NYCOS

NYCOS Chamber Choir

Comprised of the most promising young singers from across the country, membership of the National Youth Choir of Scotland is granted by audition to those born, resident or studying in Scotland, or of Scottish descent. It is led by its founder and artistic director, conductor Christopher Bell.

Since 1996 the choir has performed at events across Scotland and the UK, including the Edinburgh International Festival, the BBC Proms and XX Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony. It has toured to Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Slovakia, Sweden and the USA.

The NYCOS Chamber Choir was formed in 2022 to offer additional high-level performance opportunities to experienced NYCOS members and was officially launched at the Lammermuir Festival in September 2022 to great acclaim singing music by Britten, Dove, Shaw and MacMillan. In summer 2023 it undertook a four concert tour of the west of Scotland finishing with two sold out concerts in Glasgow and Haddington. The BBC Proms invited the Chamber Choir to perform Mendelssohn Midsummer Nights Dream in a semi-staged performance with the BBCSSO in August 2024. In 2025 the Chamber Choir performed the music of Eric Whitacre at the Ryedale Festival conducted by the composer, repeated the programme at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe conducted by Christopher Bell, and were featured performers at the Carnegie Philanthropic Medal Awards.

Future plans include singing at The Kirking of Parliament in Edinburgh in May 2026 in the presence of the King and a tour of David Fenessey’s Blood with the Scottish Ensemble.