Explore our work Get to know us Our impact in 2025 More than a choir: National Youth Choir is a community with a shared passion for singing and the life-changing opportunities it can offer. Every year we work with thousands of young people and musicians across the UK to deliver transformational opportunities from first steps in singing to professional career support. No matter what their background, every young person is empowered to reach their full potential, feel welcomed into our community and walk away with a life-changing experience. We firmly believe that the benefits of singing extend far beyond the development of musical expertise. As young people continue to face incredibly challenging times and fewer chances to engage with music at school, the opportunity to sing with National Youth Choir can be life-changing. Singing together supports the growth of skills and attributes including confidence, aspiration, teamwork, communication and leadership skills, as well as improving health and wellbeing. I am extremely grateful and feel so incredibly lucky that I have been able to grasp this opportunity and make life long memories, learn lifelong social skills and thoroughly enjoy all things music and singing. Singing makes me feel amazing and to be able to do this for a full week with inspiring conductors and staff has been simply incredible. National Youth Choir is committed to building an inclusive, representative and welcoming community. We have an important, sector-leading role to play as a champion of inclusive practice, influencing wider change in choral music and addressing social injustice. We are committed over the long term to realise change within the sector. Here’s a snapshot of the difference we made in our 2024/25 season! National Choirs How we are impacting our members Skip here Pathways and access How we are reaching new people Skip here Raising our profile How new audiences are discovering us Skip here Choral ecosystem How we are interacting with our choral community Skip here Our National Choirs Our National choirs offer over 1000 young singers aged 9 to 25 musical, personal and educational development. This is delivered through intensive residential and online rehearsals, as well as specialist training with professional conductors, musicianship and vocal coaches. National Youth Choir (9-15 Years) In 2024/25, highlights for our national choirs included bringing together members from across National Youth Choir (9-15 Years) for a joint performance in spring at Warwick Arts Centre and a joint residential in summer. This further developed opportunities for participants of all voice types to collaborate musically and socially. We welcomed new Principal Conductor Lynsey Callaghan and a new conducting team of Patrick Barrett, Mariana Rosas and Matt Roughley. Watch our 9-15s in action View this post on Instagram A post shared by Classic FM (@classicfm) National Youth Choir (15-18 Years) National Youth Choir (15-18 Years) worked with three exciting guest conductors Neil Ferris, Mariana Rosas and Ellie Slorach, providing choir members with the chance to explore a wide range of repertoire and cultural influences. National Youth Choir (18-25 Years) National Youth Choir (18-25 Years) had the once in a lifetime opportunity to tour to South Africa, where they spent 10 days collaborating and performing with Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, Fezeka High School Choir, Cape Town Camerata and Stellenbosch University Choir. This included the first performance in 40 years of Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast on the African Continent to a sell-out audience at Cape Town City Hall. We were delighted to be able to present a gift of a piano to Fezeka High School. Watch our 18-25s in action Our National Choir impact in numbers 953 active members aged 9-25, 15% increase on 2023/24 97% participants reported strong pastoral support – NYC creates a safe and supportive environment for young people 91% reported a positive impact on happiness and wellbeing 208 training and rehearsal sessions across 9 residentials and 1 annual programme 646 candidates at open auditions - 4% increase on 2023/24 8.8/10 average ‘belonging to the NYC community’ score 68% significantly improved their musical skills and abilities Pathways and Access Our Pathways initiatives open up access and opportunities for young people to be inspired by singing together, discover their vocal talent and progress their skills. With a particular focus on areas of high deprivation, we work with local partners to provide singing workshops, regional auditions and financial assistance to support young people along their singing journey. Regional SING! programme SING! provides free high quality, accessible singing activity for young people in key areas across the UK. We aim to challenge the current inequality of opportunities for high-quality singing in state education by inspire more young people from a wider range of backgrounds to discover and develop their voice. We work with partners including schools, Music Hubs and music organisations to understand barriers and challenges for young people. All opportunities are free at the point of access for