Founded in 1983 as a single choir of 100 of the best singers in the nation, the National Youth Choir is now the flagship ensemble of an Arts Council England National Portfolio youth music organisation and registered charity, the National Youth Choir of Great Britain (NYCGB), which runs five membership choirs, a nationwide outreach programme for schools and Music Hubs, and provides professional training for the next generation of choral singers, composers and leaders.

Members of the National Youth Choir meet four times a year for an Annual Programme of training and performance projects, including performances at the Royal Albert Hall and Snape Maltings, recordings and premieres of new music by leading contemporary composers and workshops and residencies with a guest faculty of distinguished practitioners from a wide range of musical disciplines. The choir’s section leaders hold NYCGB Fellowships and receive a standalone programme of training and development to prepare them for professional musicianship as performers, leaders and teachers. Members are aged 18-25, and re-audition annually.

The National Youth Choir’s concert schedule offers members an outstanding performance platform on which to achieve at the highest level. Recent highlights include appearances at the 2018 and 2019 BBC Proms and Snape Proms, and the Amiens World War One commemoration in the presence of HRH The Duke of Cambridge and over 3,000 international guests. The choir also performed at the Classic FM Live première of Patrick Hawes’ Great War Symphony, as well as recording the chart-topping Classical album.

For many, National Youth Choir membership inspires a lifetime commitment to music and music education. NYCGB alumni include Royal Opera House and English National Opera company principals, members of The Sixteen, The Monteverdi Choir, The King’s Singers, The Swingles, The Choirboys, G4, Blake, and All Angels, as well as conductors, classroom teachers, Music Hub professionals, and musical charity workers. Just as importantly, many more stay engaged with the UK’s vibrant and diverse choral culture on an amateur basis, creating and participating in choirs and festivals, working as ambassadors for singing and music-making, and transmitting the joy of singing to the next generation.