The modern Festival has need of rather more resources than the Three Cathedral Choirs can offer. The presence of a massed chorus at the festival has a longer history than one might assume, probably dating back to early performances of Handel’s Messiah (first given at Three Choirs in Gloucester in 1757), and the then growing oratorio repertoire by Handel, his contemporaries and successors (Mendelssohn and Haydn in particular). Indeed, the advertisements for the Gloucester Festival of 1850 proudly boasted an “Instrument Band and Chorus” comprising “nearly three hundred performers, selected with care from the Orchestra of the Philharmonic, and from the Choral Societies and Choirs of Exeter Hall, Bristol, Norwich, Windsor, Worcester, Hereford, etc.” Such visiting singers continued to swell the ranks of the Festival Chorus until the late nineteenth century, many of them travelling a circuit of the major music festivals each year. It was only just prior to the turn of the twentieth century that the current state of affairs arose, the membership of the chorus becoming singers from the three cities of Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester.

Under current practice, the amateur auditioning chorus is convened some months prior to the Festival, and is typically made up of half ‘home’ singers, and half ‘away’. They are relied upon significantly more than in days of yore too, as the length of the festival has grown over the years, now spanning 6-8 days. Most choral societies will spend a term learning music for one concert: the Festival chorus has marginally more than that to learn music for up to six concerts. It is an immensely hard-working group, and consistently performs to a very high standard.

To read about life in the chorus over the past fifty years, follow the link to Peter Hillier’s article Fifty years of memories from the Chorus.

For information about how to audition for the Festival Chorus, please contact the Artistic Director of your home festival .