Ex Cathedra

Ex Cathedra has its own youth and children's choirs, the Academy of Vocal Music, for children aged 4–20. In 2017 it launched a Scholarships scheme for young professionals and, in partnership with Birmingham Conservatoire, a Student Scholarships scheme.

In addition, since 1990 the choir has been involved in education programmes in schools and local communities. It established Ring of Sound, an intergenerational choir for the Perry Common Regeneration Project and runs Singing Communities Ladywood, a community choir in the Ladywood inner city district of Birmingham.

Ex Cathedra's 'Singing Medicine' project has worked with children every week across all wards since 2004 at Birmingham Children's Hospital, at paediatric wards at Birmingham Heartland's Hospital since 2011, and at Birmingham Women's Hospital since 2016.

For over 25 years, Ex Cathedra has worked extensively in schools, particularly focusing on primary schools. This activity expanded during the 2007–2008 academic year, when Ex Cathedra inducted its 'Singing Playgrounds' project in schools in Birmingham, Coventry, Derby and London as part of the government's Sing Up initiative. By 2017, 'Singing Playgrounds' had reached over 600 schools across the UK and as far afield as Belgium, China, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand.

Ex Cathedra has made a number of critically acclaimed recordings for ASV Records, NMC, Orchid, Signum Records, Somm Records, Hyperion Records, and on its own label.See, for instance, {{citation|author=Andrew McGregor|title=Ex Cathedra; New World Symphonies|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/rqrg/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20071021085323/http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/rqrg/|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 October 2007|publisher=BBC|date=19 May 2003|accessdate=18 December 2008|quote="Ex Cathedra and Jeffrey Skidmore are first-rate ambassadors for this music. ... [T]he overall sound is beautiful and the performance, from instrumentalists and singers, has great conviction and energy. ... An album of unexpectedly wicked delight."}}; {{citation|author=Christopher Morley|title=Classical CD review: Celestial sounds sourced from sunny Latin America; Moon, sun and all things – Ex Cathedra|newspaper=Birmingham Post|date=20 October 2005|accessdate=}}; and {{citation|author=John Quinn|title=Fire Burning in the Snow/Skidmore, Ex Cathedra|url=http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=186652|publisher=ArkivMusic.com|year=2008|accessdate=18 December 2008|quote="The standard of performance is unfailingly excellent. Ensemble work, both vocal and instrumental, is tight and the many vocal solos are all taken extremely well. The performances display flair and finesse on the part of all concerned. Jeffrey Skidmore's direction is perceptive, lively and, above all, persuasive."|archive-date=8 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608184941/http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=186652|url-status=dead}}.{{citation|author=Andrew Clements|title=Fire Burning in Snow, Ex Cathedra/Skidmore (Hyperion)|url=http://music.guardian.co.uk/classical/reviews/story/0,,2250233,00.html|newspaper=The Guardian|date=1 February 2008}}. It is well known for its recordings of French and Latin American Baroque music.

In 2015 the CD 'Britten to America' was shortlisted for a Grammy Award, whilst 'A French Baroque Diva' won a Gramophone Award 2015 (Recital category): "It is no longer enough for recitals merely to bunch together a dozen or so favourite lollipops. The most stimulating essays in the genre are revealing a clear fashion for a proper conceptual theme that requires some scholarly research and creative programming, placing musical entertainment and philological exploration on an equal par. The shortlisted finalists for this year's Recital Award typify this trend, and best of the distinguished crop is Jeffrey Skidmore and Carolyn Sampson's exposition of the career of Marie Fel (1713–94)... Skidmore's expert direction, Ex Cathedra's stylish orchestra (and expert choir) and Sampson's sincere singing ensure that this is both musically thrilling and a fascinating contextual journey."{{cite web|url=http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA68035|title=A French Baroque Diva|website=Hyperion Records|accessdate=20 September 2018}}

In 2001, Ex Cathedra recorded four works by Michel-Richard de Lalande for Hyperion Records. The sessions used editions prepared by scholar Lionel Sawkins. Sawkins went on to sue Hyperion for royalties arising from his claimed copyright in the editions.{{cite BAILII|litigants=Sawkins v. Hyperion Records Limited|court=EWHC|division=Ch|year=2004|num=1530|courtname=auto}}. The recording was issued but subsequently withdrawn from the market after Sawkins won the lawsuit and subsequent appeal.{{citation|author=Terry Grimley|title=Facing the music: ... [H]ow a prestigious project turned sour for Birmingham baroque ensemble Ex Cathedra|newspaper=Birmingham Post|date=10 July 2004}}.{{citation|author=Ed Vulliamy|title=£1m legal bill rocks a musical institution: Classical record firm at risk after court defeat; Bill for copyright action a 'self-inflicted wound'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/dec/23/arts.artsnews|newspaper=The Guardian|date=23 December 2005}}.

