Edinburgh University Chamber Choir

Name: UofE Chamber Choir
Address: GB

Since 1965

About Us

We are the University of Edinburgh Chamber Choir. We are comprised of around 28 singers, which is the smallest of the Edinburgh University Choirs. The group was founded in 1965. We perform a wide range of ancient, classical, and contemporary choral music, from Byrd and Palestrina to Britten and Macmillan.

Conducted by Jack Oades, we perform a concert each semester, and feature in exciting festivals and performances including the

Cumnock Tryst, Church of the Sacred Heart, The Balmoral Hotel and alongside the SCO, Martyn Brabbins and Andrea Bocelli.

Students and alumni of Edinburgh University are welcome to audition. These take place in September each year, so if you are interested, just send us an email on the contact page for more info and the audition pack.

Our Artistic Director

Jack Oades

Hailing from Exeter in the South West, Jack Oades is an organist, composer, conductor and tenor. He read music at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and studied a master’s in Composition at Trinity College, Dublin.

Jack has been Artistic Director of the Edinburgh University Chamber Choir since January 2025, when he was also appointed Organist and Master of the Music at St Giles’ Cathedral. Previously, Jack has held posts in Cambridge, the Isle of Man, London and Dublin. Most recently, he was Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Christ Church Cathedral from 2018-2022, and following that, Tenor Lay Vicar with the choir of Exeter Cathedral until December 2024. Jack is in demand as a recitalist and accompanist, frequently performing all over the British Isles. He studied the organ with William Whitehead and James McVinnie, and choral conducting with Patrick Russill. Jack is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists.

As a composer, his works are published by the RSCM, Two Bridges Music and the Chichester Music Press, and his music is performed all over the world, including a number of broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 & 4. He was the winner of several composition prizes, and has been the recipient of many large scale commissions, including from the JAM on the Marsh Festival, Choir & Organ magazine, and the Whitgift Foundation. Alongside his prolific choral and organ writing, Jack has also written chamber, orchestral, and solo works, including two works for symphony orchestra and chorus. More recently, he has branched out into digital and ambient music, including scores and sound design for film and video games.

Jack also enjoys an active freelance career, and frequently sings and plays with various groups in Edinburgh. He is a keen surfer, plays bass with his university funk band, and loves to read everything from crime novels to Alexander McCall Smith.