The Parliament Choir: cross-party harmony in the House This equal opportunities philosophy extends to the choir's non-auditions policy. If you're eligible and you want to join, you're in. "It's important that the choir doesn't audition," says Nick O'Neill, "because otherwise you'd put people off who might want to join. We like to think that those who can't read music or are less confident will get swept along by those who are more accomplished. I suddenly find myself surrounded by a cluster of variously titled and ennobled singers, extolling the wonders of the choir. "I think being in Parliament, with its anti-social hours, can close down your cultural life, and singing with the choir is one way you can open it back up again," suggests Baroness McIntosh, who once put in a stint as chief executive of the Royal Opera House. "The whole objective of the choir is to do large works but to do them very well indeed," adds Lord German, former leader of the Welsh Lib Dems and once a music teacher. It gives people the chance to sing pieces they probably wouldn't do in their local parish choir or community choir. "Supporting young musicians is part of our charitable objectives," according to Lord Filkin, who helped to found the choir with Simon Over in 2000. Our resident orchestra is the South Bank Sinfonia, which comprises the best of the students who come out of the music conservatoires each year. "We also try to give opportunities to emerging soloists, and offer them a chance to work with established soloists such as Emma Kirkby and Sir Thomas Allen, who are both patrons of the choir," says Fiona Mactaggart, the Labour MP for Slough. We try to do our bit for the next generation. In practice, most choir applicants turn out to have had some singing experience, perhaps in school or college, and O'Neill is happy to give individual singing lessons to those who feel the urge for self-improvement. Their enthusiastic have-a-go attitude means that they're open-minded about the music they're given to sing. "They're not put off by more testing pieces," says O'Neill. We did Benjamin Britten's War Requiem a couple of years back and the rehearsals stretched over about nine months, and I think there was an election in the middle of it and goodness knows what else. But the choir really took to the piece, and I think you often find that people who aren't professional musicians tend to embrace modern music quite readily. They just think of it as another piece. Certain pragmatic compromises have to be accepted if the choir is to function. Parliamentary duties mean that Over and O'Neill never know exactly who will be able turn up for practice, and even those who do often have to dash back to the House to vote. "Rehearsals take place during parliamentary business," says Over. "We'll get a shout from a policeman, 'division in the House of Commons" or 'division in the House of Lords," and they go off and vote and then come back and carry on singing. But there's usually an hour in the middle of the rehearsal when most people are there, and the trick is to use that time and seize the moment. If there are enough confident singers there they'll carry those who are less confident, but if some key people missing then you really notice it. The ebb and flow of politics can mean that singers vanish after an election defeat, while Westminster's demanding career ladder has deprived the choir of several stars. Sarah Teather's role as an education minister has curtailed her attendances, and Caroline Spelman's job at Environment, Food and Rural Affairs devours the singing time she enjoyed in opposition. Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, was at Oxford with Over and is a keen choral music buff, but unfortunately for the choir, and the UK's economy, he chose to put economics before singing. But the choir sails on, steadily expanding its reach. The imminent Cadogan Hall concert will find it partnering with l'Orchestre des Lauréats du Conservatoire de Paris, a group of Welsh soloists and the choir from Korea's National Assembly. A few days later its members will be in Cardiff, tackling a programme that includes All Through the Night in Welsh. At the end of the year they'll sing the Brahms Requiem in Coventry and Westminster Cathedrals, before delivering their annual Westminster Christmas concert. "I sometimes stand in front of the choir and think I'm the luckiest man alive," enthuses Over. "The etymology of the word 'concert" is 'bringing people together as one," and that's what we do. There are all these different backgrounds and stories, but they're all singing from the same hymnsheet. With soundbites like that, he ought to be a politician. The Parliament Choir sings at Cadogan Hall on Apr 18 and St David's Hall, Cardiff, on Apr 21