Southern is accustomed to sending its own musicians overseas—the orchestra performed more than a dozen concerts this summer in South America—but it’s not every day that an international ensemble visit campus. On September 23 the Choir of Clare College Cambridge from England performed at the Collegedale Church as part of its three-week tour.

The Choir of Clare College Cambridge is a mixed-voice choir with an extensive recording catalog and experience at churches and festivals in China, Europe, Japan, Russia, and the United States. In addition to a large number of community members who came out for the concert, students participating in Southern’s Bel Canto, Die Meistersinger, I Cantori, and Choral Conducting class were also in attendance. The event gave them the rare opportunity to have an on-campus field trip to witness world-class musicians.

Gennevieve Brown-Kibble, choir director for Southern and professor in the School of Music, emphasized the importance of Cambridge’s long-standing sacred music choral tradition which dates back nearly 150 years.

“The opportunity to observe and listen to other choirs and conductors of this level is like having several weeks of rehearsal rolled into one session,” Kibble said. “It gave us the chance to see the superb quality of music that is possible with students that are approximately the same age and level of education as our own here at Southern.”