Cardiff University Chamber Choir

The Chamber Choir explores repertoire ranging from Renaissance works to contemporary music.

The choir is made up of between 25-30 singers and performs several times a year in prestigious venues in Cardiff and further afield. In 2019 the choir toured China, performing in Xi'an, Xiamen, Guangzhou and Beijing. In the summer of 2023, they undertook a tour to Malaysia, performing at several important Malaysian University concert halls (in collaboration with choral ensembles from Sunway University and UCSI Malaysia in particular), as well as at the historic Christ Church Melaka.

Under the directorship of Peter Leech the choir has championed diversity and inclusivity in programmes, with recent performances having included music by Morfydd Owen, Maria Rosa Coccia, Johanna Kinkel, Jose Mauricio Nunes Garcia, Margarita Cozzolani, Olivia Sparkhall, Marianna Martines, Undine Smith Moore and many more. The choir balances this with a selection of established repertoire from William Byrd to eighteenth-century Rome (Casali and Bolis) and up to contemporary times with works by James MacMillan, Jonathan Dove and many others.

Auditions are held each year for places in the choir. Non-music students are very welcome, although most singers are drawn from the School of Music. For more information get in touch with Elin Jones on JonesE159@cardiff.ac.uk.

Conductor: Peter Leech

Peter Leech began his musical career in Australia as a treble chorister and later worked as a professional conductor in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney, before moving to the UK in 1996 to undertake a PhD in Musicology with Dr. Peter Holman MBE.

In 2003 Peter won First Prize at the Mariele Ventre International Competition for Choral Conductors (Bologna), since which time he has developed a reputation in the UK and aboard for fresh, innovative and dynamic interpretations of a wide variety of choral repertoire, ranging from early polyphony to contemporary music. The list of vocal ensembles he has directed includes The Song Company (Sydney), Coro Euridice (Bologna), the City of Oxford Choir, the Cathedral Singers of Christ Church Oxford, the Bristol Bach Choir, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus, Collegium Singers, Harmonia Sacra and Cappella Fede. With The Song Company and Harmonia Sacra Peter has recorded CDs for Tall Poppies and Nimbus Alliance, and has also appeared as an ensemble vocalist on the Hyperion label.

Trained initially as an orchestral conductor (after studies in violin and keyboard) Peter has also collaborated with many leading UK period instrument ensembles including Canzona and Frideswide Ensemble. After several years as a professional singer in London, Peter has been based in North Somerset since 2009. He was appointed to an Associate Lectureship in the School of Music at Cardiff University in 2015.