Jack Lee, who has been a member of the Philharmonia Chorus Student Scheme since 2017, has accepted an invitation to join the highly prestigious Young Artist Programme of the Wiener Staatsoper in September. A recent graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, Jack has taken part in many concerts with the Chorus over the past few years, and took part in the Chorus's Masterclass on Handel with Ann Murray DBE in 2018. We wish him every success in Vienna.

On Good Friday, 15 April, the Philharmonia Chorus took part in a performance of Mozart's Mass in C minor, K427 in the Chapel of King's College Cambridge. The Chorus joined sopranos Carolyn Sampson and Ruby Hughes, tenor Daniel Norman, bass David Shipley, and the BBC Concert Orchestra. The performance was conducted by Daniel Hyde, and the concert formed part of the Easter at King's Festival.

The concert was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

The Philharmonia Chorus took 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 joined 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 were conducted by Alexandre Bloch. The second performance on 21 November was broadcast live on the orchestra's Facebook page.

In the second performance on 21 November, the first soprano part was shared between Daniela Köhler, who had developed some vocal problems, and Eleanor Ross (far right in the photograph), a soprano in the Philharmonia Chorus, who stepped in at extremely short notice to share the part with Daniela.

A short video of the preparation of these performances can be seen on You Tube.

The Philharmonia Chorus has already taken part in the performances of Mahler's Second and Third symphonies in the Orchestre National de Lille 2019 Mahler cycle.

It is with great sadness that we have heard of the death of Andrew Greenwood at the age of 66. Andrew was Associate Chorus Master of the Philharmonia Chorus through the 1980s. He prepared the Chorus for stage appearances in Manon Lescaut in the opera house in Montepulciano in 1982, and for performances of Aida and La Gioconda in the Théâtre Antique in Orange in the summer of 1983. He worked regularly with the Chorus in this period, preparing over 80 performances, including Beethoven's Missa Solemnis conducted by Bernard Haitink, William Walton's 80th birthday concert when André Previn conducted Belshazzar's Feast, Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius conducted by Andrew Davis, Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex conducted by Seiji Ozawa, Mahler's Second Symphony conducted by Simon Rattle, and Verdi's Messa da Requiem conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli. He will be remembered with admiration and great affection by our singers.

His obituary in The Guardian is here.

On Thursday April 7, the Philharmonia Chorus took part in a performance of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius at the Royal Albert Hall, London. The Chorus was joined by mezzo-soprano Kai Rüütel, tenor Ed Lyon, and baritone Derek Welton. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by Vasily Petrenko.

Mezzo-soprano Claire Barnett-Jones has won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2021 Audience Prize at the Main Prize Final broadcast live on BBC4 on Saturday 19 June. She previously won Round 4. Claire is a member of the Philharmonia Chorus Professional Singer Scheme, and has appeared regularly in the Chorus since joining in 2011. She was the mezzo-soprano soloist in a performance of Handel's Messiah given by the Philharmonia Chorus in the Palau de la Música in Valencia in December 2015, when all soloists were drawn from the Chorus.

Claire joined Georgian mezzo-soprano Natalia Kutateladze, South Korean baritone Gihoon Kim, South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, and Austrian soprano Christina Ganch in the Main Prize final, which was broadcast live on Saturday 19 June on BBC4 at 19.30.

The whole of Round 4 and the Main Prize final can now be seen on the BBC iPlayer.