Past Performances


The Messiah

Wed, 27 Nov 2024
 

Beethoven Missa Solemnis

Wed, 26 Jun 2024
 

A Westminster Christmas

Wed, 6 Dec 2023
 

Rachmaninoff Vespers - Southwark Cathedral, London

Wed, 22 Nov 2023
 

Rachmaninoff Vespers - Coventry Cathedral

Sat, 11 Nov 2023
 

The Messiah

Thu, 29 Jun 2023
 

The Dream of Gerontius

Sat, 29 Apr 2023
 

Dream of Gerontius in Rome full concert recording



A Westminster Christmas

Wed, 7 Dec 2022
 

Vaughan Williams 150th Anniversary Concert

Wed, 29 Jun 2022
 

Durufle Requiem and Sight Adjusts Itself to Darkness

Wed, 6 Apr 2022
 

Durufle Requiem and Sight Adjusts Itself to Darkness

Sun, 3 Apr 2022
 

A Westminster Christmas

Wed, 8 Dec 2021
 

Bach B Minor Mass

Thu, 18 Nov 2021
 

A Westminster Christmas

Wed, 4 Dec 2019
The Choir's traditional Christmas programme of choral works, festive readings and carols performed in private, due to coronavirus restrictions, and filmed for online viewing. 

Elgar - 'The Dream of Gerontius'

Wed, 13 Nov 2019
This performance of "The Dream of Gerontius" took place exactly a month after Cardinal John Henry Newman, the author of the poem set to music by Elgar, was canonised by Pope Francis. It is fitting that Elgar's most famous and beloved choral work was performed in Westminster Cathedral after Newman became the first English saint since the Reformation. It was also where Elgar himself conducted the first London performance. 
The Parliament Choir, was joined by Coventry Cathedral Chorus, Mosaic Chamber Choir, members of St Albans Bach Choir, and Southbank Sinfonia, conducted by Simon Over, the Parliament Choir's Founder-Conductor and Southbank Sinfonia's Music Director.  Soloists: Robert Murray (tenor), Catherine Wyn Rogers (mezzo soprano) and Sir Thomas Allen  (baritone). Sir Thomas Allen, a patron of the Parliament Choir, recently retired from the Royal Opera House after forty years. This was his final perfomance with the Parliament Choir.  

Elgar - 'The Dream of Gerontius'

Sat, 9 Nov 2019
Elgar wrote of 'The Dream of Gerontius' - "This is the best of me". Completed in 1900, this monumental work is perhaps the greatest choral masterpiece of the 20th century.
This performance in Coventry Cathedral featured Coventry Cathedral Chorus with the Parliament Choir and St Albans Bach Chorus, together with the acclaimed Southbank Sinfonia and internationally renowned soloists Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Robert Murray and Thomas Allen.

Haydn - 'Missa Sancti Nicolai'

Wed, 3 Apr 2019
The sparkling music of Haydn in the "Missa Sancti Nicolai", was written as a gesture of thanks to Prince Nikolaus Estehazy for taking the hint dropped in the "Farewell" Symphony. The effervescent "Trumpet Concerto" was composed for his friend Anton Weidinger to play on his ground-breaking keyed trumpet. Both works performed at this concert are full of this composer's characteristic wit and invention. 
The concert also featured the first performance of "A Certain Everlasting Polyphony" by Nicholas O'Neill, the Parliament Choir's Composer in Residence, setting a text by the renowned astronomer Johannes Kepler in which he describes how the music of the universe finds its expression in choral singing. 

A Westminster Christmas

Wed, 5 Dec 2018
Choral works, festive readings and audience carols with the Parliament Choir and Gallus Aeturnus (Slovenian choir in London).

Commemorating the 1918 Armistice: Mozart Mass in C Minor

Wed, 31 Oct 2018
Parliament commemorated the centenary of the Armistice which ended the First World War, with a landmark concert in Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament. The chiors of the UK Parliament and the German Bundestag performed together, joined by singers from the Anghiari Festival Choir. The concert was conducted by Simon Over, and featured Southbank Sinfonia, Parliament Choir Chorus Master and Composer in Residencre Nicholas O'Neill, and soloists Soraya Mafi (Soprano), Alison Rose (Soprano), Gwilym Bowen (Tenor) and Gareth Brynmor John (Baritone).