Upon Hyperion's appeal, the Court of Appeal held on 19 May 2005 that Sawkins owned the copyright in his modern performing editions of the de Lalande music, even though de Lalande's music itself was out of copyright.{{cite BAILII|litigants=Hyperion Records Limited v. Sawkins|court=EWCA|division=Civ|year=2005|num=565|parallelcite=[2005] 1 W.L.R. 3281|courtname=auto}}. The decision was not welcomed by all. Peter Phillips, the director of the Tallis Scholars and a music editor himself, said: "All the music I perform has to be edited, or we couldn't read it. But copyright should be there ... to reward creativity, not scholarship or diligence. How much an editor did or did not write should never be asked and judged upon during a million-pound lawsuit involving a small and innovative recording company."

• Arts in Birmingham – classical music
• Jeffrey Skidmore
• List of early music ensembles

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{citation|title=Ex Cathedra|url=http://www.ex-cathedra.org/about.php|publisher=Ex Cathedra|accessdate=19 June 2008|url-status=usurped|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509092221/http://www.ex-cathedra.org/about.php|archivedate=9 May 2008}}.
• Programme for Ex Cathedra's performance Parisian Vespers: Summer Vespers by Candlelight at The Oratory, Birmingham, on 18 June 2008.
• [http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2004/1530.html Sawkins v. Hyperion Records Limited] [2004] EWHC 1530, High Court (Chancery Division). Retrieved 17 December 2008.

• {{citation|last=Dunnett|first=Roderic|title=Ex Cathedra, Lichfield Cathedral [concert review]|url=http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article281434.ece|newspaper=The Independent|date=19 April 2000}}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}.
• {{citation|last=Church|first=Michael|title=The Jesuits invent fusion|url=http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/features/article209211.ece|newspaper=The Independent|date=9 September 2001}}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}.
• {{citation|last=Northcott|first=Bayan|title=Ex Cathedra, St John's, Smith Square, London: Rome's genius resurrected|url=http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article219579.ece|newspaper=The Independent|date=1 February 2002}}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}.
• {{citation|last=Northcott|first=Bayan|title=Ex Cathedra/Skidmore, St John's, Smith Square, London: When world music met the Baroque [preview of the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music 2002]|url=http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article189759.ece|newspaper=The Independent|date=24 May 2002}}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}.
• {{citation|last=Norris|first=Geoffrey|title=Dies Irae to didgeridoo [review of the Lichfield Festival 2004]|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/07/15/bmgn15.xml|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=15 July 2004}}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}.
• {{citation|last=Stewart|first=Pat|title=Eastern Early Music Forum: Lalande day with Jeffrey Skidmore|url=http://www.eemf.org.uk/Lalande_Skidmore_published.htm|magazine=EEMF Newsletter 59|date=July 2005|accessdate=8 April 2007|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929073319/http://www.eemf.org.uk/Lalande_Skidmore_published.htm|archivedate=29 September 2007}}.
• {{citation|title=From the priest-hole era|url=http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=13703|newspaper=Church Times|date=18 November 2005|issue=7445}}.
• {{citation|last=Dunnett|first=Roderic|title=Ex Cathedra, Oratory, Birmingham [review of "A Latin American Christmas" concert]|url=http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article333126.ece|newspaper=The Independent|date=14 December 2005|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201185514/http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article333126.ece|archivedate=1 December 2008}}.
• {{citation|last=Morley|first=Christopher|title=The full Monte by candlelight: Ex Cathedra at Birmingham Oratory|url=http://icstafford.icnetwork.co.uk/tm_headline%3Dthe-full-monte-by-candlelight%26method%3Dfull%26objectid%3D19340211%26siteid%3D50002-name_page.html|newspaper=Birmingham Post (reproduced at icStafford.co.uk)|date=22 June 2007|access-date=19 June 2008|archive-date=19 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719231520/http://icstafford.icnetwork.co.uk/tm_headline%3Dthe-full-monte-by-candlelight%26method%3Dfull%26objectid%3D19340211%26siteid%3D50002-name_page.html|url-status=dead}}.

• [http://www.excathedra.co.uk Official website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061127165540/http://www.goldbergweb.com/en/interpreters/orchestras/7732.php Ex Cathedra on Goldberg, the early-music portal]
• [http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/artist_page.asp?name=excathedra Ex Cathedra on the website of Hyperion Records]

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Category:British early music ensembles

Category:Early music choirs

Category:Early music consorts

Category:Early music orchestras

Category:Orchestras in Birmingham, West Midlands

Category:Musical groups established in 1969

Category:Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands

Category:English choirs

Category:English vocal groups

Category:Baroque music groups