The Joyful Company of Singers is one of Britain’s leading amateur chamber choirs – committed to performing a wide and challenging repertoire of choral works from the 16th to 21st centuries.
Formed in 1988 by conductor Peter Broadbent MBE, the choir first came to prominence when it won the Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year competition in 1990 before going on to win an impressive list of national and international competitions.
Concert performances include most of the leading UK festivals and regular concert tours in Europe, broadcasting in many countries as well as on BBC and Classic FM.
A discography of over 25 CDs includes the Rachmaninov All-night Vigil on Nimbus – “beautifully characterized and shaped by Peter Broadbent” (International Record Review).
In the past decade the JCS instituted a Youth Fund to encourage the development of young conductors and composers. A composition competition in 2014 was won by young Australian composer Chris Williams, and in 2016 the JCS along with the Bristol choir ‘Exultate’ and the Strathclyde University Chamber Choir commissioned a major work from Toby Young. Our provision of a Junior Fellowship has previously enabled five young conductors to work with the choir: Christopher Hann, Helen Smee, Patrick Barrett, Louisa Denby, and most recently, Olivia Tait. As a further step in our support to the rising generation of choral musicians, in 2022 we gave the world première of our first commission to Zoe Dixon, our first Composer-in-Association.
The JCS is assisted by our President Roxanna Panufnik and Vice-Presidents Lord Berkeley of Knighton, Judith Bingham OBE, John Casken, Stephen Connock MBE, Dame Laura Cox DBE, Brian Kay, Cecilia McDowall, Sir John Rutter CBE, Giles Swayne and Gabriel Woolf, who bring with them a wealth of experience from the choral and classical music world at large.
Peter Broadbent MBE is the founder conductor of Joyful Company of Singers and one of Britain’s leading choral conductors. He has conducted the London Mozart Players, Divertimenti Chamber Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Southern Sinfonia, the Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra, Apollo Voices and the BBC Singers, broadcasting frequently on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. Engagements outside the UK include concerts with the Debrecen Philharmonic Orchestra & Kodály Chorus in Hungary, a broadcast with the National Chamber Choir in Dublin and a European tour with the World Youth Choir in 2006. He gives workshops and master classes throughout Europe, and was the first Director of Training for the Association of British Choral Directors. In 2007 he was presented with the Pro Cultura Hungarica Award by the Hungarian Ministry of Culture for his services to Anglo-Hungarian musical relations, and in early 2016 was presented with the Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit.
Peter Broadbent was awarded his MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the New Year’s Honours List 2022 for services to music.
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JCS is a member of Making Music (formerly the National Federation of Music Societies) which represents UK leisure-time music groups of all musical genres, levels and experience.
The Joyful Company of Singers is a registered charity (reg. no. 1057257) and is managed by a Board of Trustees that can comprise both singers and non-singers with a wide variety of professional backgrounds.
Registered as a Company limited by guarantee in England & Wales No. 03219012
Registered office 56 Richmond Park Road, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, KT2 6AJ