Anthony Ritchie - 'Gallipoli to the Somme' (London premiere)

Wed, 13 Jun 2018
  • Anthony Ritchie - 'Gallipoli to the Somme' (London première)
  • Vaughan Williams - 'The Lark Ascending'
  • Jessie Montgomery - 'Banner'
  • Vaughan Williams - 'Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis'

Celebrating the unsung heroes of the Great War, Anthony Ritchie's exquisite oratorio resounds with the music of everyday folk, including carols and ballads sung in the trenches. A solo violin abounds, depicting a fabled New Zealand soldier who took his instrument to the frontline.
Music's capacity to cross cultural, political divide was celebrated in the Parliament Choir, comprising peers, MPs and staff of all parties. They were joined by guest singers from New Zealand’s City Choir Dunedin, the acclaimed Southbank Sinfonia which unites outstanding graduate musicians from all over the world, conducted by Simon Over, the Allegri Quartet, Anna Leese (soprano), and Jon Stainsby (baritone). 


Anthony Ritchie - 'Gallipoli to the Somme' (European premiere)

Sat, 2 Jun 2018
  • Anthony Ritchie - 'Gallipoli to the Somme'(European première)
  • Vaughan Williams - 'The Lark Ascending'
  • Augusta Holmès - 'La Nuit et L’Amour'
  • Ravel - 'Le tombeau de Couperin'

Even in the darkest hours, music endures. In the same decade Europe was ravaged by the Great War, Vaughan Williams and Ravel wrote such cloudless masterworks. To find a way forward through such testing times, both composers drew upon earlier musical hallmarks, symbols of what once made mankind good, and would again. A hundred years on, New Zealand composer Anthony Ritchie in turn echoes the evergreen sounds of Vaughan Williams. His powerful oratorio remembers the everyday people who strived to retain hope and dignity as the First World War shattered their humanity.
Music's capacity to cross cultural, political divide is celebrated in the Parliament Choir, comprising peers, MPs and staff of all parties. They were joined for this performnce at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, by guest singers from New Zealand’s City Choir Dunedin, and the acclaimed Southbank Sinfonia which unites outstanding graduate musicians from all over the world, conducted by Simon Over, Annabel Drummond (violin, Anna Leese (soprano), and Jon Stainsby (baritone). 


RAF 100

Wed, 25 Apr 2018
An evening of music at St Clement Danes, the Central Church of the Royal Air Force, performed by the Parliament Choir together with members of the Choir of St Clement Danes, accompanied by Nicholas O’Neill (organ and piano). The repertoire ranged from 'God be in my Head' (Walford Davies, the first composer of the RAF), a commission by Paul Leddington Wright to mark RAF 100, to Walton’s 'Spitfire Prelude' and ‘Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines’.

A Westminster Christmas

Wed, 6 Dec 2017
A programme of choral works, festive readings and audience carols, with the Band of HM Royal Marines, Scotland, Louise Goodwin (percussion) and Nicholas O'Neill, (organ).

Carl Orff - 'Carmina Burana'

Wed, 22 Nov 2017
The Parliament Choir performed 'Carmina Burana' in an arrangement for two pianos and percussion, with soloists Cecilia Osmond (Soprano), Anthony Gregory (Tenor) and Dawid Kimberg (Baritone).

Walton - 'Belshazzar's Feast'

Wed, 17 May 2017
The Parliament Choir, the Bar Choral Society and St. Michael's Singers from Coventry Cathedral joined forces with Southbank Sinfonia to perform Walton's 'Belshazzar's Feast', following Benjamin Grosvenor's performance of Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue'.

