London Symphony Chorus

The London Symphony Chorus (abbreviated to LSC) is one of the major concert choirs of the United Kingdom. The Chorus was formed in 1966 (originally as the LSO Chorus) to complement the work of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), and the full-time membership consists of over 150 amateur singers from all walks of life and is self-managed by a council of nine elected representatives.

Whilst maintaining a close association with the LSO, the London Symphony Chorus has developed an independent life, which allows it to partner other leading orchestras.

Repertoire

At the heart of the Chorus's repertoire are the great nineteenth and twentieth century large scale orchestral choral works including Elgar's "The Dream of Gerontius", Walton's "Belshazzar's Feast", Mahler's Second, Third and Eighth Symphonies, Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloé", Vaughan Williams's "A Sea Symphony", Dvořák's Stabat Mater, Janacek's "Glagolitic Mass", Britten's "War Requiem", Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Berlioz's "La damnation de Faust" and "Roméo et Juliette", Brahms's "A German Requiem", Rossini's Stabat Mater and Verdi's Requiem.

Discography and awards

The [http://www.lsc.org.uk/index.php?thisSection=4|London Symphony Chorus's discography] of over 90 recordings includes Britten's "War Requiem" with the LSO conducted by Richard Hickox, which received the Grand Prix du Disque and the 1992 Gramophone Magazine's 'Best Music Recording' award. The recording of Bernstein's "Candide", with the LSO and the composer conducting, received a Grammy award as did the recording of "Peter Grimes" made with the LSO and Richard Hickox in 1997. In 2006 the LSC's recording of Verdi's "Falstaff", with the London Symphony Orchestra, won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording at the Grammy Awards of 2006, and in 2007, Sibelius's "Kullervo" with the LSO conducted by Sir Colin Davis won the Choral Award at the BBC Music Magazine Awards.

Filmography

The London Symphony Chorus has joined John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra in the making of the "Star Wars" series and other Steven Spielberg/John Williams collaborations. One of the most noteworthy songs they sing from "Star Wars" is the "Duel of the Fates".

Conductors

The LSC continues to work with many of the leading conductors of this and the last century, and these have included Claudio Abbado, John Adams, Daniel Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Colin Davis, Mark Elder, John Eliot Gardiner, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Charles Mackerras, Kent Nagano, Antonio Pappano, André Previn, Simon Rattle, Mstislav Rostropovich, Georg Solti and Michael Tilson Thomas.

External links

* [http://www.lsc.org.uk/ London Symphony Chorus website]