Hello and welcome to our home on the web. Ex Urbe is a chamber choir conducted by Benjamin Hamilton which draws its members from across the West Midlands.
Please see our Concerts page for more information about our next perfomance, our News page for all our latest updates, our Important Dates page for details of everywhere we’ll be up to the end of 2026, including rehearsal dates for choir members, as well as potential choir members who would like to find out what our rehearsal and performance schedules currently look like and our About Us page to, unsurprisingly, learn more about us.
and Ex Urbe, with Benjamin Hamilton at the helm, is celebrating with a Ceremony of World Carols! From Ukraine to Puerto Rico, South Africa to Mexico and not forgetting England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales! The centrepiece of the evening will be Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” and we are delighted to be joined by Angelina Egerton and her harp, and Kevin Gill who will be playing the organ.
We will be offering a mix of traditional and favourite texts and tunes from all over the globe – some familiar and some you will be taking home with you as a warm glow! There will be carols to join in with and readings to contemplate as you relax in the ambient atmosphere of Christmas past and to come.
The setting is Hampton-in-Arden Parish Church and the date for your diary is Saturday 5th December at 6 p.m.
Last time out – A Coronation!
We are delighted to present the music from this wonderful occasion – to be experienced in two different settings and times to suit. As always, with Ex Urbe we will have refreshments to suit – wine for the Saturday evening performance and tea and cake to follow the Sunday afternoon performance.
Saturday 19th September we will be in St Nicholas Church, Warwick – start time 7 p.m.
Sunday afternoon in Hampton-in-Arden Parish Church – start time 2 p.m (please note this earlier start time than usual).
We will be delighted to see you there. Get your tickets in advance from the Ticketsource link below:
Following the amazing Rome to Riga Grand Tour weekend, our next outing will be something completely different! We will be celebrating the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla with the glorious music that was curated for that very special occasion.
From traditional pieces to newly commissioned works, it will be an opportunity to appreciate the wide variety of music heard on that day.
We would be delighted to see you. More details of venues and times coming soon…………………
After the Christmas revels, we will be venturing on a European tour, taking in the musical delights on offer.
We look forward to sharing these with you at our concert weekend in May – save the dates…..Saturday/Sunday 9th/10th May .
More to follow…..
Christmas is coming……………… and we have treats in store for you – join us in the delightful Hampton-in-Arden Parish Church as we look forward to the Christmas season – 6th December at 6 p.m. is the date for your diary! We look forward to seeing you!
Join Ex Urbe, with friends Blue Sky Brass Quintet at Packington for a Festive Fundraiser in aid of Coventry & Warwickshire Children’s Charity. See poster below for details.
Benjamin Hamilton is a sought-after conductor, educator, and award-winning translator of opera.
In 2025, he was appointed Big Sing! Director and Musical Director of the Playground Opera version of Hansel and Gretel for Longborough Festival Opera.
Recent engagements include commissions to devise1 and conduct adaptations of classic operas for the Royal Ballet and Opera’s sell-out ‘Family Sundays’. In summer 2026, Benjamin returns to the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival as Head of Music and will work on all of the season’s professional productions.
Benjamin is an established choral conductor and directs a range of ensembles around the UK. He is Choral Entrepreneur for Warwick: a Singing Town, a schools, health and community singing project, and formerly ran the schools singing programme for the county of Warwickshire as artistic director of Warwickshire Youth Choirs.
For Retrospect Opera, Benjamin has assisted David Parry (Stanford, Shamus O’Brien) and John Andrews (Kennedy-Fraser & Bantock, The Seal-Woman), and conducted Carmen, Le nozze di Figaro, La traviata, and La bohème with DEBUT’s Horizon Orchestra Opera-in-a-Day series.
He has conducted the EU Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Swan, and over 20 operas with companies including Opera Warwick, Kennet Opera, and HighTime, which he co-founded, and translated the acclaimed ‘Oxford Don’ Don Giovanni for Hampstead Garden Opera.
Future projects include assisting John Andrews on a new recording of Dyson’s Violin Concerto with Charlie Lovell-Jones, the Choir of Merton College, Oxford, and the BBC Concert Orchestra, and for Retrospect Opera, recordings of Smyth’s Entente Cordiale (Executive Producer and Conductor), and Stanford’s Much Ado About Nothing on which, in addition to preparing a new performance edition from the composer’s manuscript and acting as Executive Producer, he will assist renowned conductor Martyn Brabbins. Benjamin is also editing the works of the composer Margaret More (1903–1966).
Friends and Sponsors Opportunities – do come and talk to us if you or your business have ideas and would like to be involved with the choir and our future projects.
