We’re ambitious and enthusiastic about what we can achieve together in the next ten years, building towards our Centenary

GCU Tenor and Bass Choral Scholarships

Join us if you have a passion to perform, a good voice and reasonable sight reading. We’re auditioning now!

To try us out: come along to one of our rehearsals on Wednesdays at 6.30pm in Queen’s Gate House, Kensington. If you fill out the form below, we will be ready to welcome you.

Click here for details of our next concerts.

We rehearse at Queen's Gate House (formerly Baden-Powell House), 65-67 Queen's Gate, Kensington, London SW7 5JS, every Wednesday.

Please register your interest by completing this form.

What’s planned for the next few months?

We have an exciting season planned for 2026/27, so join us and sing at wonderful Central London venues, including Cadogan Hall and Smith Square Hall. Visit our Events page for full details.

Goldsmiths Choral Union is a high-quality choir that is still small enough to feel welcoming and inclusive. We’re looking for singers with good voices and reasonable sight reading, who would relish the opportunity to perform wonderful music with top orchestras in fantastic venues.

We’re welcoming new singers in all voice parts so give us a try and see if we might be the choir for you. Being part of Goldsmiths is a great way to continue your passion for music after you leave college or university, and an opportunity to meet like-minded people from across London.

If you’d like to come to a trial rehearsal, please complete and send the form above.

Membership FAQs

  • GCU give at least four concerts at major venues in London each year, some promoted by the Raymond Gubbay organisation and some GCU’s own promotions. We all enjoy the excitement of singing with professional soloists and musicians at the Royal Festival Hall, the Cadogan Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.

    We sing a wide repertoire of music, including baroque as well as more modern composers.

    Our main rehearsal venue is conveniently situated near the Natural History Museum within 5 minutes walk from South Kensington and Gloucester Road tube stations.

    Whether you’re a confident singer, new to regular choral work or haven’t sung in a choir for some years, you’ll be part of one of the most exciting periods in Goldsmiths’ history, without losing any of the friendly feel of an amateur choir. You’ll be supported and developed throughout.

  • GCU performs quite regularly at the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Cadogan Hall. Other recent venues have included the Barbican, St. John’s, Smith Square, the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Waterloo and Holy Trinity Church Sloane Square.

  • Join our Wednesday night rehearsals for free so you can try us out. We can give support and guidance before auditions, should you choose to go ahead. You’ll be among friends, so if you’d like to come along or find out more, just fill in the contact form above.

  • Following a few rehearsals, once you are comfortable that you enjoy the choir, you’ll take a straightforward audition which consists of a series of simple scales to assess your voice part, a song you know well and feel comfortable singing accompanied by the piano and a basic test of sight singing. All members of GCU are re-auditioned every three years.

  • The annual membership subscription for 2025/26 is £300 for those aged 35 and over; £150 for those aged under 35 who are not full-time students; £75 for those under 35 who are full-time students, and also for those in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, Universal Credit or Pension Credit. The subscription must be paid in one lump sum or in 8 monthly instalments by bank standing order. For further details, email the Membership Secretary at membership@goldsmithschoral.org.uk .

  • We rehearse in the Assembly Room at Queen's Gate House (formerly Baden-Powell House), 65-67 Queen’s Gate, South Kensington, London SW7 5JS (nearest underground stations: Gloucester Road and South Kensington). Rehearsals take place on Wednesday evenings during term time between 6.30 and 9.00 pm.

  • Members are expected to attend every rehearsal, but realistically occasional absences through illness or pressing work or family commitments are unavoidable. However, members must attend 75% of rehearsals to be assured of singing in a concert. The Music Director can waive this rule if the circumstances merit it. Final piano and orchestral rehearsals are compulsory. If you cannot attend one you must notify the concert managers as soon as possible.

    Occasionally extra rehearsals may be called on days other than Wednesday, especially when the concert is scheduled to take place on a Wednesday. Very often these are final orchestral rehearsals, which members must attend.

  • There is no minimum number of tickets that an individual is asked to sell, although all choir members are expected to make every effort to sell as many tickets as possible. We also ask our members to publicise concerts by distributing leaflets and encouraging their friends to attend. Tickets for concerts promoted by the choir can be bought at rehearsals in the weeks before the concert. A discount is offered if more than 10 tickets are purchased.

  • Yes, music is available for hire from our librarian ahead of the first rehearsal for each concert, and we keep costs as low as possible.