Crouch End Festival Chorus (CEFC) is a symphonic choir

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

 based in Crouch End

Crouch End

Crouch End is an area of north London, in the London Borough of Haringey.- Location :Crouch End is in a valley between Harringay to the east, Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green to the north, Finsbury Park and Archway to the south and Highgate to the west...

, a northern suburb of London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. CEFC was formed in 1984 by John Gregson and David Temple

David Temple

David Temple is a British conductor and musical director of Crouch End Festival Chorus which he has conducted at the Barbican Centre, Royal Festival Hall and Symphony Hall, Birmingham...

, who remains the choir's conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

. Unlike other large symphony choirs the chorus is independent, promoting its own concerts of choral and choral-orchestral music in venues including the Barbican and the South Bank Centre as well as smaller venues in North London and elsewhere. Its repertoire spans the entire history of Western choral music. It has commissioned works by composers including John Woolrich

John Woolrich

John Woolrich is a British composer. He was BBC Radio 3 'Composer of the Week' in March 2008, involving the broadcast of over 4 hours of his music in one week.-External links:**...

, Joby Talbot

Joby Talbot

Joby Talbot is a British composer.Born in Wimbledon, London, Talbot studied composition at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under Brian Elias and Simon Bainbridge....

, Howard Haigh, Orlando Gough

Orlando Gough

Orlando Gough is a British composer, educated at Oxford, and noted for projects written for ballet, contemporary dance and theatre. Collaborators have included Siobhan Davies, Alain Platel, Shobana Jeyasingh and Ashley Page of The Royal Ballet. He is artistic director of The Shout, which he...

, David Bedford

David Bedford

David Vickerman Bedford , was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music....

, Paul Patterson

Paul Patterson

Paul Patterson is a British composer and Manson Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music.Patterson studied trombone and composition at the Royal Academy of Music. He returned there to become Head of Composition and Contemporary Music until 1997, when he became Manson Professor of...

, Robert Hugill, Simon Bainbridge

Simon Bainbridge

Simon Bainbridge is a British composer, and a professor and former head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and visiting professor at the University of Louisville, Kentucky in the United States.-Biography:...

, Sally Beamish

Sally Beamish

Sally Beamish is a British composer of chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. She has also worked in the field of music theatre, film and television, as well as composing for children and for her local community....

 and Ian Lawrence

Ian Lawrence

Ian Lawrence is a Wellington lawyer, and was the Mayor of Wellington from 1983 to 1986. He was educated at North Sydney Boys High School and University of Sydney. He was previously Chairman of the National Housing Commission....

.
In August 2008 Crouch End Festival Chorus performed in its fifth BBC Promenade Concert. It has also featured in the BBC Electric Proms with Ray Davies

Ray Davies

Ray Davies, CBE is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave...

 of The Kinks

The Kinks

The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...

 as well as Oasis

Oasis (band)

Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...

 in 2008, and in the Barbican's 'Only Connect' series. The Chorus has collaborated with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...

, London Symphony Orchestra

London Symphony Orchestra

The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...

 and BBC Symphony Orchestra

BBC Symphony Orchestra

The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...

 among others. It has performed a number of times with film composer Ennio Morricone

Ennio Morricone

Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...

 and has recorded a significant amount of material for film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 and television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

, appearing on more than 60 CDs including albums by Katherine Jenkins

Katherine Jenkins

Katherine Jenkins is a Welsh mezzo-soprano. She is a classical-popular crossover singer who performs across a spectrum of operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre and hymns.-Early life and education:...

, Alfie Boe

Alfie Boe

Alfred Giovanni Roncalli Boe, known professionally initially as Alf or Alfred Boe and now as Alfie Boe, , is an English tenor.-Background:...

, Jonathan Ansell

Jonathan Ansell

Jonathan Mark Ansell is an English singer, formerly the high tenor of the vocal group G4.Jonathan Ansell was born in Bognor Regis in 1982, where both his parents were primary school teachers. Influenced by his mother’s tapes of Pavarotti and the Three Tenors, Jonathan joined the West Sussex Boys'...

 and Lesley Garrett

Lesley Garrett

Lesley Garrett CBE is an English musician, broadcaster and media personality.- Early life :Garrett was born in the town of Thorne near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, into a musical family. She attended Thorne Grammar School, where she performed in school plays and musicals. As she grew up she...

 and by pop artists Travis

Travis (band)

Travis are a post-Britpop band from Glasgow, Scotland, comprising Fran Healy , Dougie Payne , Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose...

, The Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy (band)

The Divine Comedy are a chamber pop band from Ireland, fronted by Neil Hannon. Formed in 1989, Hannon has been the only constant member of the group, playing, in some instances, all of the non-orchestral instrumentation bar drums. To date, ten studio albums have been released under the Divine...

, and Ray Davies

Ray Davies

Ray Davies, CBE is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave...

.