LGBTQ+ choirs and community music groups in London: how to join, and what it asks of you

Why a choir or band, and how to choose one

A rehearsal is the opposite of a crowded bar. You turn up at the same time every week, you sit next to the same people, and you have something to do together that is not making conversation. Over a season that adds up to a lot of time spent in the same room, which is how most friendships, and some relationships, start. This guide treats the groups as community first; nobody joins a chorus to find a date, and the groups do not present themselves that way.

The practical differences between the groups matter more than the labels. Some ask for no audition but have long queues. Some audition and expect you to sight-read. Some are for a particular part of the community, and one is for instrumentalists rather than singers. Before you contact anyone, decide three things: how much reading music you can do, whether you can commit to a fixed weekly evening, and whether you are happy to wait for a place.

Every detail below comes from each group's own website, read on 27 October 2026. Rehearsal venues are often given only as an area, and fees are often confirmed only once you are offered a place, so expect to ask some questions directly.

London Gay Men's Chorus: no audition, but a long queue

The London Gay Men's Chorus describes itself as Europe's largest gay male chorus and says it performs two original shows a year. It is a registered charity, number 1092827. Its homepage says all are welcome to join in song, and it is open about the catch: there is quite a long waiting list.

The joining page sets out the steps. You fill in the contact form asking to go on the prospective singing member list, mentioning any access needs. You are then invited to a Voice Assessment Evening, which the chorus describes as a friendly and informal process, not an audition: a group session run like a rehearsal, and a short one-to-one range check with a music professional to confirm your voice part. After that you wait for a place in your section. The chorus says it typically invites new members once or twice a year, usually in January and August.

The waits are the figure to plan around. From first contact, the chorus estimates about one year for First Tenor, three years for Second Tenor, six years for Baritone and two years for Bass. It confirms sign-ups by hand and says confirmation may take up to two weeks. If you want to be involved sooner, non-singing members, which the chorus calls Semitones, can join straight away.

Rehearsals are on Mondays from 7pm to 10pm in Camden, with one Saturday or Sunday a month from 11am to 5pm at a central London venue that changes, and extra rehearsals in performance weeks. Members pay a subscription, with reduced rates for people on low incomes; the joining page gives no figure, so ask before you commit.

• London Gay Men's Choruschoir

  Rehearses in Camden

  Voice assessment rather than audition; Mondays 7pm to 10pm plus one weekend day a month; estimated waits of about 1 to 6 years by voice part; subscription with reduced rates for low incomes.

The Fourth Choir: auditioned chamber singing

The Fourth Choir calls itself London's LGBTQ+ chamber choir for advanced singers. It says it was founded in September 2013 to give professional and amateur LGBTQ+ singers and allies the chance to sing a cappella choral music. That last word matters: this is unaccompanied ensemble singing, and the choir is clear about the standard it wants.

Its joining page asks for significant singing experience, including in chamber choirs, and sight-reading at around Grade 5 or above, or a willingness to learn music at home. Singers must be over 18, and the choir says members of all ages over 18, backgrounds and identities are welcome. The audition is a short unaccompanied solo, vocal exercises and a short sight-reading test, and the page asks you not to prepare a musical theatre or pop song. When we read it, the choir was recruiting sopranos and lower basses.

Rehearsals run from 7pm to 9.30pm on Thursday evenings, in Lambeth; the page names the area, not the building. The autumn term started on 3 September 2026. There is no fixed membership fee: the choir is funded by member donations, all of them voluntary, and it says grants may be available for costs such as touring.

• The Fourth Choirchamber choir

  Rehearses in Lambeth

  Founded September 2013; over-18s; audition with an unaccompanied solo, exercises and sight-reading; Thursdays 7pm to 9.30pm; voluntary donations, no fixed fee.

Mixed-voice and trans choirs

Diversity Choir describes itself as London's LGBT+ choir of mixed voices. Posts on its site refer to a 50-strong ensemble, a new Musical Director, Richard Decker, and a previous director who led the choir for ten years. The site says the choir sings every week, but its homepage gives no rehearsal day, venue, audition policy or fee, so we cannot tell you what joining involves. Its contact page is the route to ask.

London Trans Choir calls itself London's first trans, non-binary, intersex, gender non-conforming and gender-fluid choir. It is open to anybody who identifies in any of those ways, or any variation of them, and it says members will not be asked to disclose or prove their identity. It does not list a regular rehearsal time: when we read the site it said the choir was looking for a new rehearsal space, and it linked to an open rehearsal on Eventbrite. The site lists no membership fee, only a link to donate.

Other groups exist that we could not check. The Pink Singers, which a third-party listing describes as Europe's longest-running LGBT+ choir, returned a server error each time we tried its site, so we give none of its rehearsal or audition details. A roundup on Alternative Classical also lists several smaller groups that publish only on Instagram; we have left those out because we could not confirm their details from an organiser's own page.

• Diversity Choirchoir

  LGBT+ mixed-voice choir of about 50 singers; joining terms not published on the homepage, so ask through its contact page.

• London Trans Choirchoir

  Open to trans, non-binary, intersex, gender-fluid and gender non-conforming singers with no need to prove identity; open rehearsals advertised on Eventbrite; was seeking a new rehearsal space.

