concerto, James McMillan's Veni, Veni Emmanuel, Beethoven's Eroica Symphony and concertos by Liszt, Strauss, Bruch, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov.              

Wind Octet

Consisting of two oboes, two clarinets, two horns and two bassoons, the octet meets weekly to prepare performances of music from the Classical era and in particular the serenades of Mozart and Haydn.  

Jazz Groups

There are currently two jazz groups which meet on a Wednesday evening after tea and prepare for concerts which occur at the end of each term.

The Large Ensemble: open to all players and levels and aims to be fun and educational by providing a comfortable environment to explore basic improvisation techniques and by playing repertoire from across the idiom. Incorporated into this group are a number of boys who, as part of their Community Service, share what they have learned with local school children through giving workshops and concerts.

The Small Group: consists of piano, bass and drums with no more than two front line instruments, and caters for more advanced improvisers. Repertoire is learned by ear or through transcribing original recordings and albums. Past projects include the Miles Davis album "kind of Blue" and Cannonball Adderly's "'Dem dirty Blues".

Boys are usually able to participate in a visiting artist's workshop and concert each year.

Cantores Episcopi

This small close harmony vocal group was founded by Tony Ayres. The group sings an eclectic mix of music of various styles and from various periods; much of the material has been arranged by past and present members. Highly popular concerts are given at the School in December and in June. The group also performs elsewhere - in the UK and abroad. There is an extensive list of recordings.

Chapel Choir

Winchester College Chapel Choir consists of the 16 Quiristers who are part of the original foundation of the School, older boys and members of staff. The boys may audition for the Choir once they reach their third year in the College.  

There are four fully choral services in the Chapel each week during term. Two of these are sung by the Chapel Choir - a Choral Evensong on a Tuesday, and a Sunday morning service which may be either Eucharist or Mattins. The other two services are sung by the Quiristers alone.  

The choir sings a very wide repertoire of church music, and also regularly gives concerts, makes recordings, broadcasts and goes on tour. In recent years the choir has toured in Germany, the USA and Hong Kong. The Quiristers have sung in the BBC Promenade concerts and at the Royal Festival Hall, and Chapel Choir has performed in the London Handel Collection series.    

To find out more about the chapel choir and to listen to them singing please go the Chapel Choir page.