Cirrus Voices

In its original iteration, Cirrus Voices first appeared in London as a male voice ensemble along with the world-renowned Trinity Boys Choir under Music Director David Swinson. As former trebles with the choir, these tenors and basses were by now professional singers and supported the high voice choir. Cirrus Voices made its debut early in 2012, where they appeared in much-lauded concerts with arguably Britain’s most famous boys’ choir. Venues included Trinity School Croydon, Croydon Minster, and Southwark Cathedral, along with various parish churches in the county of Surrey. Later that year, Cirrus Voices made its German debut, appearing with Trinity Boys Choir in the Herz Jesu-Kirche in Munich, where the ensembles gave the world premiere of REFUGIUM for SATB chorus, organ, positive organ and three percussion by Graham Lack. The concert was recorded live by Sky Studio Munich and issued as a limited-edition LP on the label Hayo Music two years later.

In 2014 Cirrus Voices gave, again under David Swinson, several concerts in the UK with Trinity Boys Choir NINE (a specialist SSA ensemble), before appearing again in Germany at Trier Cathedral as well as in other German cities such as Miltenberg, again to much critical acclaim. Programmes at the time included works by Renaissance composers Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, and Robert Whyte, as well as music of the twentieth century by Herbert Howells and Benjamin Britten, along with specially commissioned pieces by British composers.

There followed in 2017 the CD release of Missa Dominica by Nicholas Ludford on the Rondeau label. This recording features Cirrus Voices and Trinity Boys Choir as well as Trinity Handbell Choir and was conducted by David Swinson. It was made in the Himmelfahrtskirche Munich and contains along with the mass setting English medieaval carols as well as works by Kenneth Leighton and Graham Lack.

In 2018 the CD REFUGIUM was released on Stone Records in a recording by Bavarian Radio. It was awarded Recording of the Month by Gramophone Magazine and Recording of the Year by American Record Guide. That same year saw Cirrus Voices and Trinity Boys Choir on an extensive tour of Germany under the musical direction of David Swinson with the programme ‘Solstice’, followed by a second German touring project in 2019. Again, UK venues included Southwark Cathedral and various churches in the County of Surrey. Amongst the German venues for the 2018/19 season were: Bad Doberan, Seggebruch, Loccum, Magdeburg, Köln, Sondershausen, Sangerhausen (at the first iteration of the HARZ FIRE Biennale), Magdeburg, Hamburg, Uetersen, Kiel, Kappeln, and Lüneburg.

The 2021/22 season for Cirrus Voices was marked by a new programme, ‘Hymns and Lamentations’, once again given under David Swinson at venues in the UK and in Germany, where they appeared with Trinity Boys Choir NINE in Hamburg, Lüneburg, Münster Cathedral, Soest, and Marburg. The main work was the 5-voice Lamentations by Robert Whyte, the movements of this cycle interspersed with works by Herbert Howells, Graham Lack, and Judith Weir.  Cirrus Voices also gave stand-alone items such as The Long Day Closes by Sir Arthur Sullivan. The organist Daniel Mathieson, who presently holds a position at Chester Cathedral, contributed virtuoso solo items by Jacques van Oortmerssen and Ad Wammes.

The programme ‘Hymns and Lamentations’ was also to be heard in 2023 both in the UK and on tour Germany, where venues included Würzburg, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Bad Bergzabern, Tholey, Sankt Wendel, Trierer Dom, Echternach, Aachener Dom, Cologne, Bad Münstereifel, Cochem, and Zell an der Mosel. Additional works were by Herbert Sumsion and the world premiere of a Magnificat by Michael Waite.

At the end of the 2023/24 season Music Director David Swinson bad farewell to Trinity Boys Choir and is presently much in demand as a freelance conductor, also holding positions with both Brockham Choral and the Beare Green and Newdigate Choral Society.

The 2024/25 season saw the launch of Cirrus Voices in its second iteration, as a mixed voice ensemble. Current members either hold singing positions in UK cathedrals or are freelance professionals. At its core, Cirrus Voices continues to draw on former trebles of Trinity Boys Choir and members of Trinity Girls Choir, most of whom went up as choral scholars to the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge before embarking on solo careers. The debut of the new Cirrus Voices was on 17 December 2025 in St Martin’s Church, Dorking where they sang an innovative programme of Christmas music.

The German debut of Cirrus Voices in its present iteration will be on 17 October 2026 in the Cathedral of St. Stephanus and St. Sixtus in Halberstadt, where they will give the programme ‘Under the Stars . . . Across the Waters: Sounds of the Atlantic’ during the 3rd HARZ FIRE Biennale.

May 2026

Impressum

Graham Lack
Breisacher Straße 5
81667 München