The Really Big Chorus in Trieste: 130 British Singers to Perform on May 21st

by Alessandra Ressa

130 singers from all over the United Kingdom will be in Trieste on May 21^st to perform Mozart’s Requiem K626.

The concert, the first of such proportions to be held in Trieste, will be directed by Brian Kay, and accompanied by the philharmonic orchestra Città di Monfalcone. 

The singers belong to the popular and largest choral society in the UK most appropriately named The Really Big Chorus (TRBC), a massive ensemble that performs at London’s Royal Albert Hall literally in their thousands and at many other international venues several times a year.  

Kay has been director of The Really Big Chorus since 2010. He regularly conducts the major Royal Albert Hall concerts in London. Kay was the original bass in the world-renowned vocal group The King’s Singers, performing over 2,000 concerts worldwide and for 25 years wrote and presented thousands of programs for BBC Radios 2, 3 and 4 and the World Service. For television he presented for fifteen years the much-loved New Year’s Day concert of the Vienna Philharmonic. Kay won twice the Sony Radio Award as ‘Music Presenter of the Year’, including the coveted Gold Award.

Initially scheduled for March 2020 and twice canceled due to the outbreak and persistence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Trieste concert is finally coming up on May 21^st at 8 p.m. at centrally located San Francesco church in via Giulia 70. This particular Franciscan church with its vast hall and large seating capacity is the perfect venue to host such a big group of artists. 

The event is entirely self-supported. The performers will spend five days in town and will be accommodated  close to Trieste’s spectacular waterfront, in the elegant Savoia Excelsior Palace Hotel, while the traditional communal ‘musical feast’ will be held in the Caffè San Marco, habitual haunt of the author James Joyce.

The Really Big Chorus is the ultimate community choir, drawn from other smaller choirs and thousands of individual singers. During performances at the Royal Albert Hall the size of the choir varies from 1,000 to 3,500 strong. Singing members are drawn not only from the UK but also from Europe and North America,  Australia, Japan, the Middle East, South Africa and South America.  

The concert has been organized by Tony Hastings, TRBC director. A keen amateur singer since his early years, Hastings has been involved with choral music all his life, as a performer, publisher, retailer and tour organizer.

“I am very excited to bring The Really Big Chorus to Trieste – said Hastings – it has been very challenging with the pandemic and two years of uncertainties, but we were determined to perform in this beautiful city”.

Access to the concert is free of charge but restricted to seating availability. To comply with Covid-19 regulations, the audience will be required to wear masks throughout the performance.