young participants. In 2025, 285 young people took part in SING! activities, across programmes in the North East, North West, Nottinghamshire, West Midlands and with Ark Schools. SING! is targeted in areas where young people face barriers to taking part in high-quality singing activities. Now in its third year and fifth region, SING! is a proactive, affirming pathway to support young people aged 9-14 to develop their singing. Through a series of fun, accessible and welcoming workshop days, spread over three terms, participants explore a variety of new styles of music and approaches to singing with a team of expert vocal leaders from National Youth Choir. Participants reported increased confidence, a sense of achievement and new musical skills and interests and we supported 19 to take up a place in our national choirs. SING! impact in numbers 5 SING! programmes including the West Midlands 2,379 young people, families, teachers and music leaders supported through our national engagement programmes 18 young volunteers as peer mentors and workshop assistants First SING! Programme participants securing places in National Youth Choir (18-25 Years) Regional auditions In additional to our annual online auditions for our National Choirs, we work carefully with partners in areas of multiple deprivation to provide free in-person audition opportunities to young people who may otherwise miss out. We offer these audition opportunities as part of our SING! workshops, but also through partnerships with state schools and music hubs elsewhere across the UK. In 2024/5 we achieved our long-term goal of fundraising to make all auditions - including our standard online auditions - free at the point of access. We launched free auditions for all at the start of our 2025/26 season. Hear from members about their experience Three friends who joined National Youth Choir through out ARK Schools partnership look back on their time in the choir so far. Regional audition impact in numbers 4% increase in state-educated young people in national choirs 23.3% members are from global majority backgrounds 124 SING! participants chose take part in a regional audition for the National Youth Choir Financial Assistance As the cost of living continues to rise, we know that more families than ever need additional support to avoid missing out on transformative experiences with the National Youth Choir. No young person should be prevented from taking part in our programmes because of their financial circumstances. For the many choir members who apply for financial assistance the cost of taking part can be equivalent to over 10% of their family’s annual income All fees to take part in National Youth Choir activities are subsidised by around a third and we actively and visibly promote the availability of generous financial assistance for young people from lower-income families to support the cost of audition and residential course fees, travel expenses, tickets and other costs. We continue to see a growth in demand for financial assistance awards. In 2013/14 we assisted 115 young people with 126 awards; in 2024/25 this has increased to 318 awards made to 193 recipients. The total direct value of these awards was £269,202. Of this amount, £64,554 related to exceptional additional support for members of National Youth Choir (18-25 Years) to take part in the international tour. With the ongoing effects of high inflation and cost of living pressures, we continue to plan for the need to remove financial barriers for more young singers. In 2024/25 we introduced additional ‘top-up’ support for those participants who had taken part and successfully auditioned through our SING! Programme. Hear Phoebe's Financial Assistance story Our Financial impact in numbers £269,202 total financial assistance awarded 318 awards to 193 recipients New top-up awards for SING! participants £64,554 exceptional support for the South Africa tour Activities subsidised by around 1/3 Financial assistance provided essential support for 1 in 5 of our membership and was equivalent to 18.6% of gross course fees Raising our Profile We showcase the breadth and brilliance of our National Choirs and their work to millions of people across the world each year through professional recordings, broadcasts and music videos. Live performances The National Youth Choirs performed in 50 live concerts in 2024-25, to a total audience of 112,000. This included concerts and showcases at the end of residentials (Saffron Walden, Warwick, Coventry, Nottingham, Manchester, and Hereford), as well as collaborations with partners for commercial events like Avatar Live. Members of the National Youth Choir (18-25 Years) and National Youth Voices were thrilled to perform at three BBC Proms in the summer, alongside Joe Hisaishi and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Ilan Volkov and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and – most excitingly – at the iconic Last Night of the Proms celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bohemian Rhapsody alongside Brian May and Roger Taylor! Recordings Digital content across our online platforms reaches a wide international audience each year. In 2024-25 this included 20 audio and 8 video tracks, with new music from the last twelve months receiving over 54,000 streams/views. Across our full catalogue, streams and views reached 2.8 million people from 182 countries (75% of the countries/territories Spotify is available in). National Youth Choir performances were broadcast across Classic FM, Magic Classical, BBC Radio 3, and BBC 1. Video content of Bring Me A Little Water Silvy performed by 330 members of National Youth Choir (9-15 Years) was shared on social media by Classic FM and went viral, reaching over 1.3 million viewers. Listen to our recent recordings Raising our profile in numbers Our choirs performed in 50 live concerts in 2024-25, to a total audience of 112,000. 