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Songs of Praise Big Sing 2007

Songs of Praise Big Sing 2007

Crew and members of King's College Choir backstage at rehearsals

Backstage at rehearsals
Rehearsing backstage at Songs of Praise's annual Big Sing, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, are King's College Choir from Taunton.

They were the senior winners of the 2007 Songs of Praise School Choirs of the Year competition. Their conductor is Colin Albery.

Choirs and orchestra on stage, arranged in a semicircle around the conductor. Audience members can be seen in the galleries high up on either side

The choirs
On stage are members of the Adventist Vocal Ensemble, the Saint Michael's Singers, the Exmoor Singers of London, King's College Choir, Taunton and the Royal Choral Society, accompanied by the Songs of Praise Orchestra and conducted by Paul Leddington Wright.

Along with singers in the arena, they make up a one-thousand-strong choir leading an auditorium full of Songs of Praise viewers.

Audience members with their hymn sheets

All together now
Over 4000 Songs of Praise viewers joined a choir of 1000 voices to sing a selection of hymns old and new.

The Big Sing requires over 600 lamps and more than 200 microphones.

Choirs and orchestra on stage, with the organist visible in an illuminated alcove above the choirs. The stage, designed on sweeping curved lines, is illuminated with coloured lights in varying patterns

Stage and lighting
The stage was designed by Gerald Murphy. Organist Daniel Moult is visible in the middle of the picture.

Lighting director Bernie Davis also works on the BBC Proms, but he keeps a special trick or two up his sleeve for the Big Sing!

Audience members are seated in three gallery levels and on the main level of the circular Royal Albert Hall, illuminated by spotlights from the arches around the top edge

Royal Albert Hall
This is the sixth time Songs of Praise has visited the Royal Albert Hall.

The Hall opened in 1871. It can seat as many as 5,200.

Ray Quinn, a young man in evening wear, singing alone on stage

Ray Quinn
Swing singer Ray Quinn fulfilled a lifetime dream by singing for the first time in the Royal Albert Hall.

Appropriately enough, the Liverpool lad chose to sing You'll Never Walk Alone.

Connie Fisher, in blue evening dress, singing on stage

Connie Fisher
Special guest Connie Fisher sang The Sound of Music (The Hills are Alive) and joined Aled in a new arrangement of Edelweiss.

Connie won the BBC's How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, in which she beat nine other finalists to win the lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic at the London Palladium.

Audience members on their feet to join in a hymn

Audience
Tickets for the Big Sing are extremely popular and generally sell out overnight. It's now internationally known: this year the audience included members of choirs from Holland, Australia and Canada.

Ticket information for each year is announced on the Songs of Praise programme, generally in late spring.

Elin Manahan Thomas, in evening wear and pink shawl, singing on stage

Elin Manahan Thomas
Elin Manahan Thomas is a gifted soprano from Swansea whose love of Bach brought her to the attention of the Monteverdi Choir.

She particularly enjoys singing in churches and chose to sing Let The Bright Seraphim from Handel's Samson, accompanied by trumpeter Maurice Murphy.

Crew member Helen Baird backstage, looking excited

Keep smiling!
It takes a crew of over 100 people, some of whom start at 03:00, to record the Big Sing and the Big Sing Christmas Party - all in one day.

This crew member is Helen Baird - who obviously finds the experience worthwhile.