Our History
The Beginning
The London Concert Chorus began when Georg Tormann, a young professional singer, pianist, singing coach, and Brit School teacher was asked to put together a choir for an event at the Crystal Palace Bowl on August 18, 2001. There was to be a professional orchestra under Richard Balcombe, the well-known conductor and orchestrator. The theme was “Magic of the Musicals.”
Georg had (and still has) many connections with choirs and operatic societies in South East London through performing with them and acting as musical director for many of their shows. He had no problems with recruiting a large and willing ensemble.
The Crystal Palace concert was a musical success, though the audience got a soaking as the heavens opened. The orchestra and singers were under cover.
This event was followed by a Barbican Concert, where the choir provided support to Ruthie Henshall, the West End star, in more songs from the shows.
How we evolved
As a result of these early successes, the choir came to the notice of the Raymond Gubbay organisation, which hires major London venues in December each year to put on a series of seasonal concerts.
The choir was asked to take part in the Christmas Carol Singalongs led by maestro Jonathan Cohen. We took over from the Crouch End Chorus from 2003.
This new engagement meant a big learning curve, with a repertoire of nearly 30 Christmas songs and carols to master. There was a lot of note bashing led by Georg at the Methodist Church in Beckenham. That repertoire has continued to be used, with additions, ever since. Movement has been added to some of the numbers.
The highlight of the Christmas season was the Albert Hall concerts, which for us could mean up to five singalongs in the weeks leading up to the happy day.
There was always a leading female vocalist. In the early years it was Sophie-Louise Dann. Later it was Alison Jiear. Later still it became Lousie Dearman.
There were also BT concerts at the Albert Hall, where the choir was asked to take part. There we were joined by the likes of Tim Hower, Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet and Alexandra Burke. The compere was Chris Hollins, with his corny Christmas cracker jokes.
As well as the Albert Hall concerts, annual trips were made for Jonathan Cohen Singalongs at the iconic Symphony Hall in Birmingham and one-offs in Bristol and Brighton.
The Albert Hall events came to an end in 2018 after a new managing director took over there and they decided to stage their own concerts.
The Singalongs decamped variously to Central Hall, Westminster, the Festival Hall and the Barbican, with the annual trips to Birmingham remaining.
The Birmingham event came to an end after 2024 and for the time being the London singalongs have been only at the Barbican.
Alongside the London Christmas events, there have been annual concerts at Petts Wood United Reform Church, raising money for the Mind Charity, with which the choir has strong connections.
Also at Christmas, the choir has in recent years staged singalongs at the New Wimbledon Theatre with great success.
The name London Concert Chorus is derived from the fact that the Raymond Gubbay singalongs orchestra was called the London Concert Orchestra and we adapted our name to fit.
Under Georg’s guidance the choir became an all-year-round singing group, with many concerts staged locally at such venues as Hayes and Keston village halls, St James the Great Church in Petts Wood and Croham Hurst Golf Club.
At these events, we are able to prove that we are more than just an ensemble of choir singers, as many able soloists are among our number and they are given the chance to shine alongside the choir.
Two notable events were concerts with big bands at Hayes Village Hall and the Library Gardens, Bromley.
Conductor Richard Balcombe featured again in recent years when the choir was asked to take part in concerts in Battersea Park with musical theatre programmes.
In recent years, guest conductors James Moriarty and Clare Caddick have taken over on occasion from Georg to prepare us for concerts.
The Choir Today
The choir now has an appointed committee, with representatives from each voice part.
That committee has, with Georg, been preparing the way for the choir to be an independent entity in which Georg no longer has a financial interest. The independent choir, which is set up as a charity, formally took over in 2026, coinciding with the choir’s 25th anniversary.
Annual subscriptions are no longer paid to Georg, but to the choir.Georg will maintain a musical connection with the choir, acting as guest conductor as and when possible.
The Jonathan Cohen Singalongs continue, with guest musical directors supervising preparations, along with a year-wide programme of local events.
