We’re the leading independent UK chorus known for performing the very best in choral music since 1876.
Directed by David Hill MBE, our mission is to inspire and connect people of all backgrounds with the magnificence and emotional power of choral music through our performances, recordings and community projects.
The Bach Choir was founded to sing the first UK performance of Bach’s Mass in B minor in 1876. In our 150-year history we have had only nine musical directors including Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Sir David Willcocks. The common thread throughout has been the passion and pursuit of excellence.
Today, with HM The King as our Patron, John Rutter CBE as our President, and David Hill MBE as our Musical Director, our performances and recordings go from strength to strength.
Bach remains important, with our critically acclaimed annual performance of the St Matthew Passion sung in English, and regular performances of the Mass in B minor. But we don’t just sing Bach! As an independent choir, we commission, perform and record new works that add to the choral tradition of the future.
Feel the force of our 200 voices singing together and an emotional intensity that only a large choir can evoke. Whether the hushed intensity of a Bach Chorale or the exhilaration of a Verdi chorus, each of our performances has the power to move and inspire you.
We regularly perform and record across London and the UK, in prestigious venues from the Southbank Centre and Royal Albert Hall to Abbey Road Studios, and we have toured the world from the USA to China and the Sydney Opera House.
We sing at prestigious events from royal weddings to the annual Festival of Remembrance and have provided soundtracks to films such as Prometheus, The Martian and The Chronicles of Narnia, on Star Wars video games and even on a famous Rolling Stones track.
It’s the commitment of our members that inspires audiences and musicians alike. With over 240 talented singers coming from all walks of life and a community engagement programme that takes our passion for music into inner-city schools and dementia care homes, we perform, record and share music for everyone to enjoy, whatever their age or background. We believe that singing is good for people’s health, happiness and social inclusion and we’re as committed to inspiring the next generation as we are to preserving our own musical heritage.
Renowned for his fine musicianship, David Hill is widely respected as both a choral and an orchestral conductor. He became The Bach Choir’s ninth Musical Director in 1998 and is also Associate Guest Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of Leeds Philharmonic Society and Principal Conductor of Yale Schola Cantorum.
Making sure that our singing membership reflects the society that we live in is crucially important to us. We are taking a number of active steps to make The Bach Choir more equitable and inclusive which include broadening our repertoire to include a much wider range of composers; making sure our online and physical spaces are accessible to everyone and ensuring that our audition process takes into account singers from a broader range of musical and cultural backgrounds.
If you’re unsure whether your voice would be a good fit for the Choir, we would like to take this opportunity to actively encourage you to apply. Our membership team would love to hear from you!
