July 13th 2025 was the culmination of more than a year’s preparation for our grand farewell concert for MD Jeremy Backhouse, who retired after 30 years in the job.

Our third capacity concert at the Royal Albert Hall was another musical and financial success – following on from our performances of Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand (No. 8) in 2011 and Verdi’s Requiem in 2014. 

For this spectacular concert, we were joined by Guildford Choral, Twickenham Choral and The London Chorus, with the combined singers of Farnham Youth Choir and Tiffin Choirs providing the youth chorus.

An epic, all-French programme saw us perform Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé 2nd Suite, Poulenc’s Gloria and the Berlioz Te Deum, all with the extraordinary musicians of the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and soloists Lucy Crowe OBE and Nicky Spence OBE. 

It was a thrilling concert, hugely enjoyed by the crowd of nearly 3000 who came along to the Hall – a really fitting way to mark Jeremy’s retirement. And judging by the Royal Albert Hall’s audience survey, they all had a fantastic time!

If you’d like to join a local, ambitious and friendly choir, why not email membership@vivacechorus.org to find out more? Our rehearsals are on Monday evenings in the comfortable surroundings of Guildford Baptist Church on Millmead.