The Schola Cantorum performs well loved works by Fauré, including the Requiem, Messe Basse, Ave Maria and Cantique de Jean Racine together with the Belgravia Chamber Orchestra.

Following his father’s death in 1885, Fauré composed his Requiem and at its premiere, the priest in charge memorably told Fauré that ‘we do not need these novelties.’ Fauré was trying to break the mould with his composition: “My instinct led me to stray from the established path after all those years accompanying funerals! I’d had them up to here! I wanted to do something different.” The Requiem of course grew in popularity and earned its place in the French canon.

The Schola Cantorum is the liturgical choir of The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School. Founded in 1980, the Schola Cantorum is made up of boys and young men aged 11-18. Its principal duty is that of serving the liturgy of the School and it sings each week at the School Mass.

The Belgravia Orchestra was formed in 2006 for a performance of Handel’s Messiah with the Schola Cantorum and choirs of The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School conducted by Scott Price with Felicity Palmer and John Mark Ainsley among the soloists. The orchestra draws its musicians from the internationally acclaimed professional chamber orchestras of London.