About Us
London's LGBT chamber choir
The Fourth Choir is London's LGBT + chamber choir for advanced singers. We focus on performing great choral works from early music to contemporary choral masterpieces. The choir was formed in September 2013, and our aim from the outset has been to represent the LGBT + community on London's world-class classical music scene.
We have performed in many of London’s iconic cultural venues including the Southbank Centre, the British Library, the British Museum, the V&A, Kings Place, Tate Britain and Kings Place. We have also performed at diverse venues such as The Jazz Cafe, Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London; and in the heart of Westminster, both on the stage at the National Holocaust Memorial Ceremony, and on the pavement, protesting outside the House of Commons. Overseas, we have performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Queer Arts Festival in Antwerp and the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome. We have developed a particularly fruitful relationship with Shakespeare’s Globe, having given four concerts in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, appearing in the play After Edward and as well as appearing twice with Sandi Toksvig in The (Snow) Globe, both on stage in 2020 and as a virtual choir in the pandemic in 2021.
We have performed in many of London’s iconic cultural venues including the Southbank Centre, the British Library, the British Museum, the V&A, Kings Place, Tate Britain and Kings Place. We have also performed at diverse venues such as The Jazz Cafe, Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London; and in the heart of Westminster, both on the stage at the National Holocaust Memorial Ceremony, and on the pavement, protesting outside the House of Commons. Overseas, we have performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Queer Arts Festival in Antwerp and the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome. We have developed a particularly fruitful relationship with Shakespeare’s Globe, having given four concerts in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, appearing in the play After Edward and as well as appearing twice with Sandi Toksvig in The (Snow) Globe, both on stage in 2020 and as a virtual choir in the pandemic in 2021.
Past EventsIn our first eight years, some of our highlights have been performing at the Shakespeare's Globe, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, at the Royal Festival Hall, Kings Place, Middle Temple Hall, British Museum, Colourscape, and on BBC2’s Newsnight.
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Musical DirectorThe Fourth Choir is currently taking applications for the role of
Musical Director for the end of 2021. We are also excited to be working with Guest Musical Directors Esther Jones, Nicholas Chalmers, and Hilary Campbell for our 2021 concerts. |
The TeamIn addition to our 2021 Musical Director line up, we have an experienced team of people running the choir including Trustees who are choir members with backgrounds in event direction, marketing, design, and finance, and collaborators such as Vocal Coaches, Composers and Project-based Conductors.
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Recent Recordings on iTunes and Spotify
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Appearances, venues, clients and partners
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London's most exciting choirAt just over six years old, the choir is going from strength to strength. We have performed in some of the city’s top cultural venues, including Hall One at King’s Place, the Royal Festival Hall, the British Museum, St Peter’s Eaton Square and the stunning Two Temple Place. This year the choir performed overseas for the first time, singing in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw as part of EuroPride’s choir festival and, one week later, staging a re-run of our Spring Shakespeare celebration in Antwerp’s Queer Arts festival.
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Our charitable aims
In addition to our own charitable aims, we are proud to support other causes in our music making. We celebrated the legalisation of same-sex marriages in the UK, appearing on Newsnight and singing at an event in 2014 where Sandi and Debbie Toksvig renewed their vows in front of an audience of thousands. In 2015 we donated proceeds from our Spring concert, raising over two and a half thousand pounds for local migrant support centres.
The choir welcomes experienced singers of all backgrounds and identities. While our members are not all LGBT, we assume that anyone who works with us celebrates diversity and equal rights. To register your interest in singing with us, visit the Join Us page.
The choir welcomes experienced singers of all backgrounds and identities. While our members are not all LGBT, we assume that anyone who works with us celebrates diversity and equal rights. To register your interest in singing with us, visit the Join Us page.
What's in the name?
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Hildegard of Bingen and other medieval mystics believed that the nine orders of angels were arranged into three choirs around the throne of God. But Hildegard had a fourth choir on earth - the nuns who sang her difficult compositions.
The Fourth Choir is named in honour of the anonymous singers of “fourth choirs” of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance who first sang the masterpieces of choral music and who used their voices to recreate the sounds of heaven here on earth. |
