Singing with professional singers and orchestras has been amazing. I have also found the other choir members to be friendly and welcoming and we have been ‘On Tour’ to fascinating countries and venues. The tours have been great for getting to know my fellow choristers. Our chorus masters and accompanists have changed several times over the years and all have been exceptional musicians. I have learnt such a lot without ever having had any formal musical training.

I joined The Phil in 2024, and have already noticed a huge improvement in my singing ability and confidence. I love the wonderful choral sound and the musicality of this choir. Singing is a fantastic way to relax and improve mental health, and Leeds Phil have been so welcoming and encouraging right from day one. The enthusiasm and variation in the music makes every programme interesting and exciting!

I enjoy singing with The Phil because we perform exciting and challenging repertoire in a variety of venues, and we are always looking for new opportunities and musical experiences to try out. We have first-rate chorus masters, especially those who are singers themselves, who have shared with us a wealth of expertise on how we might progress individually and chorally. We are a really friendly and welcoming bunch of singers. It is exciting and a privilege to sing alongside great voices and I love to encourage others for whom singing with a group of our calibre is a relatively new experience.

There is nothing to beat the feeling of singing together with a large group of mixed voices, and I have enjoyed being part of some truly thrilling performances with The Phil. The Phil gives the opportunity to sing a wide range of music, some familiar, and some new and challenging, often with professional orchestras and soloists. Our chorus master is an accomplished singer and encourages and helps us to improve our vocal technique and performance. Choral singing is also great for wellbeing – I find choir a great way to de-stress as when I’m singing there is no room to think of anything else!

I joined the choir 10 years ago. I’d just moved to Leeds and didn’t know anybody, so joining meant I could keep up my love of singing and meet new people. I’ve been lucky enough to make some wonderful friends and sing some incredible music all over the UK. Singing the big classic choral pieces has always been something I’ve wanted to do, but it’s also been great to explore different genres and even build up my confidence to sing into smaller chamber pieces. The music is challenging yet fun, the perfect balance after a day at work!

I have been a member of the chorus for nearly forty years. I started singing at school and then later at college, but when I first joined The Phil, I was worried that I might not be good enough and the idea of an audition filled me with horror. However, one of the great strengths of this choir is that if the small audition panel consider that you have potential, they will work with you and encourage you. The audition panel is very kind and supportive and recognises that people have nerves. Over the time I have been a member I have thoroughly enjoyed singing a wide range of music and, indeed, have often been moved by the performances. I have also made significant friendships as a result of my membership. It is a very friendly and welcoming choir.

I’ve been a member of the Phil for almost 20 years… time flies when you’re having fun! I absolutely love singing with The Phil, it’s a great opportunity to sing with fantastic professional orchestras, choruses and soloists. Massive well-known choral works, quirky modern pieces, world premieres, folk and traditional music, you name it, we’ve done it! I really like the variation. I love that when I’m concentrating on singing, everything else disappears. It’s a brilliant stress buster and it makes you feel amazing! We are a very social bunch, so come and give it a go – we’d love to welcome you.

I joined The Phil a year ago having recently moved to Leeds. I’m so pleased I did. I find it a very warm and welcoming atmosphere. The repertoire is varied, from well-sung classics, to modern and even brand-new pieces. We’re pushed as amateur singers, but rehearsals are always fun and rewarding. We usually cool down with a social beer afterwards! It’s always a pleasure and privilege to perform with a big choir, especially behind a full orchestra! If you’ve done it, you know. If you haven’t, you should!

I have always sung in choirs – schools, church, college and for the past 53 years with the Leeds Philharmonic. My parents sang with The Phil – my mum for 53 years as well, and my daughter joined several years ago. I have made some very good friends over the years over our shared passion for singing, and ‘passion’ in its widest sense is probably what singing means for me – joy, fervour, feelings, emotions, plus challenges, also whatever else may be going on in your life, singing is a totally singular focus and one in which you all come together as one.

I have been singing with the Leeds Philharmonic since 2023 as a bass. I joined because I wanted to sing regularly in a high quality, supportive and friendly environment and I couldn’t have found a better group to do this with. I look forward to Thursday rehearsals as a highlight of my week! I have been involved in a number of performances. As well as our regular concerts at great venues we’ve also taken part in special appearances at the Rob Burrows Marathon and even at the Leeds First Direct Arena for Home Alone in Concert. We tackle a variety of repertoire including some less well known but excellent pieces and I am excited for our upcoming season.

I have been in The Phil for nearly ten years. After about 25 years in a medium-sized, non-auditioned choir, it was a joy to sing again in a choir of a good standard and be able to do the big works such as Verdi’s Requiem and Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony with professional orchestras, as I had as a student. I also like learning works that are new to me, whether that be Elgar’s The Kingdom, Russell Pascoe’s Secular Requiem or the shorter works we have sung in summer concerts.