The Chorus

The Philharmonia Chorus was founded by Walter Legge in 1957 to record Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Otto Klemperer. It quickly established itself as one of Europe’s premier choirs and developed a worldwide reputation that it still enjoys today. Throughout its history the Chorus has been privileged to work with numerous leading conductors and orchestras, both in the UK and overseas.

Its repertoire is wide-ranging, encompassing both the mainstream choral works and opera. Highlights during the past few years have included performances of Verdi’s Requiem with both Valery Gergiev and Riccardo Muti, Rachmaninov’s The Bells with Vladimir Jurowski, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Sir Charles Mackerras and Lohengrin and Der Freischütz at the Edinburgh Festival.

Performances in 2008 have included Dvorak’s Requiem and Stabat Mater, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, the Brahms Requiem (under Lorin Maazel), the Berlioz Te Deum and Leonard Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony. Concerts have been given in Istanbul, King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, and St David’s Hall, Cardiff, in addition to the main London venues. The Chorus also took part in London Lyric Opera’s performance of Der fliegende Holländer in the Barbican. September 2008 saw the Chorus in Spain to take part in a recording of Frédéric Chaslin’s opera Wuthering Heights, conducted by the composer.

The team of Chorus Masters comprises Deborah Miles-Johnson and Madeleine Lovell, with Stevan Bevier as the Chorus's Principal Guest Chorus Master.

The Chorus is a charity, Registered Charity No. 250495