Durham University Chamber Choir

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Durham University Chamber Choir provides a high-quality music-making environment for the best singers in a university which boasts a rich choral tradition. DUCC demands a high level of commitment from its members, who in return benefit from being part of a refined group.

DUCC consists of around 20 singers, and throughout the year performs all types of choral music at concerts and cathedral services, and also embarks on at least one foreign tour, with recent venues including Tuscany, Poland, Dublin, Paris, and Tallinn. In 1996, the choir performed a major tour of northern Italy. This included Masses at St Mark's in Venice, and for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, in the Basilica at Assisi, in the presence of the Cardinal Archbishop of Assisi. Concerts were held in Florence, Perugia and two Tuscan cathedrals.

Membership of the choir is by annual audition, which currently takes place in the first week of the year. In recent years, the choir has performed a great variety of works, from J.S. Bach's 'Singet dem Herrn' to contemporary compositions such as 'The Three Kings' by Jonathon Dove, and Giles Swayne's 'Magnificat'. In 2005 the choir performed a premiere edition of Claudio Monteverdi's Christmas Vespers.

The Choir is entirely student-organised, and the post of director is openly auditioned each year. At the same time, the positions of Manager and treasurer are decided, with a social secretary, and a publicity officer elected the following October.

In recent years, a highlight of the Chamber Choir season has been the annual 'Music on the River' Concert in the first week of June. The event takes place on the banks of Durham's River Wear, close to the breathtakingly beautiful Prebends Bridge, where audiences gather for a concert of light-hearted summer music, performed by the Chamber Choir from three large rowing boats, backed by the awe-inspiring view along the riverbank of Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle. This year, the concert takes place on the 10th of June, beginning at 6.30pm

Ralph Allwood, Precentor at Eton College, Durham Graduate and former Director of DUCC is the choir's Patron.