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Ex Cathedra
Ex Cathedra (/ˌɛks kəˈθeɪdrə/ EKS-kə-THAY-drə) is a British choir and early music ensemble based in Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It performs choral music spanning the 15th to 21st centuries, and regularly commissions new works.
Jeffrey Skidmore OBE founded Ex Cathedra in Birmingham in 1969, serving as its artistic director and conductor. It comprises a chamber choir of about 40 singers, a specialist vocal Consort made up of ten professional singers who feature regularly as soloists, and a Baroque ensemble/orchestra. The choir presents a season of programmes in various venues in and around Birmingham, across the Midlands and in London. It has been a resident ensemble at Birmingham Town Hall Symphony Hall since 2007. The first period instrument orchestra to be established in an English regional city, Ex Cathedra's Baroque Orchestra was founded as part of the choir's 1983–1984 season and made its début with a performance of Bach's Mass in B Minor. Comprising the UK's leading period instrumentalists, the orchestra's principals regularly give master classes and coach students at the Birmingham Conservatoire as part of its early music programme.. Since 2014, the ensemble has made regular appearances at Hereford Cathedral, St Peter's Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton, Southwell Minster and St James the Greater in Leicester.
Ex Cathedra has performed in concert series and festivals across the UK, including the BBC Proms where it performed Stockhausen in 2013, the Barbican Centre, Brighton Early Music Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Kilkenny Festival, Lichfield Festival, London Festival of Baroque Music, Spitalfields Festival, St David's Festival, Three Choirs Festival and York Early Music Festival. The group has also appeared at festivals in Belgium, Finland, France, (Germany), Israel, Italy, Spain, and the United States.
Ex Cathedra has collaborated with Fretwork (music group), the City Musick, His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, Concerto Palatino, Birmingham Opera Company, Sinfonia New York, Birmingham Royal Ballet, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Quebecois dance company Cas Public, the Shakespeare Institute, and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Skidmore is scheduled to conclude his directorship of the ensemble at the close of the 2026-2027 season, and subsequently to take the title of Founder and Conductor Emeritus. In January 2026, the ensemble announced the appointment of James Burton as its next artistic director, effective with the 2027-2028 season. Burton is to take the title of artistic director-designate in the spring of 2026.
Ex Cathedra has its own youth and children's choirs, the Academy of Vocal Music, for children aged 4–20. In 2017 it launched a Scholarships scheme for young professionals and, in partnership with Birmingham Conservatoire, a Student Scholarships scheme.
In addition, since 1990 the choir has been involved in education programmes in schools and local communities. It established Ring of Sound, an intergenerational choir for the Perry Common Regeneration Project and runs Singing Communities Ladywood, a community choir in the Ladywood inner city district of Birmingham.
Ex Cathedra's 'Singing Medicine' project has worked with children every week across all wards since 2004 at Birmingham Children's Hospital, at paediatric wards at Birmingham Heartland's Hospital since 2011, and at Birmingham Women's Hospital since 2016.
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Ex Cathedra
Ex Cathedra (/ˌɛks kəˈθeɪdrə/ EKS-kə-THAY-drə) is a British choir and early music ensemble based in Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It performs choral music spanning the 15th to 21st centuries, and regularly commissions new works.
Jeffrey Skidmore OBE founded Ex Cathedra in Birmingham in 1969, serving as its artistic director and conductor. It comprises a chamber choir of about 40 singers, a specialist vocal Consort made up of ten professional singers who feature regularly as soloists, and a Baroque ensemble/orchestra. The choir presents a season of programmes in various venues in and around Birmingham, across the Midlands and in London. It has been a resident ensemble at Birmingham Town Hall Symphony Hall since 2007. The first period instrument orchestra to be established in an English regional city, Ex Cathedra's Baroque Orchestra was founded as part of the choir's 1983–1984 season and made its début with a performance of Bach's Mass in B Minor. Comprising the UK's leading period instrumentalists, the orchestra's principals regularly give master classes and coach students at the Birmingham Conservatoire as part of its early music programme.. Since 2014, the ensemble has made regular appearances at Hereford Cathedral, St Peter's Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton, Southwell Minster and St James the Greater in Leicester.
Ex Cathedra has performed in concert series and festivals across the UK, including the BBC Proms where it performed Stockhausen in 2013, the Barbican Centre, Brighton Early Music Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Kilkenny Festival, Lichfield Festival, London Festival of Baroque Music, Spitalfields Festival, St David's Festival, Three Choirs Festival and York Early Music Festival. The group has also appeared at festivals in Belgium, Finland, France, (Germany), Israel, Italy, Spain, and the United States.
Ex Cathedra has collaborated with Fretwork (music group), the City Musick, His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, Concerto Palatino, Birmingham Opera Company, Sinfonia New York, Birmingham Royal Ballet, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Quebecois dance company Cas Public, the Shakespeare Institute, and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Skidmore is scheduled to conclude his directorship of the ensemble at the close of the 2026-2027 season, and subsequently to take the title of Founder and Conductor Emeritus. In January 2026, the ensemble announced the appointment of James Burton as its next artistic director, effective with the 2027-2028 season. Burton is to take the title of artistic director-designate in the spring of 2026.
Ex Cathedra has its own youth and children's choirs, the Academy of Vocal Music, for children aged 4–20. In 2017 it launched a Scholarships scheme for young professionals and, in partnership with Birmingham Conservatoire, a Student Scholarships scheme.
In addition, since 1990 the choir has been involved in education programmes in schools and local communities. It established Ring of Sound, an intergenerational choir for the Perry Common Regeneration Project and runs Singing Communities Ladywood, a community choir in the Ladywood inner city district of Birmingham.
Ex Cathedra's 'Singing Medicine' project has worked with children every week across all wards since 2004 at Birmingham Children's Hospital, at paediatric wards at Birmingham Heartland's Hospital since 2011, and at Birmingham Women's Hospital since 2016.