History of Choir

Trinity Boys Choir has been at the forefront of the British musical scene for the past fifty years. The boys are all pupils at Trinity School, Croydon, London, which is considered to be one of the top schools for Music in the UK.

From 1964 until 2001 the choir was directed by David Squibb, who had studied with the Royal Marine Band and at the Royal Academy of Music. David was assisted by the arranger and pianist David de Warrenne, who was a member of London’s Temple Church. During this period the choir established its reputation for musical excellence and versatility, and close relationships were built with the major opera houses and orchestras.

1965	First professional broadcast on BBC Radio
1973	BBC Proms debut
1977	Bing Crosby’s Christmas Special for TV
	Recording of Stravinsky’s Mass with Leonard Bernstein for Deutsche Grammophon
1980	Performed Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Aldeburgh Festival
1981	Association with Glyndebourne Opera begins
	TV broadcast of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
1984	Tour to Hong Kong
1986	Association with The Royal Opera House begins
1991	Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Aix-en-Provence
1995	Association with English National Opera begins

David Swinson became Director of the choir in 2001 following David Squibb’s retirement. During his tenure the international profile of the choir has developed with performances throughout Europe, in Japan, and the USA. The choir has also made numerous TV and radio appearances, including the Royal Variety Performance and Handel’s Messiah with the Gabrieli Consort.

2001	Recording of Walton’s Henry V Suite with the BBC Symphony Orchestra
2004	Monteverdi’s Vespers with the Monteverdi Choir in St Mark’s, Venice
2005	Concert with the Vienna Boys Choir in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein, Vienna
2006	Performed at the BBC Proms Concert to celebrate HM the Queen’s 80th Birthday
2007	Tour to Japan
2008	Tour to Czech Republic
2009	Hansel und Gretel DVD with Glyndebourne
2010	Carmen DVD with Royal Opera House
2011	Michael Bublé Christmas Special on TV
2012	Pride of Britain Awards, Children in Need and Royal Variety Performance on TV
2013	Performances in Israel, Germany, Poland, Italy and Holland
2014	Performances in USA, Finland, Germany, Belgium
2015	Return to Aix-en-Provence Festival and major Japan Tour
2016	50th Anniversary Concert at Glyndebourne. A Midsummer Night's Dream at Glyndebourne and for Aix-en-Provence Festival in Beijing. First tour to China. Hannover A-Cappella-Woche with NINE.
2017	First CD recording with Rondeau Productions. Recording of the month in MusicWeb-International. Debut of EIGHT at the Utrecht Early Music Festival. Appearance on BBC 1 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special.
2018	CD of Refugium released to critical acclaim. Performances in China, Italy, Germany, Spain, Holland and France. A Midsummer Night's Dream at ENO and RCM.
2019	Glyndebourne's new production of The Magic Flute features two of our trios, alternating performances. One trio performed for the DVD and one for the BBC Prom.
2020	Covid restricted our activities. First, we had to return from Sweden where we were due to perform Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Then a whole series of tours and concerts were cancelled or postponed. We appeared in the first night of the BBC Proms but it was an archive performance of Mahler's 3rd Symphony. Thankfully, as we have our own recording, we were able to undertake a lot of recording projects.
2021	The year started in style with a return to Abbey Road Studios to record for Disney. Two of our soloists sang the role of Miles in Britten's The Turn of The Screw: one in a film for OperaGlass Works and one for Opera nationale de Lorraine in Nancy, France. We returned to Sweden for Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and toured France and Germany with the CBSO. Just before Christmas we appeared in the Royal Variety Performance on TV and with Sir John Eliot Gardiner in performances of Berlioz's L'enfance du Christ.
2022	A return to busy international travelling with performances in Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain. We recorded a variety of soundtracks and appeared in live to screen performances of The Lord of the Rings at the Royal Albert Hall. FOUR made their debut to critical acclaim alongside the French viol consort L'Acheron.