3 BBC Proms including Bohemian Rhapsody with Brian May and Roger Taylor 20 audio tracks 8 music videos 2.8m listens on streaming platforms Listeners in 182 countries Broadcasts on BBC 1, BBC Radio 3, Classic FM & Magic Classical 1.3m viewers of viral social media clip Bring Me a Little Water Silvy Sustaining the Choral Ecosystem National Youth Choir takes a leading role in shaping the future of the sector by supporting the professional development of emerging choral musicians, nurturing freelance staff and commissioning new music. Emerging Professional Artists programme In 2025 we delivered our Emerging Professional Artists programme, comprising the Fellowship training programme, Young Composers scheme and Young Conductors programme. We supported ten early career professionals from diverse cultural, geographical and musical backgrounds, through hybrid programmes of online and in-person training and mentorship by leading representatives from the choral and wider music sector. This included industry workshops by Steinberg (Dorico software), publishers Stainer & Bell, industry body AOTOS and creative retreats supported by Britten Pears Arts. The trainee cohort participated in live, recorded and broadcast performances and paid opportunities to work on National Youth Choir activities. They continued to play a central role in supporting our commitment to new music, undertaking creative collaborations to create and perform eight new pieces by the Young Composers released in January 2026. Our commissions National Youth Choir continues to commission and create innovative new choral music by, for and with young people, challenging perceptions of what choral music can be. Our commissions in 2025 were: I’m Here by Roderick Williams – a richly textured piece for National Youth Choir (18-25 Years) inspired by the choir’s own reflections on travelling to South Africa and their experiences of singing together. The piece premiered at the Three Choirs Festival. The Cloud by Sarah Quartel – a piece specifically composed for the mixed voices of the National Youth Choir (9-15 Years) and premiered at Coventry Cathedral. To the Moon by 2024 graduate Young Composer Áine Mallon – premiered in Saffron Walden by the National Youth Choir (15-18 Years) 8 new pieces by our Young Composers 2025, released in the album 'Young Composers 7' Interview with Roderick Williams about his commission Sustaining the choral ecosystem in numbers 3 new commissions by Roderick Williams, Sarah Quartel and Áine Mallon 8 new works by emerging choral composers National Youth Choir provides employment for 140 freelancers 94% of graduate EPAs from the last 10 years have established successful careers in the choral sector 33% of graduate EPAs are currently working in freelance roles with National Youth Choir 84 EPAs over the last 10 years Introducing a specific strand of the EPA scheme for conductors from global majority backgrounds Finance and Fundraising We support the deliver of this impact through earned income and fundraising. In 2025, our activities yielded an increase in fundraising and earned income compared to the previous season. The increase in earned income was in part due to the international tour to South Africa. We continued to invest some of our reserves in our priority of providing more financial assistance for more young singers. Like many charities and cultural organisations, we are navigating some challenging economic circumstances. Inflation, and VAT on our course venues have contributed to a 10% increase in our activity costs this year. The unexpected insolvency of one of our regular course venues also meant we lost £19k in deposits. We recorded a deficit of £123,874, however, we plan to return to a break even budget in 2026. The support of our funders, donors and participants is more important than ever. In 2025 individual donations and memberships provided £160,684 of essential funding. Grants from trusts and foundations contributed £504,352 to enable our creative programmes and financial assistance support. £109756 of grant funding comes from government support through Arts Council England. Finance and fundraising in numbers Fundraised income from donations and legacies £654,072 (from £601,200 in 2024) Earned income from charitable activities £1,265,441 (from £985,612 in 2024) Investments £4,383 (from £4,504 in 2024) Total turnover £1,923,869 (from £1,591,316 in 2024) Download our 'year in numbers' for 2024/25 Download PDF Manage Cookie Preferences