Founded in 1976 as a madrigal choir, the Arcadian Singers are made up of 24 people,  consisting of students and staff from Oxford University and Oxford residents. We perform at least one concert a term in Oxford and also participate in a number of other musical ventures both in and outside the city. Over the years we have recorded two successful CDs, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and toured yearly.

As well as performing in the many churches and college chapels of Oxford, we have sung services at St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, and since 1991 have been invited to act as the ‘choir in residence’ during the Easter Triduum at Ampleforth Abbey.

We sing a diverse array of music, ranging from Byrd, Palestrina and Bach to Tippett, Pärt and Barber. You can get an idea of recent repertoire by checking past concerts on our events page!

Conductor 2018/19 - Paul Hedley

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Paul Hedley’s musical education began in earnest as a school chorister, and he has been singing at a high level since the age of seven in Chapel and Cathedral Choirs. Ten years in the Oxford choral scene, first as a Choral Scholar then Lay Clerk at Magdalen College, and involvement with many other choirs including Oxford Voices and Ex Cathedra, was followed by time as a Lay Clerk at Gloucester Cathedral. Throughout this period he was developing his conducting, working with Musica Beata, the choir of Merton College, and as a stand-in for Gloucester Cathedral Youth Choir, Monmouth and Stroud Choral Societies, and several others, and now also runs the Crown Singers. In recent years, he has studied with Peter Hanke and Jan Scheerer, and has a keen interest in the leadership aspects of conducting as well as the musical ones. He is a partner in Exart Performances, an Associate Fellow at the Saïd Business School, has a PhD in theoretical Linguistics, and spent five years running the Three Choirs Festival.



Choir Committee Members, 2017/18

Manager:                          Oliver Kay

Marketing:                       Hannah Greenstreet
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Treasurer:                        Cosima Gillhammer