Hundreds of singers to join Jacob Collier for Es Devlin’s London Oratorio
Hundreds of singers from dozens of London choirs will come together at the Royal Festival Hall in September for London Oratorio, a large-scale new choral work created by artist and designer Es Devlin with composer and performer Kieran Brunt.
Taking place at the Southbank Centre on 19 September, the hour-long work brings together choirs representing a wide range of the capital’s languages and musical traditions, culminating in a collective finale led by seven-time Grammy Award winner Jacob Collier.
The project is conceived as a musical portrait of London, exploring diversity, belonging and collective identity in a city where more than 300 languages are spoken. Participating singers draw on traditions including Balkan, Gospel, South African, Afro-Cuban, Bulgarian, Arabic and Nordic music.
Among the ensembles taking part are The Choir with No Name, Idrîsî Ensemble, London Community Gospel Choir, The London Lucumi Choir, Norrsång Choir and Third Culture Collective. Choral compositions have also been developed with Devlin’s long-term collaborators Polyphonia and a number of artistic co-authors.
The Southbank Centre describes London Oratorio as a celebration of both London and the power of collective singing. It also draws on the Royal Festival Hall’s long association with massed and participatory choral performance, with the audience itself invited to join Collier and the choirs for the finale.
Devlin, whose work spans visual art, theatre, opera and major live music productions, has previously created large-scale choral installations for venues including Tate Modern and the Serpentine. Her concert designs have included work for Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Pet Shop Boys and Take That, while her stage designs have appeared at the Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera and National Theatre.
Collier has won seven Grammy Awards and received 16 nominations, with collaborators across his genre-spanning career including Joni Mitchell, Anoushka Shankar, Stormzy, SZA and Hans Zimmer.
Two performances of London Oratorio are scheduled at the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday 19 September 2026, at 6.30pm and 8.30pm. The Southbank Centre’s calendar currently lists the 8.30pm performance as sold out, while only a small number of tickets remain for the 6.30pm performance, priced from £24.