Welcome to the Home page of the Bartholomew Consort - a choral group that was founded in 2001, bringing together singers from around the United Kingdom and The Netherlands to sing under the direction of JanJoost van Elburg.
The consort is the choir in residence at the annual Descant Choral Conductors' Course held in Amsterdam. It also regularly performs in and around Oxford and undertook a tour of SW France in summer 2003, Bulgaria in 2004, southern France in 2006 and again in 2008.
The choir takes its name from the historic
Bartlemas chapel,
hidden away in East Oxford and part of a mediæval
hamlet founded by Henry 1 in 1130 as a hospice for lepers. The
chapel (dedicated to
St. Bartholomew) remains remarkably well preserved
and is still used today for the occasional service, art exhibition or choral
concert.