Patron: His Majesty King Charles III
Chorus Master: Gavin Carr
Accompanist: Timothy End
Arts Council England
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    Messiah at Christmas

    On Friday 13 December, the Philharmonia Chorus will take part in a performance of Handel's Messiah with the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall. The Chorus will join soprano Nardus Williams, mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers, tenor Benjamin Hulett, and bass-baritone Matthew Brook. The performance will be conducted by Eamonn Dougan.

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    Christmas Classics

    On Sunday 15 December the Philharmonia Chorus will take part is a festive concert of carols and Christmas favourites at the Royal Festival Hall. The Chorus will join London Youth Choirs, singer Vanessa Hayes, and presenter YolanDa Brown. The London Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted by Michael England. Tickets can be obtained here.

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    Gladiator Live

    The original 2000 sword-and-sandals epic Gladiator returns to the Royal Albert Hall for a special 25th anniversary screening with live orchestra. The Philharmonia Chorus will take part in four showings on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 April of the legendary and five-time Academy Award-winning film on the big screen, with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Justin Freer, performing Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard's Golden Globe-winning score live on stage. Tickets can be obtained here.

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    The Rest is History: Mozart and Beethoven with live orchestra

    On Friday 18 October, the world's most popular history podcast, The Rest Is History, came to the Royal Albert Hall on stage with a full orchestra and chorus. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook took a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history's greatest composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

    From the spectre of the French Revolution looming over Mozart's final years, to the Napoleonic wars, which served as great inspiration to Beethoven, Tom and Dominic brought to life the stories of these two musical geniuses. The Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Philharmonia Chorus were conducted by Oliver Zeffman.

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    King Charles III confirmed as the Patron of the Philharmonia Chorus

    We are deeply honoured and proud that His Majesty King Charles III has been confirmed as the Patron of the Philharmonia Chorus.

    Buckingham Palace announced His Majesty's patronages to mark the first anniversary of the Coronation.

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    Debussy at the Proms

    On Tuesday August 1, the sopranos and altos of the Philharmonia Chorus took part in Prom 17, in a performance of Debussy's Sirènes, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko at the 2024 BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, London. The performance was relayed live on BBC Radio 3.

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    Handel's Messiah at the Proms

    The culmination of the Proms 2024 Choral Day, Saturday 7 September, was a performance of Handel's Messiah (Mozart orchestration), with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields conducted by John Butt. The Philharmonia Chorus was joined by soprano Nardus Williams, mezzo-soprano Helen Charleston, tenor Benjamin Hulett, bass Ashley Riches, the Fourth Choir, the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers, the LYC Chamber Choir, the Bath Minerva Choir, and the Voices of the River's Edge. The performance was relayed live on BBC Radio 3.

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    Mahler's Second Symphony at Bold Tendencies

    The 2024 season at Bold Tendencies closed on Saturday 14 September with a performance of Mahler's Second Symphony, with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Philharmonia Chorus conducted by the Greek conductor Nefeli Chadouli. This the first time this symphony had been presented in this venue, a former car park in Peckham, South London.

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    Rachmaninov The Bells with Vasily Petrenko

    On Thursday 11 April, the Philharmonia Chorus took part in a performance of Rachmaninov's The Bells at the Royal Festival Hall. The Chorus joined soprano Mirjam Mesak, tenor Pavel Petrov, bass Andrii Kymach, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The performance was conducted by Vasily Petrenko.

    Photograph: Chris Chistodoulou

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    La Bohème in Lille

    At 20.00 on 4 and 5 July, the Philharmonia Chorus took part in two semi-staged performances of Puccini's La Bohème with the Orchestre National de Lille conducted by Alexandre Bloch. A stellar cast was led by Nicole Car as Mimi and Pene Pati as Rodolfo.