A Westminster Christmas

Wed, 7 Dec 2016
The Parliament Choir, accompanied by the Royal Air Force Salon Orchestra, presented a programme of choral works, festive readings and audience carols. The programme included the première of 'This Light of Reason', a new commission by Nicholas O'Neill in memory of Jo Cox, MP.
Click here for Classic FM article and rehearsal video of 'This Light of Reason'
Click here for a Guardian article on the choral work, including the lyrics

A Concert For All Seasons

Tue, 8 Nov 2016
The Parliament Choir performed Durante's 'Magnificat', 'The Human Seasons', a new work by Nicholas O'Neill, and Vivaldi's 'Gloria'. These works were interspersed with Southbank Sinfonia's performance of Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons'.

Poulenc, Gounod, Vaughan Williams, Howells, & O'Neill 'Tu Es Petrus'

Tue, 3 May 2016
The Parliament Choir's concert in the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris juxtaposed music from England and France in a programme to enthral and inspire. Poulenc's exuberant yet profound setting of the 'Gloria' was performed alongside extracts from Gounod's first major work, his 'Messe Solenelle', for the patron saint of music, St. Cecilia. The English side of the Channel was represented by the 'Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus' by Ralph Vaughan Williams, based on native folk tunes and Herbert Howells' coronation anthem 'Behold, O God Our Defender'. The concert also featured a new setting of 'Tu Es Petrus' by the Parliament Choir's Composer-in-Residence, Nicholas O'Neill, drawing on ideas from the composers of Notre Dame more than eight hundred years ago.

Poulenc, Gounod, Vaughan Williams, Howells, & O'Neill 'Tu Es Petrus' (premiere)

Wed, 27 Apr 2016
The Parliament Choir's April concert juxtaposed music from England and France in a programme to enthral and inspire. Poulenc's exuberant yet profound setting of the 'Gloria' was performed alongside Gounod's first major work, his 'Messe Solenelle', for the patron saint of music, St. Cecilia. The English side of the Channel was represented by the 'Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus' by Ralph Vaughan Williams, based on native folk tunes and Herbert Howells' coronation anthem 'Behold, O God Our Defender'. The concert also featured a new setting of 'Tu Es Petrus' by the Parliament Choir's Composer-in-Residence, Nicholas O'Neill, drawing on ideas from the composers of Notre Dame more than eight hundred years ago.

A Westminster Christmas

Wed, 9 Dec 2015
A programme of choral works, festive readings and audience carols.

Long To Reign Over Us

Wed, 25 Nov 2015
In celebration of HM Queen Elizabeth II becoming our longest-reigning monarch, the Parliament Choir presented a feast of Coronation Music, choral and orchestral, in this historic year. Works for orchestra such as Vaughan Williams's arrangement of 'Greensleeves', thought to have been written by Henry VIII, Purcell's 'Trumpet Tune' and Walton's 'Crown Imperial' were presented alongside choral classics 'Zadok the Priest' by Handel, performed at every coronation since that of George II in 1727, and 'I Was Glad' by Parry. The programme included some lesser-known items by Herbert Howells and John Redford, as well as the première of a new setting of 'Te Deum Laudamus' for choir and orchestra by the Parliament Choir's Composer-in-Residence, Nicholas O'Neill. 

Renaissance Rebirth: Monteverdi, Purcell, Vivaldi, O'Neill

Wed, 18 Mar 2015
A sparkling and uplifting repertoire with works by the great composers of the early Baroque: Monteverdi: 'Beatus Vir', Purcell: 'O Come Ye Sons of Art' and Vivaldi: 'Magnificat'. The Choir also commissioned a new work by its Composer-in-Residence, Nicholas O'Neill: 'O God of Earth and Altar', which is in the style of a Restoration verse anthem reimagined for the 21st century.

A Westminster Christmas

Wed, 3 Dec 2014
The Parliament Choir and the London Chamber Brass presented an evening of choral works, festive readings and audience carols.

Verdi - 'Requiem'

Wed, 26 Nov 2014
The Parliament Choir performed this dramatic work in the equally dramatic surroundings of Westminster Cathedral, joined by singers from the Malcolm Sargent Festival Choir, St. Michael's Singers, Coventry, and the Anghiari Festival Choir, and supported by Southbank Sinfonia.

