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Welcome

Welcome to the website of the Iken Scholars, one of London's premier chamber choirs.

 

We give performances of hidden corners of Renaissance polyphony to audiences across the capital and beyond. 

You can explore below our upcoming performances as well as our past projects. 

Matthew Dunn, Director

ARE YOU A TENOR?

We're pleased to announce auditions for tenors for the Iken Scholars. If this is something you are interested in, use the contact button below.

Upcoming performances

  • Elizabethan Masterpieces
    Elizabethan Masterpieces
    Sun, 23 Mar
    All Saints' Blackheath
    23 Mar 2025, 19:30
    All Saints' Blackheath, All Saints Dr, Blackheath, London SE3 0TY, UK
    23 Mar 2025, 19:30
    All Saints' Blackheath, All Saints Dr, Blackheath, London SE3 0TY, UK
    2025 marks the 450th anniversary of the publication of Tallis' and Byrd's landmark Cantiones Sacrae. In this concert, we will be exploring the repertoire of this seminal collection.
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  • Palestrina - The Last Years
    Palestrina - The Last Years
    Sun, 06 Jul
    All Saints' Blackheath
    06 Jul 2025, 19:30
    All Saints' Blackheath, All Saints Dr, Blackheath, London SE3 0TY, UK
    06 Jul 2025, 19:30
    All Saints' Blackheath, All Saints Dr, Blackheath, London SE3 0TY, UK
    Time to look at the final years of one of the Renaissance’s great Titans: Palestrina. As well as works from his mature years, we’ll look at his role in establishing Rome’s first professional guild of musicians and a ‘lifetime achievement’ award in the form of a mass with seven composers.
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  • Riddles and Rework
    Riddles and Rework
    Sun, 28 Sept
    All Saints' Blackheath
    28 Sept 2025, 19:00
    All Saints' Blackheath, All Saints Dr, Blackheath, London SE3 0TY, UK
    28 Sept 2025, 19:00
    All Saints' Blackheath, All Saints Dr, Blackheath, London SE3 0TY, UK
    Forwards, backwards, upside down, twice as fast, three times as slow, start together and then start apart. Welcome to the baffling, playful and occasionally maddening world of the Renaissance riddle.
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Major forthcoming project

Arundel choirbook
Recording and associated performances

The Arundel Choirbook (also called the Lambeth Choirbook), one of the most important extant collections of English polyphony, is 500 years old this year. To mark this significant milestone, the Iken Scholars are collaborating with Lambeth Palace to record seven previously un-recorded works. As well as making these recordings publicly available, it is hoped there will be a number of performances of these pieces throughout the year.

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Recent projects

Tudor masterpieces
Choral masterpieces from the Tudor age

The Iken Scholars explored performance and patronage in the Tudor age through the lens of five key sources: the Eton Choirbook; the Henry VIII book; the Anne Boleyn book; the Dow Partbooks and the 1575 Cantiones Sacrae.

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Mexican
polyphony
Music of Mexico in the seventeenth century

The Iken Scholars explored the extraordinary repertoire of early colonial Mexico, focusing on Puebla Cathedral.

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