Timeline

1964
The Monteverdi Choir is formed for a performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers in King’s College Chapel, Cambridge
1966
First London concert at Crosby Hall, featuring by Monteverdi, Dowland, Morley, Gibbons, and Berlioz
1967
Monteverdi 400th anniversary concert at the V&A
1968
The creation of the Monteverdi Orchestra for Handel’s Hercules at the V&A Museum
First appearance at the BBC Proms with Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610
1971
First European tour of the Upper Rheinland (Basel, Strasbourg, Überlingen and Freiburg)
1977
First appearance of the English Baroque Soloists for Handel’s Acis and Galatea at the Innsbruck Music Festival
1983
First USA tour to perform at the Britain salutes New York Festival, New York City
1989
Monteverdi Choir 25th anniversary tour of Handel’s Israel in Egypt in the UK, USA, Australia, Japan and Taiwan
1990
First appearance of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique for Brahms' Ein Deutsche Requiem in London and Germany
1991
The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloist’s recording of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis wins Gramophone Best Choral and Record of the Year Awards
1993
The Monteverdi Choir is named Chorus of the Year by the International Classical Music Awards
1994
Monteverdi Choir 30th anniversary celebtration at the Guildhall, London featuring performances of Poulenc and Tavener
1999
The Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique Beethoven symphony cycle, with performances in Vienna, New York and London

2000
The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloist perform all of J.S. Bach’s surviving church cantatas throughout the year on the liturgical feasts for which they were written, marking both the millennium and the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death
2004
The Monteverdi Choir's ‘Santiago Pilgrimage’, performing Spanish polyphony in churches from Averyon to Santiago de Compostela
2005
Soli Deo Gloria's first album ('Bach Cantatas: Volume 1') wins Gramophone Record of the Year
2007
The inaugural Monteverdi Apprentices programme sees eight young singers join the Monteverdi Choir for a year of performances and training
2009
The first cohort of orchestral Monteverdi Apprentices joins the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
2010
Performances in Versailles, Pisa and at the BBC Proms to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610
2013
The Monteverdi Choir takes part in a ‘Bach Marathon’ - a celebration of Bach’s music lasting 9 hours
2014
MCO takes part in a gala performance at Buckingham Palace attended by our patron, HM The King
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique 25th Anniversary tour with concerts in Mexico, London and Budapest
2016 The Monteverdi Choir takes part in a world tour of Bach’s St Matthew Passion, performed from memory
2017
The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists embark on a landmark tour of Monteverdi’s three surviving operas; 50 years after John Eliot Gardiner’s first performance at the V&A Museum, MCO returns to perform extracts of Monteverdi opera
2018
The Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique give a moving performance of Verdi’s Requiem at Westminster Cathedral, in memory of stage manager Richard Fitzgerald
2019
The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists perform two semi-staged operas: Handel’s Semele and Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini
2020
During the pandemic, MCO produces an acclaimed podcast series (John Eliot Gardiner – 'Monteverdi and his Constellation'), as well as releasing a 'Bach Cantata of the Week' series.
2021
MCO announces a new creative partnership with St Martin-in-the-Fields
2022
MCO announces a partnership with the Berlin Philharmonic.
The year culminates in a tour of J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at La Scala in Milan, the Chapelle Royale at Château de Versailles, and at St Martin-in-the-Fields, livestreamed on Deutsche Grammophon’s new online platform STAGE+.
2023
The Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, conducted by Dinis Sousa, performs Berlioz’s Les Troyens on a critically-acclaimed European tour, culminating in a performance at the BBC Proms.
2024
MCO's 60th anniversary season begins with the Monteverdi Choir performing Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Dinis Sousa.