The Orchestra of the Swan Chamber Choir, as it has been named, will be selected, by invitation only, from a pool of singers, from such choirs as the  Monteverdi Choir, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the BBC Singers and the Tallis Scholars.

All members of the choir will have wide experience of performing, broadcasting and recording internationally. The new choir’s first public performance will be next Friday 16th December at the orchestra’s Christmas concert, ‘A Christmas Classic Feast’ at Stratford Civic Hall.

The programme will include the Vivaldi ‘Gloria’ and excerpts from Handel’s ‘Messiah’, with soloists drawn from within the choir. David Curtis, OOTS artistic director, said: “We have worked hard for sometime to develop a choir to complement OOTS’ increasing reputation.

Although Stratford already offers excellent platforms for local singers, the opportunity for OOTS to develop its own vocal group will enable us to extend our repertoire and offer our growing audiences even greater choice.

“This is an exciting project which will yet again raise OOTS profile and versatility and will be the beginning of an exciting collaboration with ambitious plans for the future.

“Future performances include our Britten centenary celebrations in 2013, commissions for choir and orchestra made possible by our recent Royal Philharmonic Society Award and possible recordings.

“I’m sure our Stratford audiences will appreciate hearing a choir of this calibre performing with OOTS.”

Tickets for next week’s concert are available from the civic hall box office on 01789 207100