London Oriana Choir is one of Britain’s leading non-professional choral groups and one of the most exciting and versatile in London. 

 

Founded in 1973, and under the baton of Dominic Ellis-Peckham since 2013, the choir has gone from strength to strength, performing music from classical baroque to classic rock at venues such as the O2 Arena, St Martin-in-the-Fields
and the Royal Albert Hall, with broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and Classic FM.  

 

The choir’s repertoire is broad-ranging, from early music, through the great choral works by Verdi, Brahms, Mozart, Handel and Bach to contemporary commissions. A cappella music is sung in many languages and in all styles from early Renaissance to the present day, from secular to sacred, classical to jazz and including popular and folk music from around the world.  The choir is often accompanied by professional orchestras and has performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Brandenburg Sinfonia and the London Mozart Players. The choir has also worked with some of the world’s leading artists including Sir Thomas Allen, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Robert Plant, and Barbra Streisand. In July 2015, the choir performed in the world première of Pete Townshend’s ‘Classic Quadrophenia’ with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Alfie Boe at the Royal Albert Hall to critical acclaim, as well as recording the piece for release on Deutsche Grammophon.

 

In April 2016, the choir launched five15, a five year programme (extended to six due to the pandemic) to promote women composers through commissioning fifteen new works, concert programming, workshops, recordings and other activities. The five composers-in-residence were Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Rebecca Dale, Jessica Curry, Anna Disley-Simpson (winner of the five15 Young Composers Competition) and Hannah Kendall.

 

In April 2019, the choir was honoured to be invited to perform the moving piece The End of All Things by Jessica Curry at the opening of the BAFTA Games awards at the Queen Elizabeth Hall hosted by Dara O'Briain and streamed live worldwide.  The piece is part of Jessica's music for the game Everybody's Gone to the Rapture for which she won the BAFTA games Music Award in 2016.

 

In May 2019, men from the choir appeared with Madonna on international television during the Eurovision Song Contest Final in Tel Aviv and, a week later,  enjoyed a successful tour to Rome singing at Sunday Morning Mass in St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, and at a joint concert with Coro dell'Aventino in San Marcello al Corso. 

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Throughout lockdown, the choir continued to meet weekly via Zoom and promoted four online concerts featuring a mix of pre-recorded and lockdown recordings, often including performances from guest choirs from the UK and overseas. In December 2020, the choir gave the world premiere of Eric Whitacre's The Perfect Gift in a virtual Christmas concert by kind invitation of Maggie's charity.  The choir resumed live performances in July 2021 with a concert at Opera Holland Park featuring Haydn's Nelson Mass alongside a varied mix of a capella choral music.

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In May 2021, London Oriana Choir was delighted to announce the appointment of Cecilia McDowall as Patron of the choir.

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In July 2022, the choir concluded its five15 programme with a rousing and well-attended finale at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, together with guest choirs from across Great Britain.​

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The choir celebrated its 50th anniversary in the 2023/24 season with a number of special events including a Come and Sing with choir alumni and a Gala concert at St John's Smith Square with special guest Beth Nielsen Chapman.

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Read More about the London Oriana Choir's history and highlights.

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