In 1991, nine friends came together to sing a few Christmas carols at Angel Underground Station hoping to raise a few pounds for the Terrance Higgins Trust. London was in the midst of the AIDS crisis and the men, who belonged to a social group called London Friend sang together to find a place of support, of friendship and of brotherhood. Little did they know what they had kickstarted.

Fast-forward 20 years later, and this once small band of singers now calls itself the London Gay Men's Chorus. Boasting over 200 members, the LGMC is the largest gay choir in Europe and regularly plays to sell-out crowds at Southbank Centre, Cadogan Hall and the Roundhouse. Over the years, the chorus has been lucky enough to have worked with a diverse range of artists including pop stars Mark Ronson and Elton John, soprano Lesley Garrett, country legend Dolly Parton, musical theatre star Hannah Waddingham, actor Simon Callow and comedienne Sandi Toksvig. The LGMC has also appeared on Children In Need, Comic Relief, The One Show, The Graham Norton Show and Top of the Pops. 

In 2012 the London Gay Men's Chorus celebrated their 21st anniversary with a sell-out performance at the Royal Festival Hall, in which they sang with a youth chorus comprising of schoolchildren from around North London alongside autistic pupils from the Riverside School. 

Establishing a reputation for high energy, surprising and technically accomplished performances, the chorus has, since 2008, appeared at Edinburgh Festival and has performed internationally from Warsaw to Sydney. During 2013, the London Gay Men's Chorus is both the official choir of Covent Garden and choir-in-residence at the Museum of London. 

The chorus's groundbreaking education programme sees members of the ensemble conducting workshops in schools across London, working with teachers and pupils to eradicate homophobia from the classroom. We work with the charity Diversity Role Models, challenging preconceptions of gay men and in 2012, sang at 10 Downing Street to kick homophobia out of sport.

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THE LONDON GAY MEN'S CHORUS:

• entertains, educates and inspires through song

• takes risks - making unexpected and surprising programming decisions, and performing in unusual spaces

• performs a diverse range of music to the highest technical standard

• provides a safe, supportive community for gay men to socialise, exchange ideas and have fun

• works with schoolchildren, teachers and parents to eradicate homophobic bullying

• believes that a diverse society is a strong society; that all people, regardless of sexuality, are equal and should be treated as such and works with other community groups and individuals who share our vision.