Monteverdi Choir

For over 60 years, the Monteverdi Choir has been recognised as one of the greatest and most influential choirs in the world. Through a combination of consummate technique and historically-informed performance practice, the Choir constantly strives to bring fresh perspectives, immediacy and drama to its performances.

The recipient of many awards, the Monteverdi Choir was named ‘Best Choir’ at the 2024 Oper! Awards, with the jury noting that: 'At festivals, on concert tours and in their numerous recordings, this is an ensemble whose quality will always leave the listener speechless.'

Fresh from celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2024, the Choir’s 2025 programme expanded the range of its repertoire and conductor collaborations. This included two concerts at the Edinburgh International Festival: John Tavener’s monumental The Veil of The Temple on the opening night, conducted by Sofi Jeannin, and a programme of Purcell, Bach and Handel, conducted by MCO Choir Director Jonathan Sells, and streamed on Deutsche Grammophon's Stage+ platform.

Other highlights of 2025 included Bach's 1725 cantatas with Masaaki Suzuki, Mozart's Requiem with Pablo Heras-Casado, Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Jakob Lehmann, and the Choir’s first performances of Handel’s Messiah in almost three decades, directed by Christophe Rousset.

On Good Friday 2025, MCO’s own record label, Soli Deo Gloria, released its first new recording since before the global pandemic – an album of Bruckner and Gesualdo motets recorded live in concert in October 2024, conducted by Jonathan Sells. This was followed in September 2025 by an album of Charpentier Christmas music conducted by Christophe Rousset, recorded during a critically-acclaimed European tour in December 2024. The album was recently selected as the benchmark recording of his Messe de Minuit pour Noël by France Musique.

2026 commences with Bach’s St John Passion conducted by Peter Whelan in Barcelona, Budapest and London, and a collaborative tour of Bach's Mass in B minor with Laurence Equilbey and Accentus/Insula Orchestra. In May, Jonathan Sells returns to conduct an immersive production of Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas, directed by Andrew Staples, in the dry dock of Cutty Sark in Greenwich, and on tour at the Bergen International Festival in Norway. In the autumn, Christophe Rousset will conduct Handel’s Theodora on a tour to South America, and in the UK with concerts in London and Oxford, the latter as part of the inaugural season at the new Sohmen Concert Hall in the Schwarzman Centre, Oxford.

Founded in 1964 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir has released over 150 recordings and won numerous prizes. In 2023, the Choir and English Baroque were honoured to perform at the Coronation of HM The King, with The Telegraph proclaiming 'if the Monteverdi Choir isn’t singing when I get to the gates of Heaven, I want my money back.'

“The Monteverdi Choir has dominated the choral scene worldwide for more than 50 years.”

The Guardian

“They are truly one of the finest choirs of their time.”

Bachtrack

We regularly hold auditions for the Monteverdi Choir. If you would like to be considered for the next round of auditions, please email a CV and any relevant recordings to auditions@monteverdi.org.uk with the subject line ‘Monteverdi Choir Audition’.