Ex Cathedra

Ex Cathedra ( ) is a British choir and early music ensemble based in Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It performs choral music spanning the 15th to 21st centuries, and regularly commissions new works.

History Jeffrey Skidmore OBE founded Ex Cathedra in Birmingham in 1969, serving as its artistic director and conductor. It comprises a chamber choir of about 40 singers, a specialist vocal Consort made up of ten professional singers who feature regularly as soloists, and a Baroque ensemble/orchestra. The choir presents a season of programmes in various venues in and around Birmingham, across the Midlands and in London. It has been a resident ensemble at Birmingham Town Hall Symphony Hall since 2007.. The first period instrument orchestra to be established in an English regional city,. Ex Cathedra's Baroque Orchestra was founded as part of the choir's 1983–1984 season and made its début with a performance of Bach's Mass in B Minor. Comprising the UK's leading period instrumentalists, the orchestra's principals regularly give master classes and coach students at the Birmingham Conservatoire as part of its early music programme.. Since 2014, the ensemble has made regular appearances at Hereford Cathedral, St Peter's Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton, Southwell Minster and St James the Greater in Leicester.

Ex Cathedra has performed in concert series and festivals across the UK, including the BBC Proms where it performed Stockhausen in 2013, the Barbican Centre, Brighton Early Music Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Kilkenny Festival, Lichfield Festival, London Festival of Baroque Music, Spitalfields Festival, St David's Festival, Three Choirs Festival and York Early Music Festival.. The group has also appeared at festivals in Belgium, Finland, France, (Germany), Israel, Italy, Spain, and the United States.

Ex Cathedra has collaborated with Fretwork (music group), the City Musick, His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, Concerto Palatino, Birmingham Opera Company, Sinfonia New York, Birmingham Royal Ballet, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Quebecois dance company Cas Public, the Shakespeare Institute, and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Skidmore is scheduled to conclude his directorship of the ensemble at the close of the 2026-2027 season, and subsequently to take the title of Founder and Conductor Emeritus. In January 2026, the ensemble announced the appointment of James Burton as its next artistic director, effective with the 2027-2028 season. Burton is to take the title of artistic director-designate in the spring of 2026.

Music education Ex Cathedra has its own youth and children's choirs, the Academy of Vocal Music, for children aged 4–20. In 2017 it launched a Scholarships scheme for young professionals and, in partnership with Birmingham Conservatoire, a Student Scholarships scheme.

In addition, since 1990 the choir has been involved in education programmes in schools and local communities. It established Ring of Sound, an intergenerational choir for the Perry Common Regeneration Project and runs Singing Communities Ladywood, a community choir in the Ladywood inner city district of Birmingham.

Ex Cathedra's 'Singing Medicine' project has worked with children every week across all wards since 2004 at Birmingham Children's Hospital, at paediatric wards at Birmingham Heartland's Hospital since 2011, and at Birmingham Women's Hospital since 2016.

For over 25 years, Ex Cathedra has worked extensively in schools, particularly focusing on primary schools. This activity expanded during the 2007–2008 academic year, when Ex Cathedra inducted its 'Singing Playgrounds' project in schools in Birmingham, Coventry, Derby and London as part of the government's Sing Up initiative. By 2017, 'Singing Playgrounds' had reached over 600 schools across the UK and as far afield as Belgium, China, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand.

Recordings Ex Cathedra has made a number of recordings for ASV Records, NMC, Orchid, Signum Records, Somm Records, Hyperion Records, and on its own label,. with a particular focus on French and Latin American Baroque music. In 2015, the CD 'Britten to America' was shortlisted for a Grammy Award, whilst 'A French Baroque Diva' won a Gramophone Award 2015 (Recital category).

