Welcome

John Joubert was born in Cape Town in 1927. Having won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music he moved to England in 1946 and has lived here ever since. He was appointed Lecturer in Music at Hull University in 1950 and subsequently at the University of Birmingham, taking early retirement from his post as Reader in Music in 1986 in order to devote more time to composition. Joubert is perhaps best known for his choral music. O Lorde the Maker of al Thinge, Torches and There is no Rose have featured in the popular mainstream repertory for many years. He has also enjoyed considerable success with his chamber music, symphonic works and operas commissioned by among others the Royal Philharmonic Society, Three Choirs Festival and the BBC. Recent acclaimed recordings of his Symphony No. 1 ( LPO / Vernon Handley), String Quartet No. 2 ( Brodsky Quartet) and song cycle Landscapes (Patricia Rozario) have firmly established his standing as a communicator of consummate skill and integrity. His eightieth birthday in 2007 was celebrated with the ‘Joubertiade’ — a nationwide and year long series of concerts and events and the release of four new CDs. Among several new commissions last year were Concerto for Oboe and Strings (Lichfield Festival) and Five Songs of Incarnation, premiered by the choir of New College, Oxford and given its first broadcast performance in December by the BBC Singers on Radio 3. These recent performances alongside those of a wide variety of Joubert’s output at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Symphony Hall, Birmingham and the world premiere of his latest major work, the oratorio Wings of Faith (Ex Cathedra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra) confirm his place among the most respected and well-loved senior figures in British music today.

Please note, a longer biography is also available on this site.