More about Pegasus

“Such fun and such a talented choir.” Audience member, December 2011

Pegasus’s members are experienced singers who pursue their passion for choral music alongside busy careers in law, medicine, education, media, the arts and international development. Rather than rehearsing weekly, Pegasus meets for intensive rehearsals in the few weeks prior to each performance. New members are introduced to the choir by existing members, and these arrangements give Pegasus the flexibility to be involved in a wide range of musical projects.

Pegasus is committed to exploring contemporary music, and has premiered works by leading British composers including John Tavener and Thomas Adès. The choir’s secular repertoire ranges from opera choruses to folksongs and jazz.

Pegasus has worked with a number of professional orchestras and conductors, including the Southbank Sinfonia with John Rutter, and the London Handel Players under the direction of Laurence Cummings. The choir has enjoyed performing in a variety of prestigious music festivals, including the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music, the Tilford Bach Festival and the Proms at St. Jude’s. Pegasus is strongly committed to presenting concerts in collaboration with charities and music societies.

The choir rehearses at the City church of St. Mary Woolnoth, and has sung in many prestigious venues in the capital, including the Almeida Theatre, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Lambeth Palace. In 2010 Pegasus made its debut at the London Coliseum performing with renowned dancer Carlos Acosta in a production that was repeated in 2011. The choir has also collaborated with h2dance and composer Sylvia Hallett in performances at The Place in London.

Pegasus was a semi-finalist in the BBC Choir of the Year competition in 2005, and in 2008 reached the televised heats of BBC 1’s Last Choir Standing. Bronze medal winner at the 2007 Tolosa International Choral Competition in Spain, Pegasus was invited to represent the UK in the Guido d’Arezzo International Choral Competition in Italy in 2010.

Pegasus has been featured on BBC Radio and Classic FM, including a broadcast performance as part of BBC Radio 3’s The Choir with Aled Jones at Christmas 2010. The choir was featured in the Channel 4 premiere of Jonathan Dove’s opera about Princess Diana, When She Died. Pegasus has presented concerts with a variety of celebrities ranging from Prunella Scales and Sebastian Coe to Michael Ball and the Duchess of Gloucester.

Pegasus’s first CD, Twelve Days – A Celebration of Christmas, was released in partnership with Princess Alice Hospice and is widely available on the internet.

Matthew Altham

Matthew Altham has been the director of Pegasus since 2001. He began conducting choirs while a student at Oxford University, where he studied German and Russian. Matthew led performances of the great English Renaissance composers as well as works by Poulenc. He also sang with many of the major university choirs, including Schola Cantorum of Oxford.

Alongside his work as a management consultant Matthew continues to be deeply involved in music. He sings regularly in the church choir of St Mary the Virgin, Bourne Street, London. Matthew also directs Vox Cordis and the London Bach Players, with whom has performed on several occasions in Pau, France. He has toured as a conductor to Prague, Tolosa, Arezzo and Antwerp and has broadcast on BBC Radio and Classic FM.