Diversity statement

The Bach Choir is a London-based independent UK chorus known for performing the very best in  choral music since 1876. As a choir, 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. 

We believe that great music is a universal language that speaks to our shared humanity. We also  recognise that the historical tradition of Western classical music, which we are dedicated to  showcasing, has not always been accessible or inclusive of diverse musicians, repertoire, or  audiences. 

Our acknowledgement

 We openly acknowledge that The Bach Choir, like many arts organisations of our nature, does not  reflect London’s rich diversity. We understand the lack of visible diversity can be a barrier to feeling  welcome for potential new singers and audience members from currently underrepresented  backgrounds. While this has not been our intention, we recognise that our impact is more meaningful  than our intent. Therefore, we, The Bach Choir, are on a journey to change this. 

As of March 2026, half of the Board of Trustees is female, including the Chair. One Trustee is Black  British Caribbean and the others are all white British. We are also seeing shifts within our singing  membership, which spans a wide age range —from 18 to over 80 —and includes one-third of singers  currently under 35. We are looking at our singing membership closely to see where we can support  and celebrate a more diverse membership. 

Our commitment: A work in progress 

We are working to become a choir that genuinely reflects the vibrant diversity of London. We know we  have a long way to go, and we are committed to the ongoing work required. Our strategy is focused on  three key areas: 

Our People (Members and Leadership)

  • We regularly review our audition and recruitment processes to remove unconscious  biases and encourage applications from talented singers, regardless of age, ethnicity,  gender, disability, or socio-economic background. 
  • We are committed to musical excellence which celebrates the rich and diverse history  of choral music. 
  • We actively seek to contribute to a future for choral music in which diversity is  celebrated and championed. We have embedded reporting on Equality, Diversity and  Inclusion (EDI) across our different committees and have appointed EDI Champions to  support advocacy across our community. 
  • We are committed to fostering a culture of belonging where every member is valued,  heard, and respected. We actively encourage members to give feedback through our  Voice Reps who report to the Board of Trustees. Following feedback about concert  dress, we have changed the choir policy moving to gender-neutral concert dress for  our singing membership. 
  • We are committed to diversifying future singing membership and supporting singing in  schools. Pathways to achieving this include our Vocalise! community engagement  programme that aims to share the joy of singing in schools with a high percentage of  children from marginalised backgrounds, receiving free school meals, and/or having  English as their second language.

Our Artistry (Programming and Performance)

  • While our core mission remains the performance of the choral canon, we are actively  reviewing and expanding our repertoire to include and champion works by historically  marginalised composers (e.g., women, composers of colour, LGBTQ+ composers), and commissioning new works from a diverse range of composers. 
  • We often collaborate with orchestras and soloists for our performances, and we are  constantly exploring ways to work with musicians from diverse backgrounds. 

Our Community (Audience and Accessibility)

  • We are improving the financial accessibility of our concerts by offering concessionary  pricing,  
  • We are continuing our commitment to support the long-term development of choral  music audiences within local communities, including through partnerships with  schools, community groups, and other arts organisations across London to engage  with communities we have not reached before. 

Our vision 

Through delivering on the commitments above, we firmly believe that The Bach Choir can be a pioneer  in making choral singing more accessible, diverse, and inclusive by addressing the barriers to  participation and representation that have historically existed. In doing this we aim to have more  people seeing themselves represented on stage, in the rehearsal room and in our audiences. 

Current initiatives include the revamp of The Bach Choir website.  

As part of our efforts to realise this vision, over the last 5 years, The Bach Choir has already taken the  following steps: 

  • Updated the concert dress guidelines to establish a gender-neutral concert dress policy. 
  • Developed community partnerships through Vocalise! and Singing for Memory Workshops. 
  • Established a collaboration with the London Youth Choir (LYC), a diverse group of young  singers to develop opportunities for young singers to participate in large-scale performances  including our annual ripieno chorus for St Matthew Passion.  
  • Diversified the geographic locations for concerts (beyond central London). 

As we continue on the journey of realising our vision and delivering on our commitments, we continue  to learn. The more we learn, the more we refine our vision and shape the path we need to take to get  there; however, what does not change is our commitment to doing this work and improving the  accessibility, diversity, and inclusion of not only The Bach Choir but also choral music more broadly. 

Our invitation

In order to become a truly accessible, diverse and inclusive choir, we believe that this journey must be taken with you, our community. As such, we welcome feedback, ideas and collaboration, including  constructive challenge, as part of this ongoing work. 

If you have suggestions on how we can better live up to our ideals, please contact us at administrator@thebachchoir.org.uk 

This statement is a living document. It will evolve as we learn, grow, and hold ourselves accountable to  building a more accessible, diverse, and inclusive future for choral music in London.