London Philharmonic Choir
As a charity, its aims are to promote, improve, develop and maintain education in the appreciation of the art and science of music by the presentation of public concerts.
On 15 May 1947, the choir made its début with a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall under the baton of Victor de Sabata.
Throughout Jackson's tenure (1947–1969), the choir worked closely with the LPO and with major conductors and soloists of the period including Sir Adrian Boult, Eduard van Beinum, Dame Janet Baker, Peter Pears and Kathleen Ferrier.
His successor, John Alldis improved the standards of the choir and also encouraged the performance of contemporary works such as David Bedford's Star clusters, Nebulae and Places in Devon.
Cooke resigned in 1991 due in part to the strained working relationship with Welser-Möst and disputes between choir and LPO management.
During this bleak period, the choir was able to secure concerts with other London orchestras and with arts promotion institutions such as IMG Artists and Raymond Gubbay for much needed financial aid.
In 1997, the choir celebrated its 50th anniversary with a concert at the Albert Hall attended by Princess Alexandra and Ursula Vaughan Williams.
The choir's aim is to perform large choral works to professional standard whilst providing a friendly social network for its members.
As a charity, its aims are to promote, improve, develop and maintain education in the appreciation of the art and science of music by the presentation of public concerts.
[8][3] In the founding years, the choir was composed of amateur and professional singers, the latter being paid a sum of ten shillings and sixpence per rehearsal session.
[8] The choir made its début on 15 May 1947 with a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the LPO conducted by Victor de Sabata at the Royal Albert Hall.
[11] This was followed by their first radio broadcast of Vaughan Williams' Sancta Civitas and Verdi's Stabat Mater in March 1948 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBCSO) under Sir Adrian Boult.
[8] Another first for the choir was the Proms performance in August 1952 of Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms with the LPO conducted by Basil Cameron at the Royal Albert Hall.
The LPO board cited "...because of the number of professional choristers, the cost of putting a concert with the Choir had become so great that it was difficult to maintain its interest."
[16] In March 1968, the choir made its first television broadcast: a performance of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius at Canterbury Cathedral with the LPO conducted by Sir Adrian Boult with soloists Peter Pears, Dame Janet Baker and John Shirley-Quirk.
[27] Along with maintaining a high performance level with standard choral repertoire, Alldis also encouraged the choir to undertake contemporary works such as David Bedford's Star Clusters, Nebulae and Places in Devon which was commissioned for the LPC and Brass of the LPO and was given its première on 7 March 1971 at the Royal Festival Hall.
[28][29][30][31] Another performance of a contemporary work occurred in August 1972 when David Rowland's Cantate Laetantes Alleluia was featured at the International Carnival of Experimental Sound – ICES-72 – in the Roundhouse at Chalk Farm.
[36] In 1979, the choir undertook its first European tour, to Wilhelmshaven in Northern Germany, performing Bruckner's E Minor Mass with the local wind ensemble.
This tour was arranged through contacts from a choir member as part of Wilhelmshaven's annual music festival Wochenende an der Jade.
[49] Despite this setback, Jackman and the fragmented choir worked hard to achieve decent results for Beethoven's Ninth with Tennstedt, Janáček's Glagolitic Mass with Jiří Bělohlávek and Haydn's Creation with Sir Roger Norrington.
The choir was able to give creditable performances with the LPO at the Royal Festival Hall in the 1994/95 LPO concert season of the Britten and Verdi Requiems under Welser-Möst, Berlioz concerts with Norrington, Beethoven's Ninth and Bruckner's Te Deum with Haitink, and two performances of Verdi's Aida with Zubin Mehta.
LPC members were also likely to be found augmenting other larger choirs and their respective orchestras, such as the Royal Choral Society or the London Symphony Chorus if a large force was required for a particular performance.
[69][70] In April, the choir sang Haydn's Creation[71] in Hong Kong, returning to perform La damnation de Faust with Mark Elder in London and the Mahler's Resurrection symphony with the Philharmonia under Esa-Pekka Salonen in Paris and at the Royal Festival Hall.
[72][73] In 2005 alone, the choir toured six countries beginning with Greece in January, Malaysia and Australia in June, Germany in July, Switzerland in September and finally Italy in November.
This concert – the last before the Royal Festival Hall's closure for refurbishment – marked the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe[75][76] and was recorded by the LPO for the orchestra's recently launched CD label.
In September 2007, as part of its ongoing commitment as a charity, the LPC was involved with its first Mayor of London Open Rehearsal at the Bishopsgate Institute.
[80] In July 2008, Rowe prepared the choir for the Doctor Who Prom with the BBC Philharmonic under conductors Stephen Bell and Ben Foster held at the Royal Albert Hall.
[83] After 6 years, Rowe left the LPC at the end of 2008 to take up the position of symphony orchestra conductor for the San Diego State University School of Music and Dance in January 2009.
[86] In September 2009, the choir, augmented by the London Chorus, recorded 50 greatest pieces of classical music with the LPO under David Parry at Henry Wood Hall.
The prom also featured the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with conductors Ben Foster and Grant Llewellyn with music by Murray Gold.
