The Bach Choir is one of London’s largest and most prestigious choirs. We perform the very best in choral music at some of the world’s top venues. If you’re interested in joining our passionate, friendly and diverse singing group, we’re currently accepting auditions for all vocal parts.
Directed by David Hill MBE, we regularly perform and record across London and the UK in prestigious venues.
In recent years we’ve performed in iconic concert halls like the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall, to stunning cathedrals such as Winchester and St Paul’s and the world-renowned recording venue Abbey Road Studios.
Our members all harbour the same passion for choral excellence but are friendly, approachable and keen to socialise around our weekly rehearsals.
As a member of The Bach Choir, you get the best of both worlds - the opportunities and prestige afforded to professional choirs and the social environment which amateur choirs enjoy are both on offer.
We don’t just sing Bach! Our concert repertoire spans from the 16th century to the present day, and our recording schedule which has produced acclaimed recordings of music by Handel, Howells, Mahler, Carl Rütti, Vaughan Williams, Stanford, Dyson and Delius. In addition to this, we’ve recorded Christmas carols and even film soundtracks such as The Martian, Prometheus, Shrek the Third and the Chronicles of Narnia. We are committed to commissioning new music, and have given 11 world premieres since 2001.
We try to tour abroad every 2-3 years; previous trips have included engagements in Beirut (2003), Germany (2005, 2007, 2009) and Australia (2008). We have also sung in the USA, China, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, France, South Africa and much more.
Preserving the UK’s choral music heritage is an important part of our mission. Every season we run a community engagement programme called Vocalise! in a number of London primary schools aimed at introducing their older pupils to the joy of choral singing. This programme involves a series of workshops and group rehearsals and culminates in a concert with The Choir in central London. We encourage all of our members to take part in this - this isn’t compulsory, but for those who help to run the workshops it’s a richly rewarding experience.
If you want to experience singing with The Bach Choir and to meet our friendly community before auditioning, why not come to a Choral Workshop or a Come and Sing event? Find out more about our upcoming events below.
To experience the feeling of singing in some of the world’s top venues and being a part of so many prestigious recording projects, it is necessary for our members to commit to our rehearsal schedule.
To make it as easy as possible for those with busy schedules to join, we usually rehearse once a week from 6.15pm to 8.15pm every Monday. This in turn means that our members need to be proficient sight readers so that rehearsal time is spent practising rather than learning pieces. For core concerts, there is usually a rehearsal at the venue a few hours before the performance which all singers need to attend.
Provided that you can meet these requirements, all singers are welcome to apply to the Choir, regardless of your musical background. We value diversity at The Bach Choir, so whether your singing experience is in musical theatre, folk, gospel, opera or any other style of music, we would love to hear from you!
Before you apply, make sure you read the FAQs below so that you know exactly what to expect. You can also find some tips from David Hill and our membership team on the audition process here.
To understand how your data is collected and used, please read our Privacy Policy. The Bach Choir is committed to promoting diversity and eliminating bias in the classical music industry. The Choir uses this data solely to monitor progress towards our aim of improving access to the Choir for singers from a more diverse range of backgrounds than has traditionally been the case.
We know that auditioning for a choir can be daunting, which is why our auditions team are here to take you through every step of the process.
Naomi and Maria make up our membership team and will be here to answer your questions and will be in touch with you as soon as you’ve filled in your form.
*Please note: If you have been a member of The Bach Choir in the past, or have had a previous audition, please give dates in the Previous Membership box.
We’ve put some of the most common questions we get asked in our FAQ below, but don’t hesitate to reach out to Naomi if you have additional questions at auditions@thebachchoir.org.uk.
We have a core programme of around four concerts each year, although corporate events, recordings, tours and other engagements have often increased this number to 15 or more in a single season. We expect all members to commit to singing in our core concerts and to make themselves available to participate in as many non-core events as possible (some of these will be selective).
We rehearse every Monday between 6.15 and 8.15 from September to July in Westminster Cathedral Hall, Ambrosden Avenue, SW1 (a few minutes’ walk from London Victoria train station). Because we usually rehearse on only one day a week, attendance at those rehearsals is very important.
Our members come from a diverse range of backgrounds in terms of both who they are and in their singing experience. We are actively looking to increase the diversity of our membership, so if you feel like you might not be the ‘typical’ applicant, we are especially interested to hear from you. In short – if you have the required singing experience, we want to hear from you. Where you got the experience is irrelevant.
Our members are busy people with full lives outside of The Choir. This is why we only rehearse once a week – but in order to keep this relatively minimal rehearsal schedule, we require members to be able to sight read to a high level in addition to the singing ability which we require.
Yes – it is necessary to pass an audition, with further re-auditions every three years to ensure that the Choir maintains a high standard. We hold auditions at various times throughout the year. You can email our auditions team if you have any questions about the auditions process.
In order to join the Choir, it is necessary to pass an audition, with further re-auditions every three years to ensure that the Choir maintain its high standards. We hold auditions at various times throughout the year.
At your audition you will be asked to sing a short prepared piece (no more than 3 minutes long). Apart from length, there are no rules about your choice – it might be an extract from a choral work, a short aria, a folk song or anything else you feel comfortable singing. You will also be asked to sing scales or arpeggios, perform various musical tests and sight-read from a vocal score. Sight-reading needs to be of a good standard in order to cope with our demanding programme.
Most seasons, we have around four core concerts in which everyone is expected to sing. In addition we have concerts and other events, many with reduced numbers, for which people are asked to sign up, and singers are selected by the Musical Director. We expect everyone to make themselves available to participate in as many of these non-core events as possible.
Sometimes we need a smaller number of singers for an event, and perform under the name Bach Choir Voices. David Hill runs a training programme for those who would like to put themselves forward for these events, and singers are selected from those who have successfully completed the training.
For other events, particularly those prestigious occasions in which many are keen to sing, other factors such as attendance records, loyalty and voluntary work for the Choir are also taken into account in the selection process.
We rehearse intensively on just one evening a week, often preparing several programmes simultaneously. As a result, we operate a strict qualification policy which means that only those who attend at least the minimum number of rehearsals for a particular concert (usually two thirds but sometimes more) are allowed to sing in that concert. In addition, in order to qualify for a concert, singers must attend the final piano rehearsal and a mid-afternoon rehearsal on the day of the concert, which can often be a weekday.
For some events, where rehearsal time is very limited, singers are often required to attend most or all rehearsals in order to qualify to sing. To maintain our high standards, it’s very important that everyone commits to attending at least the minimum number of rehearsals required to qualify for the concerts in which they are singing.
Since The Bach Choir is a charity, all members are asked to make a contribution towards the costs of running the Choir through a subscription. The Choir’s subscription costs £33.50 per month, paid over 12 months, or £366 per year (although any difficulty with this would be viewed sympathetically). Full-time students or those who have graduated within the last four years (first degree) pay just £33 per year. Music can be bought through the Choir and hire copies are often available free of charge from the Choir’s library.
Our singers are a friendly bunch who often socialise after rehearsals and concerts. We also host an annual party for all members, and introductory events for new members at various points in the year. Many members of the Choir have made lifelong friendships as a result of singing with us!