Axing of Cambridge mixed choir ‘regressive move for women’, say supporters

Open letter backed by Rowan Williams and Aled Jones says decision is backward step ‘for arts provision for women in the UK’

A decision to axe a mixed choir at St John’s Cambridge in an attempt to make room for a “broader” range of music has been condemned as “fundamentally regressive” by the former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Dame Sarah Connolly and Aled Jones.

The decision to cancel funding for St John’s Voices – which has male and female singers and has been running since 2013 – will “diminish” choral music at the Cambridge college and has left its members “devastated”, according to an open letter.