Back to the Royal Albert Hall for Messiah, 2021

The Royal Choral Society is delighted to announce that we will be returning to our ‘spiritual home’ the Royal Albert Hall for a performance of Handel’s Messiah on Sunday 30th May at 2.30pm. This will be one of the first concerts to be held at the Hall after a prolonged period in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the concert will be held in accordance with government Covid guidelines. Due to social distancing, the audience numbers are restricted to just 800, and the 120-strong choir will be accompanied by Richard Pearce on the mighty Royal Albert Hall organ, rather than orchestra. The concert will be conducted by the Royal Choral Society’s Music Director Richard Cooke, and a quartet of superb soloists completes the line-up.

This concert is a postponement of the choir’s annual Good Friday performance. Since 1876, the choir has performed Handel’s Messiah on every Good Friday except on four occasions: twice during the Blitz 1940/1 and in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. In 2020 the choir members filmed themselves singing the Hallelujah Chorus from home, and the film launched the #RoyalAlbertHome digital concert series. You can watch it here.

Tickets are on sale now via the Royal Albert Hall website.