The City Choir of Washington

At the heart of this sumptuous choral programme is Fauré’s transcendent Requiem, flanked by shorter works which include TCCW’s own commission of Sir John Tavener’s Tolstoy’s Creed. We are pleased to welcome this pre-eminent US choir to Oxford, under the direction of one of America’s major choral conductors.

Approaching its 10th anniversary, TCCW is comprised of 120 highly experienced, professional-calibre singers who hail from throughout the greater Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The ensemble is known for its beautiful choral sound, attention to musical detail, and moving performances under the leadership of Artistic Director Robert Shafer.

In February 2000, Shafer was honoured by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences with a GRAMMY® Award for Best Choral Performance for a live concert recording of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. Shafer has multiple other GRAMMY® nods, having prepared The Washington Chorus for the GRAMMY® Award-winning recording of John Corigliano’s Of Rage and Remembrance with Leonard Slatkin and The National Symphony Orchestra and for the GRAMMY® Award-nominated compact disc and film soundtrack recording of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov with Mstislav Rostropovich and The National Symphony Orchestra. Recognised as one of America’s major choral conductors, he has served as Artistic Director of the City Choir of Washington since its launch in September 2007.