Colla Voce Singers I The choir

The Colla Voce Singers is a London based chamber choir formed of both male and female singers mostly undergraduate or postgraduate musicians. Many are, or have been, choral scholars in Cathedrals or Universities and Colleges. Some of those who have graduated are continuing their singing professionally in cathedrals and choirs around the country. Many of the singers are former pupils of The London Oratory School, where the choir's Director Lee Ward is Director of Music.

The choir was founded in April 2005 and has performed many concerts in the UK to date and a number of performances in Poland, Italy and France as part of the choir's annual tours abroad. To date the singers have performed to people such as Princess Michael of Kent and former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Future performances to Prince Michael and Pope Benedict are planned.

The choir's varied repertoire to date has ranged from choral masterpieces of ages gone by such as Monteverdi's Vespers, Bach's Mass in B Minor, to contempory choral works of various Europen composers, as well as light hearted secular works.

The choir will tour Latvia this summer, presenting a programme of English and Latvian works. The Autumn will bring the choir's most hight profile performance to thousands of pilgrims at a Mass celebrated at Coventry Airport by Pope Benedict on his visit to the UK.

Colla Voce Singers also provides singers for corporate events, especially at Christmas and for weddings. See Hire the Choir for more details.

Lee Ward I The musical director

Lee Ward was appointed Assistant Organist at Chester Cathedral at the early age of 18 and then won a Foundation Scholarship and the Royal College of Organists' R.J. Pitcher Scholarship to the Royal College of Music. While there, he won all of the available organ prizes and also organ scholarships at the Temple Church, St Paul's Cathedral and St Alban's Abbey, where we worked closely with John Scott, Barry Rose and John Birch.

After graduating with a London BMus, Lee was Assistant Organist at St. Michael's Cornhill, and then Organist and Assistant Director of Music at King's College School, Wimbledon. He is currently Director of Music at The London Oratory School where he is the musical director of The London Oratory School Schola - a Catholic liturgical boys' choir, which has recorded for many Hollywood films such as the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the first three installments of the Harry Potter series.

Appointed in 1994, Lee is also Organist and Director of Music at the Parish Church of St. John-at-Hampstead.

David Terry IThe accompanist