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As part of the national massed youth chorus – BBC Proms Youth Choir – singers from the university will return to the BBC Proms this summer to perform in the world’s largest music festival at the Royal Albert Hall.

University of Birmingham Voices are one of the foremost choral ensembles in Birmingham and are led by Professor Simon Halsey, Director of Choral Activities, and Julian Wilkins, University Chorus Director. Invited to return to the massed ensemble for a fifth year, their fellow singers this year will be the BBC Proms Youth Choir Academy and the University of Aberdeen Chamber Choir. Together they will be led by the internationally-renowned Donald Runnicles and will perform a new work, commissioned by the BBC Proms, by Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds. The concert will culminate in a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (‘Choral’) with the World Orchestra for Peace.

The event is taking place on Saturday 21 July 2018 at the Royal Albert Hall at 19:30 and will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Further information is available on the BBC Proms website.

UoB Voices remain in high demand nationally and at home in Birmingham, with recent highlights including a performance of John Adams’s Harmonium for the opening concert of the BBC Proms 2017, as well as a critically acclaimed performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Yeomen of the Guard with John Wilson and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. They will also work with the CBSO in their 2018/19 season.

Choirs are an integral part of University Music in Birmingham, and offer unrivalled opportunities for young singers at any university in the UK. For more information, or if you would like to find out more about choirs at University of Birmingham, please contact Gavin Allsop.