Hardynge is the ancient name for Harpenden, dating from when it was a farming hamlet growing wheat for the nearby manor of Wheathampstead. The choir's name and logo symbolise these enduring connections.

The Hardynge Choir started in 1966 and continues to provide a challenging outlet for singers wishing to perform mainstream choral works alongside inventive programming and the commissioning of new repertoire. The choir currently has 70 to 80 members.  

There are no formal individual auditions for entry or ongoing membership.  We believe that singing should be taken seriously and worked at hard, but above all it should be fun and open to as many people as possible.

Three or four concerts are given each year, usually with professional orchestras and soloists.

Carmina Burana

Hardynge Choir’s concert at The SandPit Theatre, Sandringham School, St Albans, on Saturday 6 October 2018 was a complete sell out.  The performance of Carmina Burana called on several different groups of performers, each of which had a chance to show off in the first half of the concert.

The concert opened with a fabulous and exciting performance by the The Rosewood Ensemble of  a lively percussion piece, !Sizzle, by Nathan Daughtrey.  Ildiko Allen, Soprano, and Peter Martin, Tenor, sang Licht und Liebe (Light and Love), D352, one of the only two duets that Schubert wrote, with great beauty and sensitivity. Thomas Isherwood, Bass Baritone, sang Schubert’s  Nacht und Träume (Night and Dreams), D827, superbly.  Hardynge Choir sang Die Nachtigall (The Nightingale) and Morgengruss (Morning Greeting), two delightful songs for choir by Felix Mendelssohn and his sister, Fanny Hensel.  The Princess Helena College Year 7 Choir and Roundwood Primary School Choir each sang a selection of songs with great enthusiasm.

The second half of the concert was a performance of the ever popular profane cantata, Carmina Burana, a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff, based on 24 poems from the medieval collection Carmina Burana.  In 1956 Orff arranged this version for two pianos and percussion.  Matthew Woodward and Linden Innes-Hopkins played their exhausting piano parts superbly, and with great precision. The Rosewood Ensemble, joined by the young percussionist, Josh Gearing, added great excitement to the work, the three soloists were fabulous, the two children’s choirs sang with great enthusiasm, and the Hardynge Choir rose to the occasion and excelled itself.   The concert was greatly enjoyed by a large enthusiastic audience.