Concerts & Recordings

7:00pm Friday 13 December 2024

Handel - Messiah

Nardus Williams - soprano
Catherine Wyn-Rogers - mezzo-soprano
Benjamin Hulett - tenor
Matthew Brook - bass-baritone

Philharmonia Chorus
Chorus Master - Gavin Carr

Philharmonia Orchestra
conducted by Eamonn Dougan

Royal Festival Hall, London

2:30pm Sunday 15 December 2024

Christmas Classics

Vanessa Hayes - singer
YolanDa Brown - presenter

London Youth Choirs

Philharmonia Chorus
Chorus Master - Gavin Carr

Philharmonia Orchestra
conducted by Michael England

Royal Festival Hall, London

4:00pm Sunday 16 March 2025

Schoenberg - A Survivor from Warsaw
Shostakovich - Symphony No.13 'Babi Yar'

Mikhail Petrenko - bass
Lambert Wilson - narrator

Philharmonia Chorus
Chorus Master - Gavin Carr

Orchestre National de Lille
conducted by Joshua Weilerstein

Auditorium du Nouveau Siècle, Lille

8:00pm Monday 17 March 2025

Schoenberg - A Survivor from Warsaw
Shostakovich - Symphony No.13 'Babi Yar'

Mikhail Petrenko - bass
Lambert Wilson - narrator

Philharmonia Chorus
Chorus Master - Gavin Carr

Orchestre National de Lille
conducted by Joshua Weilerstein

Radio France live relay

Philharmonie de Paris, Paris

7:30pm Thursday 27 March 2025

Verdi - Messa da Requiem

Juliana Grigoryan - soprano
Elina Garanca - mezzo-soprano
Piotr Beczala - tenor
Ildebrando d'Arcangelo - bass

Philharmonia Chorus
Chorus Master - Gavin Carr

Philharmonia Orchestra
conducted by Riccardo Muti

Royal Festival Hall, London

7:30pm Thursday 24 April 2025

Bernstein - Chichester Psalms

Philharmonia Chorus
Chorus Master - Gavin Carr

Philharmonia Orchestra
conducted by Marin Alsop

Royal Festival Hall, London

2:00pm Saturday 26 April 2025

Gladiator Live

Lisa Gerrard - mezzo-soprano

Philharmonia Chorus
Chorus Master - Gavin Carr

Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra
conducted by Justin Freer

Royal Albert Hall, London

7:30pm Saturday 26 April 2025

Gladiator Live

Lisa Gerrard - mezzo-soprano

Philharmonia Chorus
Chorus Master - Gavin Carr

Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra
conducted by Justin Freer

Royal Albert Hall, London

1:00pm Sunday 27 April 2025

Gladiator Live

Philharmonia Chorus
Chorus Master - Gavin Carr

Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra
conducted by Justin Freer

Royal Albert Hall, London

6:30pm Sunday 27 April 2025

Gladiator Live

Philharmonia Chorus
Chorus Master - Gavin Carr

Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra
conducted by Justin Freer

Royal Albert Hall, London

Recent Reviews

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Mahler - Symphony No.2 'Resurrection'
Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Nefeli Chadouli
Bold Tendencies, Peckham


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'The choir, here 100 strong, standing behind the audience, their sound floating up invisibly, sings "Aufersteh'n (arise) with soft, utmost serenity. The whole performance could not have been more intense.'
Fiona Maddocks, The Observer, 21 September 2024

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Handel - Messiah
Academy of St Martin in the Fields conducted by John Butt
Royal Albert Hall, London


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Prom 65 - Choral Day review
The Philharmonia Chorus were the main participants, reliable in fugal complexities and fast runs.
David Nice, The Arts Desk, 8 September 2024

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Debussy - Nocturnes
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko
Royal Albert Hall, London


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Prom 17, Kozhukhin, RPO, Petrenko review - four tripartite masterpieces
The upper voices of the Philharmonia Chorus may have been a bit too close to the orchestra physically, but they wrought their own colour changes like professional singers: a beautiful complement to the super-subtle orchestra.
David Nice, The Arts Desk, 2 August 2024

The upper voices of the Philharmonia Chorus were fresh and precise in the movement's changing harmonies and rhythms and the orchestra offered skeins of sound in accompaniment. Many of the promenaders seemed mesmerised by the Choir's singing and the piece worked its magic in the hall.
Brian Barford, Classical Source, 1 August 2024

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Rachmaninov - The Bells
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko
Royal Festival Hall, London


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Poetic cello, blazing chorus - Atmospheric Elgar and Weinberg, but Rachmaninov's 'The Bells' takes the palm

Purple patches flourished in the first half of this admirable programme: it could hardly have been otherwise given Sheku Kanneh-Mason's devotion to a new work in his repertoire, and the current strength of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko. Even so, it was the culmination, Rachmaninov's multifaceted "Choral Symphony" The Bells, which truly dazzled.

