London Concert Choir, one of London’s leading amateur choirs, celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2020. A lively and ambitious choir of around 150 members, London Concert Choir is notable for the commitment and musicality of its performances in an unusually varied repertoire. This ranges from unaccompanied church music to large-scale choral works, as well as concert performances of operas and songs from the shows. With conductor Mark Forkgen LCC regularly appears at London’s premier concert venues, while tours abroad have included visits to France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain.

The choir’s 50th anniversary saw two performances of Britten’s War Requiem. Among other major works in recent seasons have been Mozart’s Requiem with the London Mozart Players, Rachmaninov’s choral symphony The Bells with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Brahms’ German Requiem and Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony, all with Southbank Sinfonia.

Operas in concert performance have ranged from Purcell’s King Arthur to Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and the London premiere of The Chalk Legend by Stephen McNeff. Performances with the Counterpoint period instrumental ensemble include Handel’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt, Bach’s St Matthew and St John Passions and Christmas Oratorio, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 and Schubert’s rarely-heard Mass in E flat. LCC has also performed Ellington’s Sacred Concert, Will Todd’s Mass in Blue and a concert to mark Leonard Bernstein’s centenary.

The choir often gives concerts for charity and continues to commission new works. These have included A Light not yet Ready to Go Out by Alison Willis, in aid of Breast Cancer Now, and Per Ardua ad Astra, a major work by Roderick Williams, the choir’s President, to celebrate the centenary of the Royal Air Force.