The Choir of Merton College, Oxford will embark on a North American tour in September, with performances in Vancouver, San Francisco, Victoria and New York culminating in a memorial concert commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Led by Director of Music Benjamin Nicholas and organist François Cloete, the choir will tour Canada and the United States from Sept. 7–17, presenting concerts and choral evensongs featuring works from the English choral tradition alongside contemporary repertoire.

The tour will begin on Sept. 7 at 2:30 p.m. at Christ Church Cathedral on Vancouver Island. The choir will then perform evensong and a concert at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco on Sept. 10 and 11, followed by a concert at Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria on Sept. 14. In New York, the ensemble will sing evensong at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue on Sept. 15 before its concluding concert at St. Ignatius Loyola on Sept. 17.

The program will include Herbert Howells’ “Take him, earth, for cherishing,” a work written following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The tour repertoire will also include Matthew Martin’s “Christiani plaudite,” William Byrd’s “O clap your hands together,” Dobrinka Tabakova’s “Alma redemptoris mater,” Tallis’ “Loquebantur variis linguis,” Bach’s “Der Geist hilft” BWV 226 and Bairstow’s “Blessed City, heavenly Salem.” There will also be organ works by Duruflé and Elgar, performed by Cloete.

The Choir of Merton College, Oxford consists of 30 undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Oxford. Its primary responsibility is to provide music for regular services in Merton College’s 13th-century chapel.

Following the tour, the combined Choirs of Merton will release Benjamin Britten’s “A Boy Was Born” and A Ceremony of Carols on Delphian Records on Nov. 6, 2026.