St Albans Cathedral (Apr 2023)

I am writing to formally recommend Harsnett Choir to you to sing choral services.

The choir sung here at St Albans over the weekend of 25 and 26 May 2024. I have personally found correspondence with them to be straightforward and helpful. As a Cathedral, we are limited in available space and the Cathedral diary is extremely busy. The choir are very much able to work with us in fitting their practice times and locations were respected and left tidy.

The Canon Chancellor, Revd Dr Kevin Walton and has asked me to pass on the following –

'We were very pleased to have Harsnett Choir sing our weekend Services during the Cathedral Choirs half term break. Their music choices were sensitive both to the liturgical season and to the choir’s capabilities. 

We are pleased to recommend them to our sister cathedrals.’

They have been a pleasure to deal with both liturgically and administratively and we are very happy to recommend this choir to you.

Lizzie Birnie, Office Manager

Coventry Cathedral (Oct 2022)

We have just enjoyed the presence of the Harsnett Choir leading our worship here at Coventry Cathedral over the first weekend of our choir half term. They led with professionalism, enthusiasm and skill, and it was a pleasure to have them with us for two services of Choral Evensong and the main Cathedral Eucharist.

We would welcome them again at any time.

The Revd Canon Kathryn Fleming, Canon for Worship and Community

St Paul's Cathedral, London (Aug 2022)

We were delighted to welcome the Harsnett Choir, and are really grateful for the contribution you made to our choral worship.

Your music choices were excellent and beautifully sung. We would also like to extend our thanks to the organist Graham Thorpe, for providing the service music and accompanying the singing. 

We would be delighted to welcome you again in the near future. 

The Revd Robert Kozak, Succentor

Southwark Cathedral (Aug 2021)

... We do not normally invite choirs to sing for a whole week at Southwark Cathedral; the fact that we were content to do so in this case is a testimony to our confidence in the choir's musical ability, stamina and professionalism.

In summary, the Harsnett Choir are entirely professional in their outlook, arrive on time, choose a suitable repertoire for the building and their own forces, projecting the psalm and responses well with a keen sense of pitch and rhythm.  We are happy to have them back at any time...

The Revd Canon Andrew Zihni, Precentor

Ripon Cathedral (Feb 2020)

We were delighted to welcome the Harsnett choir to accompany the worship at Ripon Cathedral in February 2020. We would be delighted to welcome them back at any point in the future as they were an excellent choir.

Their singing was on a par with our own Cathedral choir and their professionalism and communication were really good, ensuring a very pleasant experience for all concerned.

I warmly commend them to any church or cathedral who would like to invite them to accompany the worship, both Eucharistic and Evensong.

Canon Michael Gisbourne, Precentor

Leicester Cathedral (Aug 2019)

And they're a great choir to have singing for you. We've always enjoyed their visits to Leicester.

Dr Christopher Ouvry-Johns, Director of Music

(quoted, with permission, from the Friends of Cathedral Music Facebook page)

St Paul's Cathedral (Feb 2019)

We were pleased to welcome the choir in August 2016 and again in August 2018 to sing Evensong.

The choir sang well in our challenging acoustic and their behaviour and conduct in the Cathedral both during the service and after was of a good standard. The choir added to the atmosphere of worship which St Paul's works hard to maintain, and we are grateful to them for their contribution to this.

 The Reverend Rosemary Morton, Minor Canon and Succentor

Southwell Minster (April 2018)

We were pleased to have the Harsnett Choir with us... where they demonstrated both an ability to choose appropriate music (anthems ranging from Victoria Magi viderunt stellam to Howells Here is the little door and MacMillan O radiant dawn) and an ability to sing sensitively. We would be happy to have them back to our Cathedral as a visiting choir again.

Canon Jacqui Jones, Precentor