Joyful Company of Singers

The Joyful Company of Singers (JCS) is a leading British amateur chamber choir, committed to performing a wide and challenging repertory of choral works from the 16th to the 21st centuries.

Formed in 1988 by the conductor Peter Broadbent, the choir came to prominence when it won the 1990 Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year competition; it went on to win several national and international prizes. It has performed at most of the leading festivals in the UK and regularly tours in Europe, broadcasting abroad as well as for the BBC and Classic FM. It has worked with orchestras including the Britten Sinfonia, City of London Sinfonia, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras.

JCS has gained a reputation for championing under-represented 20th-century choral works, particularly by British composers. Among those who have written music for it are Kerry Andrew, David Bedford, Richard Rodney Bennett, Michael Berkeley, Judith Bingham, Zoe Dixon (the first JCS Composer-in-Association), Jonathan Harvey, Alun Hoddinott, Tarik O’Regan, Roxanna Panufnik, Paul Reade, Giles Swayne, John Tavener and Malcolm Williamson. It has also given first performances of commissioned works by Dmitri Valentinovich Smirnov, Kaija Saariaho and Thierry Pécou.

A policy of encouraging young artists and composers has led not only to commissions but also to providing a Junior Fellowship for Young Conductors to gain experience in singing with and conducting JCS. Recording is an important part of the choir’s activity and its discography extends to over 25 albums. It frequently features previously unrecorded works, including music by Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Williamson, Jonathan Harvey, Havergal Brian and Roxanna Panufnik.