The London Oriana Choir is a choral group comprising around 120 singers, based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. It was formed in 1973 by Leon Lovett, who acted as conductor and musical director. David Drummond became the choir's musical director in 1996, and Dominic Ellis-Peckham began his term as musical director in September 2013. The choir has developed a following through performances at London venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre, Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall at Southbank, St Paul's Cathedral,

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

and St James' Piccadilly. In 2016 the choir launched a five year project 'Five 15' to promote the work of women composers with 15 new commissions from five composers, workshops and recordings. The five commissioned composers-in-residence were Cheryl Frances-Hoad (2016/17), Rebecca Dale (2017/18),

Jessica Curry Jessica Curry (born c. 1973) is an English composer, radio presenter and former co-head of the British video game development studio The Chinese Room. She won a BAFTA award in 2016 for her score for the video game '' Everybody's Gone to the Ra ...

(2018/19), Anna Disley-Simpson (2019-2021), and Hannah Kendall (2021/22). The choir tours regularly and since 2015 has performed in Portugal, Germany, Malta, Poland and Italy.

Notable performances

Under Dominic Ellis-Peckham

* Celebrating the end of the Five 15 women composers initiative in July 2022 with a Women Composers Festival concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, with guest choirs and a number of women composers. * Performing the world premiere of

Eric Whitacre Eric Edward Whitacre (born January2, 1970) is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music. In March2016, he was appointed as Los Angeles Master Chorale's first artist-in-residence at the Walt Disney Concert Hall ...

's piece ''The Perfect Gift'' commissioned by Maggie's charity for a virtual carol concert in December 2020. *Performing with Madonna at the Eurovision Song Contest Final in Tel Aviv in May 2019. The choir supplied the monks' chorus for " Like a Prayer". *Opening the BAFTA Games Awards ceremony in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, with a performance of ''The End of All Things'' by previous Award winner

. *Launching a five year project 'Five 15' to promote the work of women composers in the Sammy Ofer gallery of the

Cutty Sark ''Cutty Sark'' is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period ...

, in Greenwich in July 2016. *''Classic Quadrophenia'', an orchestral and choral version of

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

Quadrophenia ''Quadrophenia'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the two previous being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, Whil ...

album, released on

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

in June 2015 and performed at the Royal Albert Hall in July 2015.

Under David Drummond

* ''Missing God'', a work by composer Sophie Viney commissioned under the Society for the Promotion of New Music's Adopt a Composer programme, and performed at

in 2003 * An invited performance at Mikhail Gorbachev's 80th birthday at the Lebedev residence at Hampton Court Palace near London * Performing with Beth Nielsen Chapman at St Paul's Cathedral for the DVD recording of "If love could say God's name" * Performing with Robert Plant and his

Band of Joy Band of Joy (sometimes known as Robert Plant and the Band of Joy) was an English rock band. Various line-ups of the group performed from 1965 to 1968 and from 1977 to 1983. Robert Plant revived the band's name in 2010 for a concert tour of No ...

at the BBC Electric Proms in 2010, broadcast live on BBC2 (television) and BBC Radio 2 * Performing concerts composed solely of choral music composed by women to celebrate International Women's Day in 2012 and 2013 * Performing with

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

at the Barbra Live concert series in London, UK at

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...

Under Leon Lovett

Leon Lovett directed the choir from its inception until 1996. During this time, the choir regularly performed at the Royal Albert Hall, on BBC television and venues around London.

Recordings

* E-single (2022): 'In the blue' by Anna Disley-Simpson (first release of a piece commissioned under the choir's Five15 initiative). * E-singles (2019): 'In the stillness' by

Sally Beamish Sarah Frances Beamish (born 26 August 1956) is a British composer and violist. Her works include chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. She has also worked in the field of music, theatre, film and television, as well as composing for chi ...

, 'Vespertilians' by Jocelyn Hagen, and 'Laus Trinitati' by Felicia Sandler *"From Babylon to Brazil" (2015) featuring the world premiere recording o
Toby Young
s 'Ave Regina Caelorum' *"The Lady Oriana" (2016) featuring 'O nata lux' by award-winning composer

Kerry Andrew Kerry Andrew (born 5 April 1978) is an English composer, performer and author. She has a PhD in Composition from the University of York and is the winner of four British Composer Awards. Her debut novel, ''Swansong'', was published by Vintage ...

. *"Nativitie", a Christmas album released in 2012. Includes the premiere recording of

Kenneth Leighton Kenneth Leighton (2 October 1929 – 24 August 1988) was a British composer and pianist. His compositions include church and choral music, pieces for piano, organ, cello, oboe and other instruments, chamber music, concertos, ...

's "Nativitie". *

Armstrong Gibbs Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (10 August 1889 – 12 May 1960) was a prolific and versatile English composer. Though best known for his choral music and, in particular, songs, Gibbs also devoted much of his career to the amateur choral and festival mov ...

"Odysseus" recorded with the

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

Walford Davies Sir Henry Walford Davies (6 September 1869 – 11 March 1941) was an English composer, organist, and educator who held the title Master of the King's Music from 1934 until 1941. He served with the Royal Air Force during the First World War, dur ...

"Everyman" recorded with the Kensington Symphony Orchestra and released in 2008 *"Stuff and Nonsense" (1999) featuring

Richard Rodney Bennett Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer of film, TV and concert music, and also a jazz pianist and occasional vocalist. He was based in New York City from 1979 until his death there in 2012.Zachary Woo ...

's 'Nonsense' songs, John Gardner's 'Seven Songs' and George MacIlwham's 'Tam O'Shanter'.

References

External links

* * Musical Director
Dominic Ellis-Peckham
{{Authority control British choirs