BBC Singers: Where you can find us
Barbican Centre
WATCH: BBC Singers Centenary Concert at the Barbican Centre, 2024
23 Jan 2026: Julia Wolfe: unEarth
In the heart of the City of London, the Barbican Centre stands as one of the UK’s architectural treasures, famous for its striking Brutalist structure. Built during the 1960s and 1970s, the performing arts centre is just one part of a visionary urban development that was built over the ruins of an area devastated by heavy bombing during the Second World War.
Today, the Barbican Centre is home to both the BBC Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra, regularly performing to audiences of nearly 2,000 people in its concert hall. The BBC Singers often perform at the Barbican with orchestras in exciting programmes, such as recent performances of Handel’s Messiah with Britten Sinfonia, and Huang Ruo’s opera M. Butterfly and Total Immersion concert days with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
In 2024, the Barbican hosted the BBC Singers’ Centenary Concert, where they were joined by special guests Eric Whitacre, Anna Lapwood and Abel Selacoe.
Milton Court Concert Hall
26 Feb 2026: Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi
10 May 2026: Bach’s B Minor Mass
Also sitting in the Barbican estate is the Milton Court Concert Hall, which is part of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. It opened to the public in 2013, and it’s the largest conservatoire concert hall in London, seating around 600 people.
The BBC Singers presents an annual series of concerts at Milton Court Concert Hall. Recent highlights include Songs from the Shows with the BBC Concert Orchestra for BBC Radio 3’s Friday Night is Music Night, the UK premiere of Sir James MacMillan’s Ordo Virtutum, and A Patchwork Passion with Clive Myrie.
‘Having been a student at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, I love coming back and performing in Milton Court. The wood panelling creates a beautiful warm acoustic and also a feeling of intimacy between audience and performers. Our Songs from the Shows with the BBC Concert Orchestra in this venue have been a real highlight for me!’ – Emma Tring, soprano
Royal Albert Hall
The enormous 5000 capacity Royal Albert Hall is located in South Kensington, at the bottom of Hyde Park.
It was the brainchild of Queen Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert, inspired after the success of 1951’s Great Exhibition. He intended for the hall to be called the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but as Prince Albert died before the work on the building was completed, the hall was named after him in his memory.
Since Queen Victoria opened the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the hall has hosted people from various fields, including meetings held by suffragettes, speeches from Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle and Albert Einstein, exhibition bouts by Muhammad Ali and concerts from some of the world’s biggest performers, including Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, David Bowie and Adele.
The Royal Albert Hall is probably best known as the home of the BBC Proms, an eight-week long classical music festival which has been held there every summer since 1941. It’s also host to hundreds of shows annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, films, sports, award ceremonies, charity performances and banquets.
As well as performing in the First and Last Night of the Proms each year, recent performing highlights for the BBC Singers at the Royal Albert Hall include Proms performing Steve Reich’s The Desert Music, The Traitors Prom, Berio’s Sinfonia, Late Night with Eric Whitacre, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Aurora Orchestra and Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic.
St Martin-in-the-Fields
Nestled in the heart of Westminster, St Martin-in-the-Fields is one of London’s most iconic churches. Located on the corner of Trafalgar Square, it stands proudly opposite the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery.
The earliest recorded mention of a church on the site dates back to 1222, when it was surrounded by open fields. It also appeared in the novels David Copperfield, A Room with a View and George Orwell’s 1984, set in a future Totalitarian regime which has turned the building into a military museum.
The church is a vibrant music venue, hosting live performances nearly every day across a wide range of genres. It’s also deeply committed to social justice, raising funds annually for the vulnerable and homeless through its Christmas Appeal, which is broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
The BBC Singers have a long-standing relationship with St Martin’s, having performed there many times. Recent highlights include a celebration of Herbert Howells’s music with Ed Balls, a special concert for International Women’s Day, and a moving performance of Eric Whitacre’s The Sacred Veil.
St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge
15 Jan 2026: Light and Loss with Alexander Lüken
The BBC Singers have been frequent visitors to St Paul’s, Knightsbridge for many years, a venue where the ensemble give many free concerts throughout the year. It’s a beautiful church of the early Victorian era, founded in 1843 as the first church in London to mark the Anglo-Catholic revival, which saw a return to a more ornate gothic design.
Recent performances include Judith Bingham’s Missa Brevis and David Bednall’s St Mark Passion, and a concert of Renaissance music with the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble at Advent.
‘We have been coming here for a very long time and we have a loyal audience. When you already know your performing space that really, really helps; you feel comfortable as soon as you get here. A church such as this, which has that extra warmth to the acoustic, it makes all the difference.’ - Edward Price, bass.
Temple Church
‘Temple Church is very special. There’s a huge history there, you feel as if you’re broadcasting back to the 12th century sometimes.’ - Ian Skelly, BBC Radio 3 presenter.
The Temple Church sits within the City of London, alongside the River Thames. It was originally the headquarters of the Knights Templar from the 12th to the early 14th century, where it served as King John’s royal treasury and was a key site in the negotiations of the Magna Carta in 1215.
After the Templars were abolished by Edward II, the church was transferred to the Knights Hospitaller, who were later dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540. The church and its gardens appear in Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part I, as the setting for the symbolic plucking of roses that sparked the Wars of the Roses. In more recent times, Temple Church has played a significant role in Dan Brown’s mystery novel The Da Vinci Code.
Most importantly, the Temple Church is a wonderful space for singing with stunning acoustics. Each year, the BBC Singers hold a special celebratory Christmas concert at Temple Church and it’s a great opportunity for the ensemble to reflect on the year.
