Talk:BBC Singers

Yes this is a very short stub, but this defintiely should not be merged. It is (perhaps somewhat arguably) the only full-time professional choir in the UK, has a long history and performs in many high profile concerts/broadcasts. David Underdown (talk) 09:57, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

"only full-time professional British choir"

A recent edit changed the description "the only full-time professional British choir" by qualifying it with "other than those in cathedrals". Neither version cited a source. I have added a citation to a newspaper article which quotes "Shadow culture minister Barbara Keeley" as having described the BBC Singers in parliament as "the only full-time professional choir in the UK"; accordingly, I removed the qualifier "other than those in cathedrals".

I see some other sources for the proposition that the BBC Singers is the only full-time professional choir in Britain, full stop. However, there are also sources which use qualifying language similar to the previous revision of this article. In particular, their own website describes them as "Britain's only full-time professional chamber choir". An op-ed (alternate source) says, "they are the only full-time, professional, secular choir in the country" (i.e. the UK).

I have not found any source giving any other example of a "full-time professional British choir".

LiberalArtist (talk) 08:08, 11 March 2023 (UTC)

There most definitely are other professional British choirs. For example, Tenebra, The Tallis Scholars, Stile Antico, The Sixteen, Voces8. These all consist of professional singers, although not all have a constant/permanent membership. Most of these would count themselves as being "Chamber choirs", so I think neither of the statements "only full-time professional choir in the UK" and "Britain's only full-time professional chamber choir" are correct.

Neil Hawes 31.53.153.6 (talk) 15:33, 24 March 2023 (UTC)

One further thought: the phrase "full-time" may be intended here to mean that the members of the BBC singers are employed on a full-time salary by the BBC. This probably is unique for a choir in Britain, because I'm pretty sure all the other choirs I mentioned above consist of professional musicians who are employed on some sort of contract basis. Having said that, almost all musicians, including those employed by the BBC, have other part-time paid roles including private teaching, one-off solo roles, workshop/masterclass leading and so on (unless their BBC contract forbids that, which seems unlikely), so the difference is really only a technical one.

I think a further clarification on this phrase is needed though.

Neil Hawes 31.53.153.6 (talk) 18:58, 24 March 2023 (UTC)