120 amateur singers to feature in the Diamond Jubilee Pageant

The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, which takes place on 3 June this year, is a 1,000 boat tribute to Her Majesty the Queen’s 60-year reign. Music will feature heavily in the Thames Pageant, with 10 Music Barges each leading a section of the flotilla. A mixture of classical and contemporary music will be performed by professional and amateur musicians.

The fifth barge will contain the Jubilant Commonwealth Choir with 120 amateur singers recruited from throughout the Commonwealth and directed by Mary King and Orlando Gough. The choir will sing unaccompanied arrangements of British folk songs along with a newly composed song by Orlando Gough, with lyrics by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.

The Music Barges will also feature performances of new music inspired by Handel’s Water Music, as well as a 75 piece student brass band.