In 2012 Michael Kibblewhite invited select singers from his many choirs across the UK to the small town of Atri in central Italy. What began as a one-off choral tour soon became an annual pilgrimage and as numbers grew the group formalised as Coro English Festival Voices. Often in collaboration with local Italian choirs they performed many concerts in stunning churches across the Abruzzo region. Fondly referred to as ‘The Atri Week’ and alongside their music-making the group enjoyed trips around Abruzzo with wonderful food, laughter, late nights, and growing friendships.

In 2018 the group performed its first concert in the UK, drawing on the wide range of repertoire prepared and performed in its beloved Atri and as the aptly renamed Atri Choir. In 2019 the Covid pandemic prevented a return to Atri and in 2023 the group mourned the loss of their founder and Music Director Michael Kibblewhite.

In 2024 the choir found new life with current Music Director Ben Horden and now enjoys an annual residency closer to home on the English riviera. The group meets every May at Buckfast Abbey. Here and in the local area they have reignited the music-making and camaraderie that made trips to Atri so special.

The choir enjoys performing from a wide ranging repertoire with recent programmes including works from the golden age of English choral music by Tallis, Byrd, and Gibbons, and twentieth century choral giants Britten, Finzi, and Parry. In May 2026 the choir presents a programme of both sacred and secular choral music exploring themes of Heavenly adoration and earthly love entitled ‘Heaven and Earth’.

With origins in Italy’s Abruzzo region, The Atri Choir is an amateur chamber choir drawing members from across the UK.