The Choir of St Peter's College, University of Oxford will travel to Germany this July for a five-day musical residency, performing in some of the country's most historically significant sacred spaces and joining forces with a leading German university ensemble.
The tour runs from 16 to 21 July 2026, with more than 25 singers taking part. Conceived as both a Bach immersion and a cultural exchange, the itinerary traces a journey through places central to the German choral tradition — Halle, Leipzig, Dresden, and Köthen — with the Choir based in Leipzig throughout. The programme reflects this exchange, combining the music of Bach, Schütz and Mendelssohn with British repertoire including Parry's Songs of Farewell, Three Motets by Stanford, and music by Piers Kennedy from the Choir's most recent recording, Fresh Stone.
On Friday 17 July, the Choir will perform an evening concert at the Moritzkirche in Halle. On Sunday 19th July, they will sing at the morning service at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig — the church where Johann Sebastian Bach served as Kantor for the last 27 years of his life. Later that same day, the Choir will give a joint concert with the University of Dresden Chamber Choir at the Martin-Luther-Kirche in Dresden, conducted jointly by Benedikt Kantert and Quintin Beer. On Monday 20 July, the tour concludes with a concert at the Agnus-Kirche in Köthen, where the choir will sing Bach’s epic motet Singet dem Herrn.
The tour has been made possible in part through the generous support of Harjeev Khandari, an alumnus of St Peter's College and longtime friend of the Choir.
Choir Tour 2026 Schedule
Follow our Choir on tour in Germany in summer 2026.
About the Choir
About the Choir
The Choir of St Peter’s College Oxford is one of the finest mixed-voice choirs in the University. It comprises around 30 auditioned students studying a range of subjects, some of whom hold choral scholarships generously supported by alumni and friends of the College. The Choir has an established reputation in Oxford, and further afield, for its choral excellence, diverse repertoire, and collegiality. The Choir released their first recording made under the baton of Director of Music Quintin Beer, Fresh stone: Music by Piers Connor Kennedy (Acclaim Productions).
Quintin Beer
Quintin Beer has been Director of Music at St Peter's since 2021. He obtained his MA in Choral Conducting from the Royal Academy of Music, studying under Patrick Russill and graduating with a distinction in July 2019. He was awarded the DipRAM, the Academy's own premier-prix for an outstanding performance in a final recital. Previously, he studied music at St John's College Cambridge, where he held a choral scholarship in the world-famous College Choir. Quintin has a freelance career as a conductor and has worked with a range of ensembles and festivals, including the BBC Singers, Ex Cathedra, the Grange Festival, the St Endellion Festival, the Britten Sinfonia, the Brook Street Band, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.