You’ve got to see it to be it, and in the case of music you could say, albeit less snappily, that you’ve got to hear it to want to play or sing it. From time to time during the joint gathering of the Liverpool Philharmonic Melody Makers group and Children’s Choir that I attended earlier this year, a child would slip discreetly out (with an adult chaperone) for a comfort break. The door to the large rehearsal room would open for a moment and we would hear the teenage sopranos and altos of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir singing through the choral sections of the fifth movement of Mahler’s third symphony, in preparation for a performance with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra a few days later.

It’s just one of the many strengths of the Liverpool Phil (LP) choral programme that Monday night is choir night in overlapping sessions in the same venue – Notre Dame Catholic College in Everton, just north of the city centre – for children and young people aged from around seven to 19. As the younger singers put on their coats and are handed over to their parents after an hour or two of warm-ups, rounds, introductions to music theory and learning a wide range of songs from different genres including music theatre and some newly commissioned pieces, they can be inspired by the sound of their seniors rehearsing an equally diverse range of repertoire, including some of the warhorses of symphonic choral music.

Nurturing local musical talent is a key component of the LP’s activity. The professional symphony orchestra is the oldest in the UK to have a continuous history of regular concert giving, dating back to the formation of a concert society by a group of Liverpool music lovers in 1840 and a formally contracted group of players from 1853. The society included an amateur chorus from the start, though it had a difficult relationship with the orchestra’s first principal conductor, Zurich-born Zeugheer Herrmann. In 1850 simmering discontent erupted into a full-scale row over what the choir claimed was an irregular beat which was impossible to follow, and inconsistent speeds between rehearsals and a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Zeugheer wrote a letter of resignation, but it was not accepted and the row blew over.

The following year, 180 singers took part in Handel’s Messiah, and the choir has been performing alongside the orchestra – and sometimes on its own – ever since. A distinguished roster of past chorus masters culminates in the 38-year tenure from 1985 of Professor Ian Tracey, best known as the organist of Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, who was credited with raising standards and increasing the number of concerts and recordings undertaken by the choir. His successor is Matthew Hamilton, who was appointed in 2023 to the new post of Director of Choirs and Singing. He prepares the adult chorus for orchestral concerts under the baton of the RLPO’s chief conductor Domingo Hindoyan and regular guest conductors, conducts the popular annual Spirit of Christmas concerts and occasional non-orchestral concerts himself. He also has overall responsibility for the children’s and youth choirs … echoing Simon Halsey’s pioneering roles with the City of Birmingham and London Symphony Choruses, and his own with the Hallé choirs in Manchester.

The Liverpool Phil’s extra-curricular opportunities for young people are offered under the banner of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Company (LPYC), which has 10 ensembles and a total membership of around 400 young singers, instrumentalists and music creators. There are four choral groups: Melody Makers, for children in school years 3 and 4 and Children’s Choir for school years 5 and 6, both directed by Ali White; a Youth Training Choir for young people in years 7 and 8 who can read music and have some previous choral experience, which is now recruiting for a September 2025 start; and the flagship Youth Choir for singers aged 14-19, directed by Simon Emery.

While the two younger choral groups are open access, membership of the Youth Training Choir will be by vocal assessment. Vocal tutors and choral mentors will support transition from the Children’s Choir to the more formally auditioned Youth Choir, by helping intermediate singers tackle more difficult repertoire, familiarising them with choral etiquette, and teaching them how to maintain their vocal health, as well as providing performance opportunities. Most importantly, the new choir will support its teenage members through voice change and help them to identify and settle in to their new vocal range.

The Liverpool Philharmonic Choirs rehearsing at The Friary in Everton

The need for enhanced transition between the age groups was one of the issues identified in a recent report on its choral activity commissioned by the LP from arts consultant Baz Chapman. The organisation wanted to develop a five-year singing strategy to ensure that all its choirs would deliver consistently high standards and would be efficiently run, with full and balanced membership and clear progression routes, and that it would inspire and provide opportunities for people across different communities of Liverpool City Region to sing.

A major catalyst for the consultation was the opportunity provided by the Covid pandemic to step back and consider what a choral setup for the coming years might look like. Its main finding was that there was a need to connect up the LP singing offer with a stronger artistic vision across the groups; hence the appointment of Matthew Hamilton. Within the past year he has been joined by Louise Madden as choral manager and Jenny Rust as vocal coach. Together they are addressing many of the other issues raised by the consultation, such as making sure the choirs are promoted fairly alongside the instrumental ensembles in digital communications; supporting members’ vocal technique and health; looking at options for an element of project-based commitment that is easier for singers to accommodate alongside working or caring responsibilities; and ensuring that the LP’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusivity runs through recruitment to all the choirs.

