St John’s College Council, in a statement, defended its decision, which was made public earlier this week and sparked protests on social media, with some calling it a "huge loss of opportunity for young people".

In a statement, the College Council stated that the decision had been made following a comprehensive review of music in the college, the results of which reflected students’ feedback on their needs and aspirations.

“Students’ preferences and experiences in music today are different from those of previous generations, and many of them have had fewer musical opportunities in school than might have been the case in the past,” the statement read. “St John’s will create new co-curricular music programmes to meet these changing needs.”

Initially intended for College members, the choir gradually welcomed participants from across the University community. Now, the College plans to reallocate the resources dedicated to this secondary choir toward broader musical initiatives, providing more opportunities for a greater number of St John’s members to engage in musical pursuits.

According to the statement, the funds will be redirected to "enabling new ensembles and community music-making" and "supporting other kinds of singing in college, including Aquila, the existing all-female choir, and new opportunities for non-auditioned singing".

St John’s Voices has been operating for the last ten years, and it was originally launched to perform one weekly Evensong service per term.

It concluded: “The upset this decision has caused to the St John’s Voices community is regrettable. The decision is in no way a reflection on the high standards achieved by the choir and its director, Graham Walker. The college will provide support to members of St John’s Voices who wish to identify and secure alternative choral and accompanist opportunities. There will be time next term to pay tribute to all that they have achieved in their ten-year history.”