Blossom Street Singers – Choir

The Blossom Street Singers is a dynamic vocal octet of highly trained professional singers, all in their twenties. The group performs a very wide range of music which is tailored to the audience or venue - from jazz and pop arrangements to close harmony to well-loved classical favourites. A typical programme might include popular classics like Elgar’s Nimrod and Barber’s Adagio, alongside jazz standards and the theme tunes to Austin Powers and Friends. In December 2005, Blossom Street filmed a medley of Christmas carols for BBC2, which was broadcast during the snooker championship final; since then they have performed nationwide.

Depending on your requirements, Blossom Street can provide between four and eight singers for concerts, events or private functions. The group’s versatility makes it an ideal choice for weddings; perhaps providing classical, religious or spiritual music during the ceremony and lively pop and jazz arrangements at the reception. Similarly at corporate events, Blossom Street can either perform a range of easy listening background music or provide the main entertainment of the evening, with sparkling renditions of popular hits. Either way, this adds a unique and special feel to any function.

Blossom Street was established in 2003 by Hilary Campbell, who gained a distinction for her MA in Vocal Studies at the University of York and subsequently took up a postgraduate place at Trinity College of Music. Hilary directs the ensemble and sings soprano. Other members of the group, many of whom are Oxbridge graduates, also sing with prestigious professional choirs such as the BBC Singers and the Monteverdi Choir. Recent ReviewBlossom Street Singers, Hertford College Chapel, By Giles Woodforde Oxford Times July 08'In December 2005,' Blossom Street's advance publicity announced, 'the Singers filmed a medley of Christmas carols for BBC2, which was broadcast during the snooker championship final.' This certainly didn't suggest a group that confines itself to the more rarefied areas of musical academia, and so this concert proved. Kicking off with a King's Singers arrangement of Can't Buy Me Love, the repertoire ranged through Purcell, Lassus, Finzi, Stanford, and Howells before finishing with Goodnight Sweetheart.

Blossom Street consists of eight professional singers. Apart from producing a disciplined, well-matched sound, it quickly became apparent that the group is united in the enthusiasm with which it goes about its work. The opening set of three pop classics displayed a great feeling for rhythm, while Miss Otis really did seem to be sorry in Miss Otis Regrets. Then came a change of gear, with Robert Pearsall's madrigal Lay a Garland.

Later, there was an even more arresting juxtaposition, when Lassus's polyphonic Musica Dei Donum Optimi was followed by A Whiter Shade of Pale. On paper, this should not have worked, but Blossom Street made it sound completely natural... Elsewhere, there was an attractively romantic performance of Stanford's The Blue Bird, and a more serious note was struck by Howells's The Scribe, which demonstrated Blossom Street's expertise in floating a musical line. The Hertford College organ got a look in too, with Tom Hammond-Davies providing a beefy accompaniment to Finzi's God is Gone Up. This was an exhilarating concert.