LONDON YOUTH CHOIR
London Youth Choir is our senior mixed voice choir for young people from across London in school year 11 to age 23. Working across a wide-ranging repertoire encompassing many styles, cultures and languages, London Youth Choir members also receive separate musicianship classes to improve their score-reading, listening and ensemble skills, and enjoy performance opportunities from recording sessions to arena concerts.
London Youth Choir is for young people in school year 11 to age 23 who live anywhere in London.
You don’t need to have any previous experience of singing, or of singing in choirs or groups. And if you do sing already, it doesn’t matter what style you sing in, or what music you like to sing: there’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ singer for a choir, and we sing all sorts of music!
To join London Youth Choir you first need to audition. That might sound scary, but we make a big effort to ensure that the experience is friendly and supportive. We won’t make bad comments or try to catch you out, we want to see and hear you at your best! You’ll need to sing a song to us – in any genre or style, unaccompanied or with an accompaniment or backing track – and we’ll also chat to you about your song and what your musical aspirations are.
To find out all about auditioning, visit the Join LYC page.
As a member of London Youth Choir you will meet every Monday during term-time for rehearsal.
Rehearsals are always from 7.30-8.45pm and are held in central London near St Paul’s. At rehearsals you’ll be offered a broad and exciting programme of repertoire to explore, ranging across styles, musical traditions and languages. Complementing the weekly vocal and musicianship training, London Youth Choir members also benefit from workshop tuition from leading choral experts including Gareth Malone, Suzi Digby, Nigel Short, Paul McCreesh and John Rutter. There are also extended opportunities through London Youth Choir’s associations with Tenebrae and the London Philharmonic Choir.
As with all LYC choirs, you will also get to take part in social activities and make new friends, and new best friends (trust us!)
Other London Youth Choir membership benefits include your LYC t-shirt, all your music for the term, and access to our secure online members zone, MyLYC.
Finance should not be a barrier to participation in LYC.
We offer financial assistance to help with membership fees. You can find out more and apply via our secure online members zone, MyLYC, which we’ll give you access to when you join.
The annual membership fee for all LYC choirs is £300. This can be paid as a single sum or by monthly direct debit (eight payments of £37.50). All the information about how to pay is in our secure online members zone, MyLYC.
There is so much to get out of being a member of London Youth Choir: vocal and musical skills and training, experience of concerts, recordings and music videos, social activities and amazing friendships – but don’t take it from us! Watch this video to hear from LYC members.
ASK AWAY!
If you’ve got any questions about London Youth Choir, we’ve almost certainly got the answers! Drop us an email (Mon-Fri, 9.30am-5.30pm) and we’ll be happy to help.
London Youth Choir - past performance highlights
- Premiering Cecilia McDowall’s new piece, Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo, at Cadogan Hall
- Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony with the London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski;
- ABCD Choral Leaders’ Festival in Birmingham;
- Royal British Legion’s Annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen;
- Premiering a major new choral commission, The Great War Symphony, by Patrick Hawes with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra;
- Britten’s War Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms;
- Haydn’s Creation in the Brandenburg Festival at St Martin-in-the-Fields;
- The Mayor of London’s Carol Service at Southwark Cathedral;
- Performing with Ellie Goulding at Wembley Arena;
- Backing the Rolling Stones at Glastonbury;
- …and many performances at the Royal Albert Hall for their My Great Orchestral Adventure shows.
TORI LONGDON
Conductor (LYC Cambiata Girls, London Youth Choir - Autumn Term only)
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Tori is in demand as a workshop leader and adjudicator around the world, most recently travelling to Australia, Finland, China and the USA. She regularly conducts for BBC Songs of Praise, and judges their competitions including ‘Young Choir Of The Year’ and ‘Young Chorister Of The Year’. She also appeared as a judge on two series of the ‘The Choir’ with Gareth Malone on BBC 2.
Tori is a passionate advocate of music education in all its forms. She has written several articles for ClassicFM’s online magazine, lectured for the Artist Development postgraduate programme at the Royal Academy of Music and interviewed some of Classical music’s most famous names including Marin Alsop, John Rutter, Sir Karl Jenkins, Cecilia McDowall, Sir James MacMillan and Christopher Tin.
RACHEL STAUNTON
Artistic Director
Rachel Staunton co-founded LYC in 2012 with Suzi Digby. Having gained a first-class honours degree in music at Royal Holloway, University of London, Rachel continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with numerous awards and an LRAM in Choral Conducting.
Rachel usually conducts London Youth Choir, LYC Cambiata Girls and LYC South East, but will be taking a break from conducting in the Autumn term, returning in 2024.
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She held the post of Vocal Director for In Harmony Opera North (Classic FM’s Music Education Project of the Year 2014) and spent several years establishing the Opera North Children’s Chorus. Rachel has also worked as a conductor with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain for over a decade.
In 2014, Rachel was made Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, in recognition of her contribution to choral music and work with young people. She is passionate about using choral music to inspire young people from all backgrounds and dedicates her career to this mission.
OUR PARTNER – CITY OF LONDON SCHOOL
London Youth Choir is made possible through the generous in-kind support of City of London School.