It seems so obvious: Petrenko just knows this idiom and is completely at ease with the difficult Rachmaninov rubato. The Philharmonia Chorus was simply electrifying: hard to believe they weren't professionals with a knockout sound like that.

This, rather than the too church-choiry Tenebrae, is what Pappano needed for his Ravel Daphnis et Chloé, repeated last night over at the Barbican at around the same time. The two masterpieces are only a year apart, and Rachmaninov proves master orchestrator too in the glitttering spirit of delight that frames his opening sleigh-ride. What a punch from the opening choral response to the tenor's "listen!", though, and what overwhelming climaxes throughout.

It takes real power and expression to hold focus in the "Loud Alarm Bells" movement; in Konstantin Balmont's translation of Edgar Allan Poe, when the voices become the flames in "I want to go higher, to burn higher, to touch the moonbeams", the effect was one of terrifying levitation. Special kudos to Chorus Master Gavin Carr.
David Nice, The Arts Desk, 12 April 2024


Rachmaninov's take on The Bells hits the spot

When a big choral symphony is called The Bells, a basic requirement, you might think, would be to hear some bells. There were three handsome specimens, small but sturdy, parked at the end of the percussion line on the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's back row. Reader, I could hear none of them.

Disappointment? Well, a smidgen. But so much else in Rachmaninov's spectacular take on Edgar Allan Poe's poem, the crowning glory of Vasily Petrenko's latest concert in the RPO's Icons Rediscovered strand, hit the spot unimpeded. Top of the list was the mighty force of the 80-strong Philharmonia Chorus, splendidly nurtured by its chorus master Gavin Carr, and especially thrilling in the alarm bell section. Not far below came the stentorian wonder of the baritone Andrii Kymach, your perfect companion for the gloomy bells of the final movement, fittingly marked "lento lugubre".
Geoff Brown, The Times, 12 April 2024


Sheku Kanneh-Mason and the Philharmonia Chorus shine in Weinberg and Rachmaninov

Rachmaninov's cantata 'The Bells' after the interval was an unqualified triumph. Petrenko was on home ground here, and he inspired a coruscating performance from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, doing full justice to Rachmaninov's brilliance as an orchestrator and his instinctive sense of drama. The soloists too were superb: the sweet-toned tenor Pavel Petrov found it hard to project his voice over the hubbub in parts of the first movement, but in the second the soprano Mirjam Mesak's clear, bell-like voice was a joy to hear, opening out thrillingly at the movement's climax. The fine baritone Andrii Kymach brought appropriately cavernous gloom to the final movement: he had me hoping that Petrenko might engage him for Shostakovich's Babi Yar.

The real heroes of the evening, though, were the Philharmonia Chorus. Not especially large around 100 singers they blew us away with their first entry: precision, attack, and enough volume for 'Gurrelieder'. The quieter moments they're humming over harp, piano and celeste later in the first movement were magical too. They were fabulous: the combined power of chorus and orchestra at the climaxes was shattering.
Chris Kettle, Seen and Heard International, 14 April 2024

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Shore - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in Concert
Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Ludwig Wicki
Royal Albert Hall, London


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Conducted by Ludwig Wicki, the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra's playing is very much a credit to Shore's masterwork. The violins are powerfully used to pull at the heartstrings, the brass section gets the pulses pumping when the fighting starts and, when the Philharmonia Chorus join in, there is a phenomenal wall of sound which pushes us back into our seats.
Franco Milazzo, www.broadwayworld.com, 18 March 2024

The stunning Philharmonia Chorus and Trinity Boy's Choir give depth and emotion to the beautiful choral moments
Lucy Boardman, https://ayoungishperspective.co.uk, 17 March 2024

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Tchaikovsky - Iolanta
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko
Royal Albert Hall, London


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The Philharmonia Chorus sang with admirable focus.
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 9 November 2023