The commitment to diversity can be difficult for a symphonic chorus, as is evident from the FAQs page on the LP website. The answer to ‘Do I need to be able to read music?’ is ‘We’re looking for people from all backgrounds and with different types of choral experience, who have a passion for singing with others, and who want to experience the thrill of singing with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir’, but with the caveat that ‘While we don’t need members to be perfect sight-readers, the pace of music learning means we are looking for singers who are confident reading staff notation’. With that in mind, the musicianship training that is part of the children’s and youth choir activities is clearly an investment in the future, especially given the decline of music education in so many schools.

The adult choir meets in The Friary, a former Roman Catholic church in West Everton which is rented by the LP as a rehearsal and recording venue for all its ensembles. It is the base for In Harmony Liverpool, which provides free music education and instrumental tuition to over 1,500 children across eight settings in Anfield and Everton, two of the city’s most disadvantaged communities, and the performance space in the nave is surrounded by shelves stacked with child-sized instrument cases, as well as by acoustic deflector boards and a collection of Renaissance-style paintings of eminent clerics.

On the night I visited, Jenny Rust not only had a busy schedule of short consultations with individual singers in a separate room, but ran an extended session on vocal technique for the tenors and basses, focused primarily on singing ‘Joshua fit the battle of Jericho’ while walking round the room with beanbags or in some cases vocal scores balanced on their heads, to predictable hilarity. Meanwhile the upper voices rehearsed for the Mahler Three performance with Matthew Hamilton and accompanist Eve Taylor.

The concert a few days later was a special one for the Phil, as it was originally scheduled for March 2020, with the orchestra’s previous chief conductor, Vasily Petrenko, but was one of the first pandemic cancellations in the north west of England. ‘In Domingo Hindoyan’s sure hands, its course was charted with total clarity of direction and no shortage of drama,’ wrote Bachtrack reviewer Rohan Shotton.

‘After their long wait, the women of the Philharmonic Choir and Youth Choir sang with dazzling brightness and total conviction from the first bars. The words “Liebe nur Gott” were some of the most utterly joyful singing one could hope for.’

Mezzo-soprano soloist in the Mahler was Liverpool-born Jennifer Johnston, and it was a particularly special night for her too as her teenage daughter Ruby was singing in the chorus as a member of the Youth Choir.

‘Ruby’s time in the Liverpool Phil Youth Company has been absolutely brilliant,’ Johnston told me afterwards. ‘She’s experienced singing to a capacity audience in Philharmonic Hall, in a range of repertoire from a cappella chamber pieces to a world premiere [Joanna Marsh’s A Plastic Theatre, in a concert performance in March 2024] and a Mahler symphony, witnessed some of the world’s greatest musicians at work, and has participated in workshops with Glyndebourne.

Conductor Domingo Hindoyan and soloist Jennifer Johnston with her daughter Ruby who sang in the chorus

‘We’re very lucky in Liverpool to have such a secure pathway within which talented musicians can develop their skills and experience, and I feel fortunate that it’s given her a window into my professional world.’

I also heard the full chorus under Hamilton’s direction getting to grips with Old Church Slavonic for their forthcoming performance of Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, which would be conducted by Dinis Sousa. This turned out to be a ‘wild ride’, according to local critic Catherine Jones, in which the choir produced ‘a wall of sound of Biblical proportions’.

Having travelled by train, plane, bus and on his bike from his home in the Scottish Highlands to attend, Baz Chapman was rewarded by what he described on Facebook as a ‘MAGNIFICENT Glagolitic Mass’.

‘I’ve always loved RLPO,’ he wrote, ‘but it was particularly great to spend time with, and then hear the RLP Choir on such sparkling form under the direction of Matthew Hamilton. They are going places for sure.’

liverpoolphil.com

The performance of Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass was recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 9 June, and will be available for 30 days thereafter on BBC Sounds. The Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir celebrates its 30th birthday with a concert in Philharmonic Hall on Sunday 6 July at 6.30 pm, as part of the fortnight-long Youth Company Festival 2025

Clare Stevens works as a writer, editor and publicist in the Welsh Marches

This feature originally appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of Choir & Organ – Subscribe today