About us
The Edinburgh University Renaissance Singers were founded in 1967, originally as a madrigal group. Under a series of directors, it has developed into a specialised a cappella choir, known for exploring the rich heritage of renaissance choral music, often uncovering pieces which have lain unsung for hundreds of years.
About the Director
David Coney became the director of the Edinburgh University Renaissance Singers in 2023.
David is an Edinburgh-based musician and academic of musical and religious history. He is currently a PhD student at Edinburgh University, exploring the rich yet mostly uncharted history of the Scottish Chapel Royal from 1567-1641. As an undergraduate he studied at Durham University, before taking a Master’s in Choral Studies at Cambridge University, working primarily with Sarah MacDonald (Selwyn College). In addition to his academic work, he is a Lay Clerk at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, singing for daily Choral Evensong and weekly Sunday Eucharist.
The Edinburgh University Renaissance Singers were founded in 1967 and, since then, the choir has established itself as Edinburgh's leading renaissance choral performing group.
The choir is composed of students, alumni, and friends of the University of Edinburgh. It has been in existence for nearly sixty years in one form or another and has toured extensively in Europe and the UK over the years. We predominantly sing a cappella choral music from the renaissance and early baroque periods, much of which is church music, but we also sing secular music and explore the interplay between the sacred and secular in some of our programmes. We also include music from earlier or later periods, demonstrating how this influenced or was influenced by our renaissance repertoire.
The choir has toured regularly over the years. Our most recent tour was to Orkney and Shetland and highlights included singing in St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. The choir has also toured extensively in Europe including to Germany, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Croatia, and even Armenia. As well as full length concerts, we have often been involved in events at historic venues, singing short programmes to entertain visitors. We have sung at weddings and memorial services and appear regularly at the Edinburgh University Carol Service.