Westminster Choir will present its first program of the 2005-2006 season on Sunday, November 20 at 3 p.m., in Bristol Chapel on the Westminster campus in Princeton. The Fall Concert's program will include Stanford's "Three Motets," Howells' "Requiem," Maw's "One Foot still in Eden," and Williams' "Messages from the Scrolls."

Westminster Choir

Setting the standard for choral excellence for 80 years, the Westminster Choir has been the chorus-in-residence for the Spoleto Festival USA since 1977, performing both in concert and as the opera chorus. It was also the chorus-in-residence for the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, for 23 years.

In addition to this performance, the Choir's 2005-2006 season includes several performances with the New York Philharmonic, and a March 2006 concert tour of Great Britain, as well as participation in the 2006 Spoleto Festival USA. Recent seasons have also included tours of Korea and Taiwan, as well as a series of performances at the Colmar (France) International Music Festival.

Its newest recording, "Heaven to Earth," has been released internationally on the AVIE label. Praised by Classical Music Web for its "expert choral artistry" and by Classics Today.com as "a thought-provoking and multi-faceted exploration," the recording originated with the ensemble's 2002 PRI radio broadcast reflecting on the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It includes "Agnus Dei," a choral setting of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" and Arnold Schoenberg's demanding "Friede auf Erden."

Acclaimed by critics for its "full-bodied, incisive singing" (The New York Times), the Westminster Choir also forms the core of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, which has performed and recorded with the leading conductors and orchestras of our time. Its performance of Handel's Messiah with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Richard Hickox, will be broadcast nationally on December 20.

Interim director of choral activities at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, Timothy Brown is also director of the internationally-renowned Clare College Choir. A British citizen, Brown began his musical training as a chorister at Westminster Abbey. He later was an alto choral scholar at King's College, Cambridge, under Sir David Willcocks, and a lay clerk at New College, Oxford.

After some years as a teacher, he succeeded John Rutter as director of music at Clare College of Cambridge University in 1979, where he is also academic director of studies in music. His discography with the choir is extensive and includes the best-selling recording of Rutter's "Requiem" and a more recent release of Stainer's "Crucifixion" (both on the Naxos label).

As a conductor, Brown has had wide-ranging experience. For many years he conducted the Cambridge Philharmonic Choral and Orchestral Society, as well as a community chorus in Cambridge. In 1986, he re-founded the Cambridge University Chamber Choir, which he directed in annual performances of all the major Bach and Handel oratorios.

Brown founded the professional London-based chamber choir English Voices, with whom he has explored a wide range of repertoire, including "The Silent Land" by Giles Swayne for 40 voices and cello, which the ensemble premiered. He has directed a project for the RIAS Chamber Choir in Berlin, and more recently with RAM, the National Male Voice Choir of Estonia. As a chorus master he has worked frequently with René Jacobs in operatic productions in Berlin and Ghent, and in 2007 he will be the chorus master for Rossini's "Tancredi."

Throughout the years, Brown has had a keen interest in contemporary music. He has commissioned new music for various choirs that he has directed, including works by Christopher Brown, Andrew Carter, Nico Muhly, Tarik O'Regan, John Rutter and Giles Swayne.

In addition to his work as a choral director, Brown is an affiliated lecturer in the faculty of music of Cambridge University, specializing in the teaching of harmony, counterpoint (including fugue) and composition. A contributing editor of the complete Walton edition published by Oxford University Press, he has edited the smaller choral works and is presently working on the choral works with orchestra. He has edited a number of volumes of collected music for Faber Music and has composed a number of short choral works.

Westminster Choir College is located at Hamilton Avenue and Walnut Lane in Princeton. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 seniors/students. For tickets or to receive Westminster's 2005-2006 season catalog, call the box office at (609) 921-2663. For updates, visit Westminster's Web site at http://westminster.rider.edu.