Choir Program

Director: James Armstrong
Associate Director: Jamie Bartlett

Concert Choir

The William and Mary Concert Choir is an undergraduate ensemble of about seventy members, who represent a wide array of disciplines. Its repertory is drawn from the great Western European choral tradition of the last five hundred years as well as from choral traditions from around the world.

Each year the choir makes more than thirty appearances. It sings at most of the formal events of the College, including Convocation, Homecoming, Sunset Ceremony, Yule Log, Charter Day, and Commencement. Additional major events are the Holiday Concerts at the end of Fall semester, and the Spring concerts in late April. Every third year the choir presents a concert of a major work from the choral/orchestral repertory, given in honor of George and Ida Clayman.

The Choir undertakes an annual five-day regional Spring Tour in mid-March. The Ensemble also sings abroad every third year, and since 1999 has performed in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Italy, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia, and Croatia. It has performed for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, and was one of four choirs invited to perform in concert with the United States Marine Band at the 1997 Presidential Inaugural on the Capitol steps in Washington, D.C. At the invitation of the Marine Band, the Choir participated in the Marine Band's recording of Charles Cushing's "Angel Camp," which was released on CD in 1998. The Choir has released several of its own cds, available from Choir members, on the Choir webpage, and at the William and Mary bookstore.

For more information, visit the Choir's web pages or contact James Armstrong, Director.

Women's Chorus

The Women's Chorus is an ensemble of some sixty undergraduate women; it performs regularly on campus and in the Williamsburg community. Like all Department of Music ensembles, the Women's Chorus is made up of students from a wide variety of backgrounds and majors. Each semester the Chorus is featured in a major Candlelight Concert at Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg, and in the regular Choral Program Holiday Concerts and Spring Concerts in December and April, respectively. The ensemble regularly performs in a variety of other venues in the Williamsburg area, including at services for the Temple Beth-El, the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalist Church, and the Inter-Faith Council of the College.

Since 1999, the Chorus is under the direction of Dr. Jamie Bartlett. The ensemble has developed into an inspired, skilled, and exciting vocal group. The Women's Chorus mounts an annual tour of the East Coast every spring; since 2001 the ensemble has performed in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, and West Virginia. For more information, visit the Chorus's web pag

es or contact Dr. Jamie Bartlett, director.

Botetourt Chamber Singers

A vocal chamber ensemble of eighteen, the Botetourt Chamber Singers started in 1975 as an elite offshoot of the William and Mary Concert Choir. The ensemble is under the direction of Dr. Jamie Bartlett, and performs frequently on campus, in the Williamsburg community, and elsewhere. The "Bots" perform as a regular component of the Choral Program Holiday Concerts and Spring Concerts each December and April, with the Women's Chorus in its Candlelight Concerts, at Homecoming, with the William and Mary Early Music Ensemble, and at Grand Illumination in Colonial Williamsburg. In Spring 2005 the ensemble participated in its first international tour, traveling to the Balkans with the William and Mary Concert Choir,

In November 2006 the Botetourt Chamber Singers was a featured ensemble at the Virginia Music Educators Association conference in Norfolk. In Spring 2006 the ensemble cut a new cd, to be released during the 2006-2007 academic year.

For more information, contact Dr. Jamie Bartlett, director.