The Really Big Chorus

The Really Big Chorus (TRBC) is Britain's largest choral society, made up of singers from hundreds of different choirs all over the UK as well as thousands of individuals. It was founded by Don Monro.

The Really Big Chorus gathers three times a year at the Royal Albert Hall. The flagship event is Messiah from Scratch that attracts over 3,000 singers, and there are also weekends in European cities and leisurely cruises. Any singer can take part and there are no auditions, but singers are expected to learn the music in advance.

The first concert was Messiah from Scratch, performed at the Royal Albert Hall in 1974. The conductor was Gavin Park. In 1979, the fifth anniversary of Messiah from Scratch, Park's research took him on sabbatical to the USA. David Willcocks was approached and agreed to conduct.

Park gracefully deferred and played cello in the orchestra until his early death from cancer. From this point Messiah from Scratch became an event organised primarily for the benefit of choral singers, and the roster of works performed at the Royal Albert Hall grew. By the end of the 1990s, Requiems by Brahms, Mozart, Fauré and Verdi were taking their place alongside performances of Orff's Carmina Burana, Elgar's Dream of Gerontius and Vivaldi's Gloria.

In 1993, following David Willcocks' advice, Don Monro decided to lift the standard of performances even further by employing a professional orchestra. The English Festival Orchestra (founded by Trevor Ford) was already known to Sir David through its work with the Leith Hill Musical Festival of which Sir David was the president.

At a summer event in 1999, The Really Big Chorus gave the first performances of Sing!, a new composition by Sir David, a choral setting of his own words to Widor's Toccata, which was played on the Royal Albert Hall organ by Jane Watts, with additional material for the orchestra. The concert marked Sir David's 50th performance with TRBC.

...
Wikipedia