Greek Theater Concert, Thursday, July 9, 2026, 9:00 PM - Choir of Clare College, Cambridge (Regno Unito)

Where does the uttered music go?
The great British choral tradition meets William Walton.

The question that gives the concert its title: "Where does the uttered music go?" borrows from a famous line by the English poet W. H. Auden, who spent long periods on Ischia and frequented William and Susana Walton. His reflection evokes the mystery of music, the ephemeral art par excellence, which vanishes the moment it is born but lives on in the memory, emotions, and places that welcomed it.

Choir of Clare College, Cambridge. This image perfectly reflects the spirit of the Concerts at La Mortella, where music continues to resonate amidst the gardens, architecture, and landscape, each time leaving an invisible but lasting mark. With this very program, the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, one of the most prestigious university choral groups in the world, directed by Graham Ross, will make its debut at the William Walton Foundation and La Mortella on Thursday, July 9th.

The concert takes on a particularly special meaning at La Mortella. In the year Clare College celebrates its 700th anniversary, while the Walton Foundation celebrates Lady Walton's centenary, the renowned choir presents an a cappella program that brings together two great musical traditions, Italian and British, spanning centuries of history in a journey of extraordinary artistic richness.

The music of Monteverdi, Palestrina, and Rossini meets that of William Walton, to whom the Foundation is dedicated. A natural pairing, it also harks back to the origins of the English composer's musical training, as a chorister and organist at an Oxford college before becoming one of the most important figures in twentieth-century British music.
The musical journey continues with works by Vaughan Williams, Elgar, and Stanford, alongside choral arrangements of famous folk songs by Gershwin, Delius, Britten, and Grainger, as well as a refined selection of madrigals and vocal harmonies from the British and American traditions. A repertoire that demonstrates the extraordinary richness of Anglo-Saxon choral music and its enduring capacity for dialogue with the European tradition.

Founded as a mixed choir in 1972, the Choir of Clare College is now considered one of the most prestigious university choral groups in the world. In addition to regularly animating the liturgical life of the College Chapel, it engages in intense concert, recording, and radio activity, and has had musicians of the caliber of John Rutter and Timothy Brown among its conductors.
Since 2010, it has been led by Graham Ross, one of the most respected conductors, composers, and music educators of his generation. Under his direction, the choir has collaborated with prestigious international institutions, including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Britten Sinfonia, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, performing in major concert halls around the world, from the Palau de la Música in Barcelona to the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, as well as numerous tours in North America.

The 2026-2027 season will see the choir perform a new recording, perform concerts at Westminster Abbey, and embark on an international tour that will also include stops in Lugano, Ischia, and the United States, confirming the ensemble's international prestige.

The Choir of Clare College's debut at La Mortella represents much more than a simple concert. It is the encounter between one of the finest expressions of the British choral tradition and the place that William and Susana Walton dedicated to the beauty, friendship, and sharing of music. A meeting that renews, through song, the dialogue between the United Kingdom and Italy that has always been an integral part of La Mortella's history and which continues to thrive today in the name of culture and art. 

Fondazione William Walton e La Mortella
Via Francesco Calise 45, 80075, Forio (NA)
tel.: 081-986220, 081-986237