'As a choral director and composer Bob Chilcott is revered. He understands choirs and gets the best from them.'
The Guardian online
'Children don't like the music they have to perform to be hard (hard to learn, hard to get right, hard to enjoy). But neither do they want soft, soppy, kids' stuff, so easy there's no sense of achievement. Bob Chilcott has got it wonderfully right.'
Gramophone
Bob's new work Songs My heart has taught Me has been written for the American Choral Directors Association’s Raymond W. Brock Memorial Commission for their 2021 National Conference. It received its virtual premiere as part of the conference, performed by the BBC Singers. Bob is the first UK resident composer to receive the honour of receiving this commission.
Bob's Creation Song will receive its premiere in October, in Norwich Cathedral, as part of Dippy the Dinosaur's delayed tour around the country from the Natural History Museum. This 12-minute concert work tells the story of creation through a tapestry of sacred texts. October will also see the premiere of Bob's The Song of Harvest, written for the RSCM and premiered in Durham Cathedral.
Bob Chilcott has become one of the world's most widely performed composers and arrangers of choral music. His compositional output reflects his wide taste in music styles and his commitment to writing music that is both singable and communicative.
He has been involved in choral music most of his life – he was a chorister and then a choral scholar in the choir of King's College, Cambridge, and was a member of the British vocal group The King's Singers for whom he made a number of popular arrangements of well-known songs from all genres.
As well as being a full-time composer he is also a highly acclaimed choral conductor. He has been privileged to conduct many choirs all over the world. He is Principal Guest Conductor of The BBC Singers and in 2019 he was appointed Principal Conductor of Birmingham University Singers. His music has been widely recorded by many choirs and groups including The King's Singers, Tenebrae, and The BBC Singers.
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