Three Philharmonia Chorus singers have been appointed to the prestigious ENO Harewood Artists for 2019/20. Each Harewood Artist undertakes a programme of vocal and language training, is coached by experts in their repertoire and is fully supported through auditions for career-building performance opportunities with ENO, around the UK and abroad. Mezzo-soprano Claire Barnett-Jones and tenors William Morgan and John Findon were among the first singers who auditioned for the Philharmonia Chorus Professional Singer Scheme, and have joined the Chorus for many concerts. We congratulate them and wish them well at ENO.

Ema Nikolovska has been awarded the Ferrier Loveday Song Prize at the 2019 Kathleen Ferrier Awards held at the Wigmore Hall on 26 April. Ema has been a member of the Philharmonia Chorus Student Scheme since 2017, and studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, currently on the Guildhall Opera Course. She took part in the Philharmonia Chorus Masterclass with Ann Murray DBE in December 2018.

On 7 May the BBC announced her selection of as one of seven musicians from around the world to join its prestigious New Generation Artists scheme for 2019-21. The Philharmonia Chorus is very proud to have such a wonderful singer in its Student Scheme.

She also performed in the final of the Gold Medal on Friday 10 May in the Barbican Hall, and gave a recital at Wigmore Hall on 18 May as the winner of the Guildhall Wigmore Recital Prize.

On Thursday 8 August the Philharmonia Chorus appeared at the BBC Proms in performances of Rachmaninov's The Bells and Borodin's Polovtsian Dances. The Chorus was joined by soprano Natalya Romaniw, tenor Oleg Dolgov, baritone Iurii Samoilov, the BBC National Chorus of Wales and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. The performance was be conducted by Tadaaki Otaka.

The Philharmonia Chorus will take part in the culmination of the Orchestre National de Lille's 2019 Mahler cycle with two performances of the mighty Eighth Symphony in the Auditorium du Nouveau Siècle, Lille on 20 and 21 November. The Chorus will join sopranos Daniela Köhler, Yitian Luan and Elena Gorshunova, mezzo-soprano Michaela Selinger, alto Atala Schöck, tenor Ric Furman, baritone Zsolt Haja, bass Sebastian Pilgrim, the Jeune Choeur des Hauts-de-France, Orchestre National de Lille and the Orchestre de Picardie. The performances will be conducted by Alexandre Bloch, and the second performance on 21 November will be broadcast live on the orchestra's You Tube channel. The Philharmonia Chorus is very much looking forward to performing both choruses in this work, which it has only done once before in concert, in Basel in 1980.

Chorus has already taken part in the performances of Mahler's Second and Third symphonies in the Orchestre National de Lille 2019 cycle, both of which can be seen on You Tube.

On Wednesday 3 April the Philharmonia Chorus took part in a performance of Mahler's Third Symphony, with mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn, the Choeur Maîtrisien du Conservatoire de Wasquehal, and the Orchestre National de Lille conducted by Alexandre Bloch. This performance can be seen on You Tube here.

The concert was repeated on Thursday 4 April in the Maison de la Culture, Amiens.

On Good Friday 19 April, the Philharmonia Chorus took part in a performance of Verdi's Messa da Requiem in the Chapel of King's College, Cambridge conducted by the Director Music in King's College, Stephen Cleobury. The Chorus joined soprano Gweneth Ann Rand, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston, tenor Brenden Gunnell, bass James Platt and the BBC Concert Orchestra.

The concert formed part of the 2019 Easter at King's Festival, and was broadcast live by BBC Radio 3.

On Thursday February 28 the Philharmonia Chorus took part in a performance of Mahler's Symphony No.2 'Resurrection' in Lille's Auditorium du Nouveau Siècle. Soprano Kate Royal, mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn, the Philharmonia Chorus and the Orchestre National de Lille were conducted by Alexandre Bloch. The concert formed part the Orchestre National de Lille's current Mahler cycle, and was broadcast live on the orchestra's You Tube channel here.

On Friday 8 March the Philharmonia Chorus took part in a concert to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of Hector Berlioz, with a performance of his Grande messe des morts in St Paul's Cathedral, with tenor Michael Spyres, the London Philharmonic Choir and the Philharmonia Orchestra. The performance was conducted by renowned American conductor and Berlioz expert John Nelson, and was streamed live on the internet by Mezzo.

Berlioz's Requiem was written in 1830 for the French soldiers killed in war, and the composer treasured the work, declaring: "If I were threatened with the destruction of the whole of my works save one, I should crave mercy for the Messe des morts."

The concert can now be seen on Medici TV.