The BBC Singers – the award-winning, professional choir of Britain’s public broadcaster – will be hosted by the College Chapel on King’s College London’s Strand campus from mid-June for rehearsals and recording sessions.
The agreement will see the BBC Singers use the Chapel as a temporary site for rehearsals and recording sessions as the group move permanently from Maida Vale Studios into new premises at East Bank on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The College Chapel will continue to be shared with both the Chaplaincy and the Choir of King’s College London.
Established in 1924, the BBC Singers remains the only full-time, professional British choir and features in live concerts and major festivals across the country. The ensemble is expected to use the Chapel to produce music for BBC Radio 3, as well as in preparation for the annual BBC Proms – an eight-week summer season of orchestral classical music concerts – at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Jonathan Manners, Director of the BBC Singers, described the Chapel as an “ideal space” for the group, adding that the BBC Singers “look forward to working with students and staff at KCL on a variety of projects whilst we are based within the university”.
Speaking to Roar, second-year choral scholar Dexter Dédalo said that “having the BBC Singers share our chapel is an unbelievable privilege. Getting to observe and collaborate with one of the world’s premier choirs is an incredibly exciting prospect.”
“In my view, it is yet another symbol of KCL’s improving position in the music industry. The scholars all appreciate the efforts of our director, Dr Ford [sic].”
Dexter Dédalo, second-year choral student at King’s
The College Chapel is a Grade I listed chapel situated in the founding building of KCL, the King’s Building on the Strand campus, and is renowned for its acoustics and stunning Renaissance Revival architecture.
Though originally built in 1831, the Chapel was redesigned in its current style in 1864 by Sir George Gilbert Scott – the acclaimed Victorian architect responsible for the Albert Memorial, St Pancras Station and the University of Glasgow.
The Chapel is also home to the Choir of King’s College London, a group of around thirty choral scholars who provide music for worship. The Choir sings in the weekly Eucharist and Evensong services on campus, and frequently performs outside the university at Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
As part of the partnership, there will be “future collaboration opportunities” between the BBC Singers and the Chapel Choir, with the new relationship expected to “strengthen creative partnerships and broaden the ensemble’s musical reach”, according to King’s.
Director of the Chapel Choir Dr Joseph Fort said that the move is “an extraordinary privilege” for the university as the presence of “one of the world’s greatest choirs” serves as “an inspiration for us all, students and staff”, adding that it will bring “unparalleled” opportunities to “King’s students in the Choir, the Music Department and beyond”.
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