Chamber Singers

The Uni­ver­sity of Wash­ing­ton Cham­ber Singers is the School of Music's most advanced choral ensemble consisting of graduate conducting and voice majors, as well as advanced undergraduates from across many academic disciplines. 

Estab­lished as the Madri­gal Singers in the 1930’s under the direc­tion of com­poser Ger­ald Kech­ley, the group gained recog­ni­tion through its notable con­duc­tors Rod­ney Eichen­berger and Joan Con­lon and will celebrate its one hundredth birthday soon. 

Acclaimed for its vocal prowess and artis­tic expres­sion, the choir focuses on per­form­ing chal­leng­ing reper­toire of all peri­ods with par­tic­u­lar empha­sis on per­form­ing diverse music of our time. Recently the choir has performed Whitacre’s Sacred Veil, Berko’s Sacred Place, and with the UW Chorale Britten’s War Requiem, and Runestad’s Earth Symphony, among many others. 

The choir continues a long tradition of collaborations with professional ensembles, with recent performances of Monteverdi’s Vespers, and Handel’s Messiah with Stephen Stubbs and Pacific Musicworks orchestra. In 2026, the choir collaborated with Seattle Bach Festival Orchestra in performances of Bach’s Magnificat, and Reena Esmail’s This Love Between Us. 

Every three years the Chamber Singers join the UW Chorale, directed by Dr. Giselle Wyers, to tour internationally. The choirs tour again in the summer of 2007 with a series of concerts in Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.