About Choir 2000

Choir 2000, the Histon and Impington Community Choir, was founded in the year 2000 as a Choir for the Millennium. The Choir's aim is to provide opportunities for music-making both in the villages of Histon and Impington and in the surrounding area, and also to provide quality entertainment for the local population. Choir members can find out more about the choir's philosophy in our constitution [link opens in new pane/tab].

Proposed new constitution, for discussion by members at 2010 AGM.
draft new constitution [link opens in new pane/tab].

For details of the accounts submitted to the charity Commission, see the link at the RH corner of the foot of any page on the website.

Honorary President

Composer Dr John Rutter, C.B.E. is the choir's Honorary President.

John Rutter 60th birthday tribute (2005)

Congratulations to our Honorary President Dr John Rutter, on his award of the CBE in the 2007 New Year's Honours

Musical Director

D In 2007 Peter Britton was appointed as the choir's Musical Director.
After attending the Cathedral Choir school at Canterbury and Repton school, he studied at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he held a Music Exhibition. He then lectured in music at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology (now Anglia Ruskin University), being promoted to Head of Music in 1995. From 1997 to 2003 he was manager of the Cambridgeshire Music Service (CIMA), organising music tuition and ensembles for schools, and directing courses with the Cambridge Holiday Orchestra over many years. In 2006 he was appointed Honorary Director of Music at Hughes Hall, Cambridge. He now combines his academic career with freelance work as a piano teacher, and performance as accompanist, percussionist and conductor. He has conducted the Sinfonia of Cambridge, the Cambridge Sinfonietta, the Cambridge Graduate Orchestra, the City of Ely Sinfonia, and many other local ensembles, with repertoire from all periods, including productions of Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, Peter Grimes and The Rake's Progress. Choral works he has directed include Bach's Mass in B minor, Handel's Israel in Egypt, Stravinsky's Les Noces and Steve Reich's Desert Music. In February 2008 he conducted the Norwich Philharmonic in Mahler's 5th Symphony.

Founding Musical director and Honorary Patron

The Choir's founding Musical Director was Grayston Burgess, now enjoying his second retirement as a Brother of Charterhouse, London. Grayston - like Peter Britton, a Canterbury Chorister, and then a Cambridge man (but in his case a King's man) - had a distinguished career as a counter-tenor in the Fifties and Sixties, during which he led the Purcell Consort of Voices, whose recordings of Renaissance music became a benchmark for the highest standards of their generation. After 'retiring' to Histon, he soon found himself involved in musical events, becoming the Musical Director of Choir 2000, retiring again at the end of the 2006-07 season.

You can read more about him here . [Link opens in separate window]

Beatrix Bown - award from S. Cambs Arts

On March 28th 2009, at an event hosted by stART, in partnership with South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC), Beatrix Bown, the choir Organiser, was presented with an award by SCDC chairman, Cllr Jim Stewart for her achievement in setting up and organising Choir 2000. Congratulations to Beatrix for this well-deserved recognition !

Performances and repertoire

The choir, performing a programme of Mozart at West Road in June 2007 :

Choir 2000's repertoire includes Vivaldi's Gloria, Mozart's Requiem, Rutter's Magnificat, Bach's Christmas Oratorio and Orff's Carmina Burana as well as selections from musicals and opera.

The Past Events page gives fuller details of the Choir's activities.

If you wish to support the choir, or join our mailing list, please see the Supporters page

Choir 2000 online

Choir 2000 is a member of and is listed on the following choral websites :

• 
• 

as well as

• Cambridgeshire.net
• Suffolk InfoLink
• UK Music Who's who
• Start-arts website
• Choral Society website

Our concerts are listed here :

• Concert Finder
• Concert Diary
• 
• Brian Jordan Music concert list
• Moving Tone
• We're all Neighbours
• Oclassical website
• Histon & Impington Courier (work in progress)
• Cambridgeshire.net

Music hire

Choir 2000 has a small library of music for hire to other choirs. The music available for hire is listed on the following sites:

• Making Music website (members' area, see link above)
• gerontius.net website (see link above)
• Members page of this website

To make an enquiry about hiring, please either use the request form from one of the 2 external websites, or enquire directly with the library contact details on this website. Note that none of the above listings will indicate if a particular item is already on hire.