The Lea Singers are a friendly chamber choir of up to 30 singers.  Many of us are based in or near our home town of Harpenden, but others travel from further afield to sing with the Choir. Our day jobs are many and varied – teachers, clergymen, scientists, full time mums and the occasional City type – as are our musical backgrounds. We cover a wide range of ages and offer one-year internships to talented teenage singers from local schools, and to other singers unable to commit for multiple years and an annual subscription.

Over our 50 year history, the Leas have sung under 11 permanent conductors and many guests, each of whom has made a distinctive contribution to our style and repertoire. In December 2011 we appointed Benjamin Goodson to take up the baton.  

One of the great pleasures of singing with the Leas comes from working with distinguished professional musicians and from supporting talented “rising stars” of the musical world. In our 2011/12 season, we sang the Monteverdi Vespers with I Fagiolini, The English Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble and the Monteverdi String Band, and recorded with cellist  James Barralet and organist Edward Picton-Turbevill. We programme seasonal “artist portraits”, where we work with talented professionals over more than one project: this season’s featured artist is pianist and organist James Sherlock.

We are also fortunate in our ability to commission new works, and are very proud of the new music we have premiered. Leas commissions  include pieces by Judith Bingham, Timothy Blinko, Peter Foggitt, Naomi Waltham-Smith and Huw Watkins, as well as John Pickard, who sings bass in the Choir.