Shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Inspiration Award in 2024, the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus is South Yorkshire’s foremost large mixed-voice chorus, performing a range of works to a high level of musical excellence. We regularly sing with leading orchestras including the Hallé, the BBC Philharmonic, the Royal Northern Sinfonia and the Manchester Camerata, and with internationally renowned conductors such as Gianandrea Noseda, Nicholas Kraemer, David Hill, Gábor Takács-Nagy and Sofi Jeannin. We perform with Orchestra in Residence the Hallé and acclaimed soloists as part of the Sheffield International Concert Season at the City Hall in Sheffield, and at other venues around the UK. We frequently collaborate with other large choirs such as the Halle Chorus, the Leeds Philharmonic Chorus, Leeds Festival Chorus, and the Halifax Choral Society. In 2023 members of the Chorus sang Mahler’s Symphony Number 2 with the City of Birmingham Symphony and Chorus in Monte Carlo in the presence of Mahler’s grand-daughter and the King of Monaco. In the same year the Chorus launched the Stella Jockel Young Composer Competition to support local composers starting out in their musical careers; this and other outreach work led to the nomination for a Royal philharmonic Society’s Inspiration Award, widely considered to be the BAFTAs of the classical music world.. Find out about our recent exploits in the News section here.
The Chorus was founded in 1935 as the resident choir for the new Philharmonic Society’s series of concerts in Sheffield City Hall. It was formed from two Sheffield choirs whose origins date back to the 1860s. After the Second World War the Chorus became closely associated with John Barbirolli and the Hallé Orchestra, with whom the Chorus sang in many other cities to great acclaim. Read more about our history here.
The Chorus is a registered charity which appoints a group of Trustees to plan what the Chorus does. The purpose of the Chorus is ‘to advance the education of the general public in choral music by the regular performance of such music from the widest possible repertoire and such means as the Committee think fit’.
The Chorus is a proud member of Classical Sheffield, a local charity which acts as an umbrella organisation for classical music-making in Sheffield, and Making Music, a national charity which supports music-making individuals and organisations.