Mendelssohn - 'Lobgesang' (Hymn of Praise)

Wed, 9 Jul 2014

The Choir performed Mendelssohn's 'Lobgesang', with members of the Bundestag Choir in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster. This was a highly successful venture, the two choirs singing to an audience of a thousand.


A Westminster Christmas

Wed, 4 Dec 2013
An evening of choral works, festive readings, and audience carols. The concert was broadcast on Classic FM on 24 December 2013.

Haydn - 'Harmoniemesse' and Poulenc - 'Gloria'

Wed, 20 Nov 2013
The Parliament Choir and Southbank Sinfonia performed two stunning, and very different, masses - Haydn's Harmoiniemesse in B-flat major, and Francis Poulenc's Gloria. Soloists: Mary Bevan, Felicity turner, Benedict Coldstream, and Nigel Cliffe. The concert was broadcast by Classic FM on 21 January 2014

Party Favourites - choruses from opera and the shows

Wed, 15 May 2013
Performance in Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank. 

A Westminster Christmas

Wed, 5 Dec 2012
An evening of festive music, readings, and audience carols. The Parliametn Choir with London Chamber Brass, Broadcast on Classic FM on 24 December 2012

Brahms - 'German Requiem'

Wed, 14 Nov 2012
Brahms' German Requiem for Remembrance Day. The Parliament Choir was delighted to perform this 'message of hope' concert with Saint Michael's Singers and Southbank Sinfonia in Westminster Cathedral on 14 November 2012. 

Brahms - 'German Requiem'

Sat, 10 Nov 2012
Brahms' German Requiem for Remembrance Day. The Parliament Choir was delighted to contribute to this 'message of hope' concert with Saint Michael's Singers and Southbank Sinfonia in Coventry Cathedral on 10 November 2012. The concert was broadcast by Classic FM on 17 December 2012. 

Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 2 'Lobgesang'

Wed, 18 Apr 2012

Distinguished soloists In-Kyung Cha, Sung Eun Seo and Eugene Lee from Korea, Catrin Aur and Rhys Meirion from Wales and the Choir of the National Assembly of Korea united with the Parliament Choir and their partner orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia, in an international celebration of music. This feast of orchestral and choral music included Mendelssohn’s resplendent Song of Praise, Bruch’s Violin Concerto, and O’Neill’s Of All Persons and Estates, the latter written especially for the Parliament Choir by Composer-in-Residence and Chorus Master, Nicholas O’Neill.
(Sadly, a planned performance of this concert in St David's Hall Cardiff, on 21 April 2012 had to be cancelled). 
 


A Westminster Christmas

Wed, 7 Dec 2011
Festive music and readigns and audience carols, including an orchestral version of Nicholas O'Neill's Sweet Was The Song. The concert was broadcast by Classic FM on 24 December 2011

Mozart - 'Coronation Mass' & Vivaldi - 'Magnificat'/'Chi'o mi scordi di te'

Wed, 6 Apr 2011
Performance in Cadogan Hall. 

Jan Jakub Ryba - 'Czech Christmas Mass'

Sat, 18 Dec 2010
A wonderful concert in St Vitus Cathedral in Prague. 

Britten - 'War Requiem'

Wed, 17 Nov 2010
Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem – second performance in Westminster Cathedral, London.

Britten - 'War Requiem'

Sat, 13 Nov 2010
One of the Parliament Choir's biggest challenges to date:  two performances of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem – the first in Coventry Cathedral on 13th November, the eve of the 70th anniversary of the bombing of the Cathedral. The concert was broadcast by Classic FM.

Tenth Anniversary Concert

Wed, 17 Mar 2010
In 2010, its 10th anniversary year, the Parliament Choir performed for the first time within the Palace of Westminster (the official name for the parliament buildings), singing Mozart’s Requiem and O’Neill’s Of All Persons and Estates in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the Palace.

