The 2025 – 2026 season will be The Bach Choir’s 150th anniversary. In this article we’ll look back at our history and hear what our current Musical Director David Hill has to say about it all.
We were initially formed back in 1876 to sing the world premiere of Bach’s B minor Mass, and we haven’t looked back since. Along the way, we’ve had quite the journey – we’ve performed at royal weddings, sang on the Rolling Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want, we’ve had Hollywood engagements with top composer Harry Gregson Williams on the soundtracks of films like Gladiator II and The Martian, we’ve performed at London Fashion week with superstar designer Richard Quinn and we’ve toured Hong Kong and Italy amongst many other places.
Looking a little further back, our Musical Directors Vaughan Williams and Stanford both received huge acclaim as composers, we’ve had the honour of Queen Elizabeth II and HM King Charles III’s patronship and we sang in the famous 1963 Decca recording of Britten’s War Requiem, which BBC Music Magazine called the third best recording of all time.
Our current Musical Director, David Hill, is in his 26th year at The Bach Choir. Ahead of the Choir reaching this incredible milestone, we asked David for his thoughts…
“I’m now 27 years into my tenure as The Bach Choir’s ninth Music Director, and I’m constantly aware that I’m walking in the footsteps of some revered composers and conductors including Stanford, Goldschmidt, Vaughan Williams and David Willcocks.
The Bach Choir came about through the passion of a group of amateur singers and choral music admirers. Singing members of The Bach Choir come from all walks of life but they are united in their commitment and determination to reach the highest musical standards. I am enormously privileged to be Music Director of this very special choir on the eve of its 150th anniversary.
Mahler’s mighty Symphony No 8, with which we open our anniversary season, is rarely performed because of its sheer scale. It requires a huge orchestra, eight soloists, two large choruses and a children’s choir, and I am very much looking forward to conducting The Bach Choir and the Philharmonia Orchestra in this monumental work.
Commissioning new music has always been something that is very important to me and I am delighted that The Bach Choir shares my desire to add to the British choral tradition in this way. During my tenure as Music Director the Choir has commissioned 19 pieces, the latest of which is an exciting new work for our Vocalise! programme, to be performed in the summer of 2026. We couldn’t have reached 150 without you, our audience. Thank you for your support and I look forward very much to welcoming you to a concert in our anniversary season!”
If this has whetted your appetite for our upcoming performance of Mahler 8 on Thursday 9 October, don’t delay – book your tickets here now. We look forward to releasing the rest of our 150th season in due time!