Latest coronavirus (covid-19) update
Important! For the latest news concerning our restart information
Would you like to sing with us?
Making Music and virtual concerts
Important! For the latest news concerning our restart information
Would you like to sing with us?
Making Music and virtual concerts
We are one of the leading non auditioned choirs in the North West of England. We have an average membership of around 60 singers, ranging from novice to very experienced, and everything in between. The choir had its origins in the Lancaster Grand Theatre, which was built in 1782. The owner and local entrepreneur, Edmund Sharpe, decided the theatre required a choir to enhance it's image, so in 1836 he created the Lancaster and District Musical Society. This eventually became the Choral Society, as it is known today.
More than 175 years later, the Lancaster & District Choral Society (L&DCS) is still going strong and conducted by John Perrin. We perform choral concerts that incorporate an eclectic mixture of classical, sacred and secular music. The smaller summer Chorale, gives a lighter, fresher feel to our repertoire.
More than 175 years later, the Lancaster & District Choral Society (L&DCS) is still going strong and conducted by John Perrin. We perform choral concerts that incorporate an eclectic mixture of classical, sacred and secular music. The smaller summer Chorale, gives a lighter, fresher feel to our repertoire.
There has been a lot of activity happening in the background to try to restart our rehearsals as soon as it's safe.
Read the articles below and follow the links to see how you can have your say to help with this.
Read the articles below and follow the links to see how you can have your say to help with this.

The Lancaster & District Choral Society belong to Making Music, the National Federation of Music Societies which represents and supports amateur choirs, orchestras and music promoters of all kinds throughout the UK.
This is their latest update:
The long-awaited guidance to cover the first three stages of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) ‘road map’ has been announced for the re-opening of the performing arts, has now been published.
DCMS Guidance (The Introduction and how it affects non-professionals is a good starting point)
The stages covered by this guidance are:
This is good news for Making Music’s promoter members, who present professional musicians in concert. As well as being able to live stream from a venue, they may now stage performances outdoors and we are optimistic that, following the pilots currently underway, they may also present indoor concerts from the autumn.
However, the guidance is extremely disappointing for performing groups, such as choral societies, such as ourselves, and others!
To see how it effects LDCS, follow the link to Making Music.
The long-awaited guidance to cover the first three stages of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) ‘road map’ has been announced for the re-opening of the performing arts, has now been published.
DCMS Guidance (The Introduction and how it affects non-professionals is a good starting point)
The stages covered by this guidance are:
- Stage One - Rehearsal and training (no audiences);
- Stage Two - Performances for broadcast and recording purposes;
- Stage Three (which started 11 July) - Performances outdoors with an audience and pilots for indoor performances with a limited socially-distanced audience.
This is good news for Making Music’s promoter members, who present professional musicians in concert. As well as being able to live stream from a venue, they may now stage performances outdoors and we are optimistic that, following the pilots currently underway, they may also present indoor concerts from the autumn.
However, the guidance is extremely disappointing for performing groups, such as choral societies, such as ourselves, and others!
To see how it effects LDCS, follow the link to Making Music.
For the latest news concerning our restart information, please follow the link to Join Us page.
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Would you like to sing with us?
Have you ever thought...? "I would love to have a go at singing that." What's it like... " ...to experience the full range of emotions when singing a great piece of music with full orchestra and professional soloists alongside of you?" Come and join us to find out! Click here for details |
we can - entertain you
Come and hear us sing alongside professional soloists and orchestras at wonderful venues across the Lancaster district, including:
- Lancaster Priory
- Lancaster Town Hall - Ashton Hall
- The Grand Theatre
- Bolton-le-Sands Community Centre
We can - help you stay fit and healthy
We provide a fun, supportive and comfortable environment in which to sing. We encourage you to join us and be part of an exciting group of people. Singing will provide lots of other benefits, including:
More and more of us seem to be taking the musical plunge. Helped by the influence of television choirmaster Gareth Malone and series such as Glee, there are now some 25,000 choirs across the UK.
So, given it makes you feel good and improves your health, why not join us?
Click here for details
- The social aspect, the chance to make new friends and meet others who have an interest in music.
- A real bonding experience. A recent study found that after just one singing class, people felt closer to each other than those taking part in other classes.
- By singing in a group we improve our musical ability and deepen our understanding of music.
- Learning something new helps boost self-esteem and confidence.
More and more of us seem to be taking the musical plunge. Helped by the influence of television choirmaster Gareth Malone and series such as Glee, there are now some 25,000 choirs across the UK.
So, given it makes you feel good and improves your health, why not join us?
Click here for details

The Lancaster & District Choral Society belong to Making Music, the National Federation of Music Societies which represents and supports amateur choirs, orchestras and music promoters of all kinds throughout the UK. With a membership of over 3,700 groups representing around 200,000 music makers across the UK. Their website is at www.makingmusic.org.uk/
Come to our Making Music Virtual Concerts!

Our member groups may not be able to meet in person at the moment, but many have been busy meeting up and making music together online from their homes. Now we are bringing these online performances together and giving them a virtual platform so that audiences can experience and enjoy the wonderful variety of leisure-time music being created all across the UK.
Fortnightly from May until September, we’ll be featuring a selection of music drawn from our membership, from choral societies to gospel choirs, community choirs to symphony orchestras, brass bands to ukulele groups, handbell ringers and more.
Our next concert is on Tuesday 25 August at 7pm.
The concerts are free for anyone to view, and will remain available to watch after each premiere. Just tune in fortnightly on our Youtube channel to watch, and subscribe to make sure that you don’t miss out on future broadcasts!
WATCH ON YOUTUBE
Fortnightly from May until September, we’ll be featuring a selection of music drawn from our membership, from choral societies to gospel choirs, community choirs to symphony orchestras, brass bands to ukulele groups, handbell ringers and more.
Our next concert is on Tuesday 25 August at 7pm.
The concerts are free for anyone to view, and will remain available to watch after each premiere. Just tune in fortnightly on our Youtube channel to watch, and subscribe to make sure that you don’t miss out on future broadcasts!
WATCH ON YOUTUBE