Let the Peoples Sing

The competition was first organised by BBC Radio in 1957, originally as a national contest for amateur British choirs under the title Let the People Sing, and ran until 1982 as a weekly series each year.[1] The final round of the first competition was broadcast in the Light Programme on 23 April 1957 and was followed four days later by a special concert relayed from the Royal Albert Hall.[2] In the two subsequent years (1958–59) the final concert was held at the Royal Festival Hall.[3][4] The contest also led to new choral works being commissioned.

In 1965 the annual competition became an international one, with participation extended to include choirs from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.[5] It was further extended in the 1970s with entrants also coming from other countries with radio networks belonging to the EBU, each of the networks organising the national qualifying rounds leading to the international finals. Broadcasters submitted tapes of the choirs which they entered, and these were then listened to and evaluated by the professional jury who decided the winners in each category. There was no broadcast of the entire competition at this time. In 1993, the Euroradio-networked choral competition moved to a biennial schedule,[6] held in the autumn of odd-numbered years.

After the 1982 competition, the BBC ceased broadcasting the national selection and international heats, and for a number of years aired only the final round. The BBC had hosted the international finals since its inception. From 1983, German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk (as part of the national consortium ARD) and Finnish Yle took over the organisation on an alternating basis in Cologne and Helsinki respectively.[7][8] The 1991 competition finals were held in Finland.[9] In 1995, at the initiative of Danish Radio, it was decided that while recordings would continue to be used for the preliminary rounds, however the finals should be hosted as a live radio event. These were broadcast via the Union's Euroradio satellite network, with the choirs performing in their home cities to listeners across Europe and to the jury. Since 2001, the finalists have been invited to perform at a concert by the host broadcaster. The competition has become more or less a festival with many more concerts and a supporting workshop program.

In 1984, BBC Two broadcast a new national competition in association with Sainsbury's supermarket; Choir of the Year ran every two years until 2002,[10] however after Sainsbury's sponsorship ended that year,[11] it was taken over by BBC Radio 3 (supported by Arts Council England and Sing Up) in 2005[12] where it continued until 2016.[13] BBC Four aired highlights of the final.[14] The winning choir often proceeded to represent the UK at the international Let the Peoples Sing competition.

Since the late 1990s, Radio 3's broadcast of Let the Peoples Sing has moved away from the main evening concert (except when hosting), towards coverage in specific choral programmes such as Performance on 3 (1999, 2003), Choirworks (2001–03), Choir and Organ (2007–2011), The Choir (2009, 2013–15) and since 2017, Through the Night.[15] BBC Radio 3 hosted the 2001 and 2003 competitions live from the Queen Elizabeth Hall, in London and the 2011 edition at MediaCityUK in Salford.

In 2019, the competition took place in Spain for the first time and was hosted by Catalunya Ràdio, at the 2,049-seat Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona on 13 October. The previous competition, hosted by Finnish broadcaster Yle, took place at the Helsinki Music Centre on 15 October 2017.[16] German radio station BR-Klassik hosted the 2015 edition in Munich at the Funkhaus studios.[17] Luxembourg’s Philharmonic Hall was the host venue in 2013.[18]

The competition has three categories, with a winner selected in each category in addition to the overall winner of the Silver Rose Bowl.

• Children and Youth (no members over age 25)
• Adult (any age)
• Open, for choruses who perform music of particular cultural traditions or styles (e.g. folksong, gospel, barbershop, jazz, traditional music, etc.)

• Official website