If you play an instrument: wind band and big band

London Gay Symphonic Winds is an LGBT+ amateur wind band, which it describes as a friendly ensemble of over 40 players of woodwind, brass and percussion. Posts on its site date the founding to 2006. Its recruitment list covers clarinets, flutes, oboes, bassoons, saxophones, tuba and euphonium, horns, trumpets, trombones and percussion, each with an enquiry link to the contact page. The site does not state a rehearsal time, venue, audition or fee, so those are questions for the enquiry.

The band marked its twentieth year with a concert at St John's Waterloo on Saturday 24 October 2026, mixing wind band repertoire with musical theatre, film and pop. That date has passed; the site is the place to watch for the next one.

The London Gay Big Band says it was founded in the summer of 2011 and describes itself as a jazz orchestra of predominantly, but not exclusively, LGBT musicians and vocalists; one page calls it twenty-piece and another 22-piece. It publishes no joining process, only an enquiry email, info@londongaybigband.com. Its next London date listed was Glass Slippers and Sequins, a show about the history of the pantomime dame, at the Clapham Grand on Friday 18 December.

• London Gay Symphonic Windswind band

  LGBT+ amateur wind band of over 40 players, founded 2006; recruiting woodwind, brass and percussion through an enquiry form; rehearsal details not published.

• London Gay Big Bandbig band

  Jazz orchestra founded summer 2011; predominantly but not exclusively LGBT musicians; enquiries by email; London show at the Clapham Grand on 18 December.

Start as an audience member

If you are not sure a weekly commitment suits you, go to a concert first. It costs an evening, you hear the standard, and the bar or foyer afterwards is where members meet friends and family. Several groups list winter concerts on their own pages.

The London Gay Men's Chorus listed Hell-Bent! at Andaz London Liverpool Street on Saturday 31 October 2026, with a glass of Prosecco on arrival and an after-show party; Christmas Cracker at Soho Theatre Walthamstow on Monday 7 December; and Sound of Christmas at St Martin-in-the-Fields on Tuesday 15 December. Its pages gave no ticket prices.

The Fourth Choir listed The Gloaming: Between Worlds at Heaven, Villiers Street, on Saturday 31 October at 7pm, with the cellist Nicholas Holland. Diversity Choir listed its winter concert, Christmas Dreams, at St James Church, Holland Park, W11 4RB, on Saturday 12 December 2026, with doors at 6.30pm and the concert at 7.30pm. It gave prices of £17 in advance or £12 concessions, and £20 or £15 on the door, with concessions for students, pensioners, disabled people and unemployed people, and said booking fees may apply. It also said it planned to sing on World AIDS Day, 1 December, with details to follow.

What joining usually involves

Across the groups that publish their terms, a few patterns repeat. Places are limited by voice part or instrument, so a group can be full for baritones and short of sopranos at the same time. Intakes tend to happen at the start of a term, and the London Gay Men's Chorus names January and late summer. Fees are usually a subscription or a donation rather than a fixed figure on the website, and at least two groups say reduced rates or voluntary payments exist.

Rehearsal venues are often given only as an area. The Fourth Choir names Lambeth and the London Gay Men's Chorus names Camden. If step-free access or a quiet space matters to you, say so when you first make contact; the London Gay Men's Chorus asks for access needs on its form.

Commitment is the real cost. A weekly three-hour rehearsal, a monthly weekend day and extra sessions before a show is a large share of a London week. That is also the reason these groups become social circles: the people who stay are the people who keep turning up.

Before you go

• Check your voice part or instrument against what the group is recruiting. The Fourth Choir named sopranos and lower basses; London Gay Symphonic Winds lists sections with enquiry links.
• Expect to wait for the London Gay Men's Chorus. Its own estimates run from about one year for First Tenor to six for Baritone, and confirmation of sign-up can take two weeks.
• Ask about fees before you commit. Most groups publish no figure; the Fourth Choir runs on voluntary donations.
• Tell the group about access needs at first contact, since many publish only an area, not a building.
• Try a concert first. Diversity Choir's 12 December concert listed tickets from £12 concessions in advance, and the other groups list winter dates on their own pages.

Questions people ask

Do I need to audition to join an LGBTQ+ choir in London?

Not always. The London Gay Men's Chorus uses an informal voice assessment, not an audition, though it has a waiting list. The Fourth Choir auditions, with an unaccompanied solo, vocal exercises and sight-reading. Other groups do not publish their policy, so ask them directly.

How long is the London Gay Men's Chorus waiting list?

The chorus estimates total waits from first contact of about one year for First Tenor, three years for Second Tenor, six for Baritone and two for Bass. Non-singing members, called Semitones, can join straight away.

Is there a choir for trans and non-binary people in London?

Yes. London Trans Choir is open to anyone who is trans, non-binary, intersex, gender fluid or gender non-conforming, and says it will not ask members to disclose or prove their identity. When we checked, it was looking for a new rehearsal space and advertised open rehearsals on Eventbrite.

Are there LGBTQ+ groups for instrumentalists, not singers?

Yes. London Gay Symphonic Winds is an LGBT+ amateur wind band of over 40 players recruiting across woodwind, brass and percussion, and the London Gay Big Band is a jazz orchestra founded in 2011. Neither publishes rehearsal details, so contact them through their sites.

How much does it cost to join?

Few groups publish a figure. The London Gay Men's Chorus charges a subscription, with reduced rates for low incomes, but publishes no figure. The Fourth Choir has no fixed fee and relies on voluntary donations.