The Choir Of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal & Joseph McHardy
Biography The Choir Of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal & Joseph McHardy
The Choir of HM Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace
sing services throughout the year in the palace’s splendid Chapel Royal, whose ceiling was installed by Henry VIII in the 1530s. The gentlemen are joined by up to eighteen boy choristers, who are drawn from schools nearby, and led by Carl Jackson, Director of Music.
Just as in the sixteenth century, the choir’s personnel is adapted dynamically to the occasion and the demands of the repertory. In ordinary times, there are six Gentlemen (indicated opposite in italic), and for special occasions the ensemble can expand to as many as fourteen singers.
The Chapel Royal Choir is made up of six Gentlemen-in-Ordinary, ten choristers, an Organist and Choirmaster and a Sub-Organist. The boys are traditionally known as the Children of the Chapel Royal, and wear the distinctive State uniform introduced at the Restoration in 1660. The boys attend City of London School, and receive a Choral Scholarship.