Handel - 'Messiah'

Sat, 21 Nov 2009
A performance at York Minster

Haydn - 'Te Deum', 'Trumpet Concerto', 'Harmoniemesse'

Wed, 1 Apr 2009
Performed in Cadogan Hall.

Carol Concert

Tue, 16 Dec 2008
Carols in the Atrium of Portcullis House at the Houses of Parliament. 

Elgar - 'The Apostles'

Wed, 26 Nov 2008
Performed in Westminster Cathedral.

Opera Gala

Wed, 7 May 2008
Opera favourites at the Cadogan Hall.

Carol concert

Tue, 11 Dec 2007
Carols in the Atrium of Portcullis House ot the Houses of Parliament. 

Ryba - 'Czech Christmas Mass' & Handel - 'Dettingen Te Deum'

Tue, 27 Nov 2007
Performed in Cadogan Hall.

Mozart - 'Requiem' & 'Piano Concerto in A Major'

Wed, 16 May 2007
Performance in Cadogan Hall. 

Carol Concert

Tue, 12 Dec 2006
Christmas music in the Atrium of Portcullis House at the Houses of Parliament. 

Mendelssohn - 'Elijah'

Wed, 6 Dec 2006
Perfromance in Westminster Cathedral. 

Mendelssohn - 'Elijah'

Sat, 18 Nov 2006
Performance in Coventry Cathedral. 

Baroque Programme: Handel - 'Coronation Anthems' & Bach - 'Concerto for Violin and Oboe'

Tue, 9 May 2006
Performed at Cadogan Hall. 

BBC 'Sunday Half Hour Hymns'

Mon, 23 Jan 2006
Conductor - Simon Over, organist - NIcholas O'Neill

Carol concert

Tue, 13 Dec 2005
Carol concert in the Atrium of Portcullis House at the Houses of Parliament.

Vivaldi - Gloria 'Autumn' from the Four Seasons & Bach - 'Magnificat'

Wed, 30 Nov 2005
Performance at the Cadogan Hall.

200th Anniversary of Nelson's Death

Sat, 1 Oct 2005
Concert to mark the the 200th anniversay of Admiral Nelson's death, in the Royal Gallery in the House of Lords. 

Haydn - 'Te Deum', 'Trumpet Concerto', & 'Nelson Mass'

Tue, 8 Mar 2005
Performance in Cadogan Hall.

Carol concert

Mon, 13 Dec 2004
First carol concert in the Atrium of Portcullis House at the Houses of Parliament.

Verdi - 'Requiem'

Tue, 30 Nov 2004
Performance in Westminster Cathedral

Verdi - 'Requiem'

Sat, 13 Nov 2004
Perfromance in Coventry Cathedral.

Brahms - 'Ein Deutsches Requiem'

Mon, 15 Mar 2004
Performance at St John's Smith Square

Rossini - 'Petite Messe Solennelle'

Thu, 6 Nov 2003
Performance at St John's Smith Square.

BBC 'Sunday Half Hour' Hymns

Mon, 30 Jun 2003
Recorded in Chapel of St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster.

Coronation Jubilee Concert

Wed, 18 Jun 2003
Sacred and opera choruses concert in Westminster Abbey (moved from Westminster Hall). 

Vivaldi - 'Gloria', Albinoni - 'Adagio' & Faure - 'Requiem'

Tue, 25 Feb 2003
Performance in St John's Smith Square.

BT Christmas Concert

Wed, 18 Dec 2002
At Royal Albert Hall. 

Handel - 'Messiah'

Wed, 20 Mar 2002
Concert in Central Hall, Westminster.

Bach - 'Christmas Oratorio

Sat, 8 Dec 2001
Performance in Central Hall, Westminster.

Schubert - 'Mass in G', Poulenc - 'Organ Concerto' & Faure -'Requiem'

Wed, 21 Mar 2001
Performance in St Margaret's Church, Westminster.

Inaugural concert: Handel - 'Messiah'

Wed, 6 Dec 2000
The Parliament Choir's inaugural concert in St Margaret's Church, Westminster. 
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