Massed voices of the bar have often been raised lately. Usually in the chorus: ‘Grayling, Grayling, Grayling, out, out, out’, following the legal aid cuts. But, thanks to former bar chief and commercial bigwig Tim Dutton QC, more harmonious choruses are on their way.

Dutton, who tells Obiter there is a ‘strong link between musical performance and barristers’, has pulled together a bar choir. Its president is none other than acclaimed English composer and conductor John Rutter. The choir, already numbering more than 100, has in its ranks outspoken and hugely entertaining Court of Appeal judge Sir Alan Moses, who apparently is an excellent bass.

Its first gig is in Temple Church on Monday 23 June, with a programme including excerpts from Handel’s Messiah and Mendelssohn’s Hear my Prayer.

We hope the lord chancellor will be listening.

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