Title and CD numberRelease dateAmazon.co.uk (album release dates)PerformersVivaldi: VespersECCE EXCCD0011991Ex Cathedra Chamber Choir and Baroque OrchestraJeffrey SkidmoreMichel-Richard de Lalande: Regina Coeli; De Profundis; Cantate DominoASV Gaudeamus CD GAU 14116 January 1995Ex Cathedra Chamber Choir and Baroque Orchestra (leader Micaela Comberti)Jeffrey SkidmoreSanctus: Baroque Music for the NativityASV Gaudeamus CD GAU 166Ex Cathedra Chamber Choir and Baroque OrchestraJeffrey SkidmoreMonteverdi: Madrigali Fatta SpiritualeASV Gaudeamus CD GAU 174[Unknown]Ex CathedraJeffrey SkidmoreSir Christèmas: Carols Old and NewASV Gaudeamus CD DCA 91221 February 1995Ex CathedraJeffrey SkidmoreOrlande de Lassus: Sacred Choral Music; Missa ad Imitationem Vinum BonumASV Gaudeamus CD GAU 15013 March 1996Ex CathedraHis Majesty's Sagbutts and CornettsJeffrey SkidmoreA New Heaven: 1,000 Years of Sacred Choral MusicECCE EXCCD0022000Ex CathedraJeffrey SkidmoreChristmas Music by Candlelight: Alleluya, a New WorkECCE EXCCD0032001Ex CathedraJeffrey SkidmoreNew World Symphonies: Baroque Music from Latin AmericaHyperion CDA673807 April 2003Ex CathedraJeffrey SkidmoreCharpentier: Messe à Quatre Chœurs; Salve Regina à Trois Chœurs; Salut de la Veille des 'O'; Le Reniement de St PierreHyperion CDA674355 January 2004Ex CathedraJeffrey SkidmoreRameau: Règne Amour: Love Songs from the OperasHyperion CDA674473 May 2004Carolyn SampsonEx Cathedra Choir & Baroque OrchestraJeffrey SkidmorePeerson: Latin MotetsHyperion CDA674903 January 2005Ex Cathedra ConsortJeffrey SkidmoreMoon, Sun & All Things: Baroque Music from Latin America – 2Hyperion CDA6752429 August 2005Ex CathedraJeffrey SkidmoreFire Burning in Snow: Latin American Baroque 3Hyperion CDA6760028 January 2008Ex Cathedra ConsortJeffrey SkidmoreJ.S Bach: St Matthew PassionOrchid ORC1000071 November 2009Ex CathedraJeffrey SkidmoreGrace Davidson – Soprano IMark Chambers – Alto IJeremy Budd – Tenor I & EvangelistEamonn Dougan – Bass I & JesusGreg Skidmore – Bass I & PilateNatalie Clifton-Griffith – Soprano IIMatthew Venner – Alto IIChristopher Watson – Tenor IIJames Birchall – Bass IIJoy in the morningOrchid ORC1000081 November 2009Ex CathedraJeffrey SkidmoreAndrew Fletcher – organOrlande de Lassus: St Matthew PassionSOMMCD01061 April 2011Ex Cathedra ConsortJeffrey SkidmoreNicholas Mulroy – EvangelistGreg Skidmore – JesusAlec Roth: Shared GroundSignum SIGCD2701 November 2011Ex CathedraEx Cathedra Academy of Vocal MusicJeffrey SkidmorePhilippe Honoré – violinGiovanni Gabrieli: Sacred SymphoniesHyperion CDA679571 November 2012Ex Cathedra ConsortHis Majestys Sagbutts & CornettsConcerto PalatinoJeffrey SkidmoreBenjamin Britten: Britten to AmericaNMC D1909 November 2013Ex Cathedra ConsortJeffrey SkidmoreThe HalléMark ElderAndrew KennedyHuw WatkinsSamuel WestA French Baroque DivaHyperion CDA680351 June 2014Carolyn SampsonEx Cathedra Consort & Baroque OrchestraJeffrey SkidmoreBrazilian AdventuresHyperion CDA681141 November 2015Ex Cathedra Consort & Baroque OrchestraJeffrey SkidmoreAlec Roth: A Time to DanceHyperion CDA681441 February 2016Ex Cathedra Choir & Baroque OrchestraJeffrey SkidmoreGrace Davidson – sopranoMatthew Venner – altoSamuel Boden – tenorGreg Skidmore – bassTim Harper – organRoxanna Panufnik: Celestial BirdSignum SIGCD5431 September 2018Ex CathedraMilapfestJeffrey SkidmorePenelope Thwaites: From Five ContinentsSOMMCD06121 April 2020Ex CathedraJeffrey SkidmoreCarolyn Sampson - sopranoJames Gilchrist - tenorWilliam Dazeley - baritonePenelope Thwaites - pianoRupert Jeffcoat - organ

Hyperion lawsuit In 2001, Ex Cathedra recorded four works by Michel-Richard de Lalande for Hyperion Records. The sessions used editions prepared by scholar Lionel Sawkins. Sawkins subsequently sued Hyperion for royalties arising from his claimed copyright in the editions.. The recording was issued but subsequently withdrawn from the market after Sawkins won the lawsuit and subsequent appeal...

Upon Hyperion's appeal, the Court of Appeal held on 19 May 2005 that Sawkins owned the copyright in his modern performing editions of the de Lalande music, even though de Lalande's music itself was out of copyright.. The decision received criticism, such as from Peter Phillips, the director of the Tallis Scholars and himself a music editor:

"All the music I perform has to be edited, or we couldn't read it. But copyright should be there ... to reward creativity, not scholarship or diligence. How much an editor did or did not write should never be asked and judged upon during a million-pound lawsuit involving a small and innovative recording company."

Following the death of Sawkins in September 2025, Hyperion has restored this recording to download and CDR availability.

See also Arts in Birmingham – classical music Jeffrey Skidmore List of early music ensembles

Notes

References . Programme for Ex Cathedra's performance Parisian Vespers: Summer Vespers by Candlelight at The Oratory, Birmingham, on 18 June 2008. Sawkins v. Hyperion Records Limited EWHC 1530, High Court (Chancery Division). Retrieved 17 December 2008.

Ex Cathedra

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