About the Academy Choir
The Academy Choir, under its founding conductor Andrew Edwards, has won an enviable reputation for the outstanding quality of its performances, combining authentic style with thrilling sound and excitement in delivery. Since 1980, when the choir was founded as the Academy of St Mary’s Wimbledon, we have performed a wide range of the choral repertoire, both familiar and unfamiliar.
The Choir consists of about 50 talented amateur and semi-professional singers, including former choral scholars from Oxford and Cambridge. We perform with the Academy Orchestra or the Academy Baroque Players depending on the repertoire. These groups bring together some of London's most distinguished professional players, under leaders including Charlotte Edwards and Marilyn Taylor for the Academy Orchestra and Alison Bury, Kati Debretzeni, Clare Salaman and Susan Carpenter-Jacobs for the Academy Baroque Players.
The Academy Choir performs mainly in St John’s Church, Wimbledon, which has a large nave with a marvellous acoustic.
The Conductor, Andrew Edwards, is passionate about music of all periods from the 16th century onwards. His mission for the Academy is to make every concert a special occasion, which people will remember as a life-enhancing experience. He brings a freshness of approach to familiar works like Bach’s St John Passion and the Mozart and Haydn masterpieces, but is equally enthusiastic about introducing audiences to unfamiliar works such as Handel’s Hercules, Schumann’s Requiem for Mignon, or Poulenc’s Stabat Mater.
Each year we present two or three major concerts in St John’s Church, Spencer Hill, Wimbledon, and some smaller concerts. We also sing for special Services in English Cathedrals and Churches.