Royal Choral Society | |
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 Logo of the Royal Choral Society | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | RCS |
| Origin | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Classical |
| Years active | 1871-present |
| Website | www.royalchoralsociety.co.uk |
The Royal Choral Society (RCS) is an amateur choir, based in London.
Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir's first conductor Charles Gounod included the Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah in the inaugural concert. [1] On 9 July 1891, the Royal Choral Society performed in a 'Grand Concert for the Visit of Their Imperial Majesties, The German Emperor and Empress', also attended by the Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. [2] From the beginning, performing premieres of new choral works has been a feature of the choir's repertoire. Both Giuseppe Verdi [3] and Antonín Dvořák conducted the choir in premières of their own works, as have Edward Roxborough, Ariel Ramírez, Raymond Premru and Geoffrey Burgon in more recent years. The choir continued to be conducted by the most eminent musicians of the day, most notably Sir Malcolm Sargent, whose association with the choir spanned forty years. Towards the end of his life Sargent appointed Charles Proctor as chorusmaster, and Proctor often deputised for him when he was too ill. The present Music Director, Richard Cooke, took over the baton in 1995.
Today, the choir enjoys maintaining a balance between its heritage and the opportunities on offer performing for today's music lovers. In addition to its traditional repertoire, singers have had a chance to take part in new and unusual events, from open-air concerts in Hampton Court and Glastonbury, to singing at the launch of the Queen Mary 2, participating in the 25th anniversary ceremony for the Falklands, to performing at performances for the reopening of the Royal Festival Hall.
In 2009, the RCS celebrated the 131st anniversary performance of its Messiah on Good Friday concerts at the Royal Albert Hall; the annual Summer Concert in that year was a performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil (Vespers) at St Bartholomew's Church in Brighton on 4 July. The RCS continued its annual residency at Southwark Cathedral, performing Pergolesi and Mozart's Requiem on Remembrance Day, Wednesday 11 November 2009. The RCS was also invited twice to perform at Slovakia's equivalent to Glastonbury – Pohoda, (which means Wellbeing) where the choir closed the opening day of the festival with a candlelit midnight concert of Rachmaninoff's Vespers, followed by a performance in Bratislava.
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated included the Ballets Russes, the Huddersfield Choral Society, the Royal Choral Society, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, and the London Philharmonic, Hallé, Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and Royal Philharmonic orchestras. Sargent was held in high esteem by choirs and instrumental soloists, but because of his high standards and a statement that he made in a 1936 interview disputing musicians' rights to tenure, his relationship with orchestral players was often uneasy. Despite this, he was co-founder of the London Philharmonic, was the first conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic as a full-time ensemble, and played an important part in saving the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from disbandment in the 1960s.
The BBC Symphony Chorus is a British amateur chorus based in London. It is the dedicated chorus for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, though it performs with other national and international orchestras.
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The Radcliffe Choral Society(RCS) is a 60-voice treble choral ensemble at Harvard University. Founded in 1899, it is one of the country's oldest soprano-alto choruses and one of its most prominent collegiate choirs. With the tenor-bass Harvard Glee Club and the mixed-voice Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, it is one of the Harvard Choruses. All three groups are led by Harvard Director of Choral Activities Andrew Clark. The RCS Resident Conductor is Elizabeth Eschen. RCS tours domestically every year and travels internationally every four years.
The Leeds Festival Chorus is based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has 160 singing members in soprano, alto, tenor and bass sections. Presenting classical choral music of a professional standard in Yorkshire and elsewhere, including at the BBC Proms and abroad - for example in Venice. The Chorus is broadcast regularly on BBC Radio 3.
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The Southampton Philharmonic Choir is a large choral society based in Southampton, England. It has around 170 members and also benefits from collaborating with the students of the Southampton University Philharmonic Choir. The choir regularly performs with a professional orchestra, the New London Sinfonia, and is directed by David Gibson.
Bath Bach Choir, formerly The City of Bath Bach Choir (CBBC), is based in Bath, Somerset, England, and is a registered charity. Founded in 1946 by Cuthbert Bates, who also became a founding father of the Bath Bach Festival in 1950, the choir's original aim was to promote the music of Johann Sebastian Bach via periodic music festivals. Bates – an amateur musician with a great love and understanding of this composer's works – was also the CBBC's principal conductor and continued in this role until his sudden death, in April 1980. This untimely exit pre-empted his planned retirement concert performance of J. S. Bach's Mass in B minor, scheduled for July of the same year, and effectively ended the first period of the choir's history.
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Monmouth Civic Chorus is a community chorus in Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA. Monmouth Civic Chorus was established in 1949 and draws its members primarily from the Monmouth County community. Its performances encompass choral classics, premieres, rare and contemporary music, musical theater, opera, and operetta. Monmouth Civic Chorus has performed on tour in Europe and the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
The Really Big Chorus (TRBC) is Britain's largest choral society, made up of singers from hundreds of different choirs all over the UK as well as thousands of individuals. It was founded by Don Monro, an Electrical Engineering lecturer at Imperial College, just opposite the Royal Albert Hall.
Bristol Choral Society is a large mixed-voiced choir based in Bristol, England, founded in 1889. As of 2002, it is conducted by Hilary Campbe, it has around 140 auditioned members. The choir stages at least three concerts annually at the Bristol Beacon in Bristol with professional orchestras and soloists, and another annually at Bristol Cathedral in addition to other performances and broadcasts in Bristol and further afield.
Brighton Festival Chorus is a large choir of over 150 amateur singers based in Brighton, UK. One of the country's leading symphony choruses.., and considered "one of the jewels in the city's musical crown", BFC performs in major concert halls throughout Britain and Europe, particularly in Brighton and London.
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Charles Proctor was an English pianist, choral conductor, composer, adjudicator and author on musical subjects. He was the founder of the Alexandra Choir in 1940.
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