Musical history

In 1858, Queen Victoria, wearing a splendid mauve silk dress, swept into Leeds Town Hall to declare it open, along with her music-loving husband Albert and two of her daughters, the princesses Alice and Helena. Inside, she knighted the mayor - Sir Peter Fairbairn - and listened to Handel's 'Hallellujah Chorus'.

Leeds would from now on be much more than a grimy town where ready-made clothing was manufactured and where fortunes could be made by a few. The new Town Hall would become a centre for excellence in music which would become internationally known, through a long series of Triennial Musical Festivals.

The first of these began just after the official opening. At its heart was singing, and the already nationally-renowned choral tradition of the West Riding of Yorkshire. A special chorus had to be formed for the Festival.

The majority of the first Festival Chorus came from Leeds. Research and a look at the original programmes tell us that it was normal for each individual singer's town of origin to be printed, so it is easy to find out who came from where. There were plenty of singers from around Halifax and Huddersfield, as well as Leeds.

One of the most celebrated guest soloists to perform with the chorus at that time was Mrs Susan Sunderland, an idolised soprano born in Brighouse and famous in 1858 as 'Yorkshire's Queen of Song'. She sang arias in the climactic 'Messiah' on the Saturday evening, dressed as always in black silk and wearing a coral brooch.

Sir Malcolm Sargent

It was not just 'Messiah', though. The first Festival Chorus took part in a new work called 'The May Queen' written by William Sterndale Bennett, the Festival conductor. It took the audience by storm, and was performed again and again throughout Queen Victoria's reign.

The list of world premieres sung by the Leeds Festival Chorus is long. It includes the oratorio St Ludmila by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak, who came to Leeds to conduct, and who was entranced by the tremendous reception he encountered; 'Caractacus' by Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst's 'Sea Symphony' and William Walton's 'Belshazzar's Feast', which was heard first in Leeds in 1931, conducted by a young Malcolm Sargent.

Leeds Festival Chorus has gone from strength to strength in the intervening years and became completely independent in 1985 under its Conductor and Artistic Adviser, Simon Wright. Commissions for the chorus have included pieces by world-renowned composers like Peter Maxwell-Davies and Dominic Muldowney.

Judith Bingham & Simon Wright

To celebrate its 150th anniversary, Leeds Festival Chorus will be performing a special concert on Saturday 29 November 2008 at Leeds Town Hall which will include the world premiere of a specially-commissioned work by leading composer Judith Bingham. "The Shakespeare Requiem", combines the Latin text of the Requiem with lesser-known lines from Shakespeare woven together to create a developing drama between two characters.

A free CD entitled 'Celebration 2008', containing a selection of recordings made at the Town Hall with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and a commemorative booklet will be given away on the night. You can find out more about the Leeds Festival Chorus and its proud history at the website: