Bristol Choral Society was founded in 1889 and has performed at the Colston Hall since its formation. In the early days, the choir frequently exceeded 500 singers: these days the choir doesn't quite match those forces but is still one of the biggest choirs in Bristol with around 190 auditioned singers.

The choir is one of the premier symphony choruses in the South West, staging concerts of a very high standard and regularly working with top professional orchestras such as the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, CBSO and distinguished baroque ensembles, under the baton of inspirational Musical Director Adrian Partington. The choir's size allows it to concentrate on performing the larger major choral works to great effect - usually 3 concerts every year at the Colston Hall and one in Bristol Cathedral.

The choir has also been invited to collaborate with the Philharmonia Chorus and the BBC National Chorus of Wales on many occasions in recent years to tackle some of the choral pieces requiring even greater choral forces such as Mahler's Eighth Symphony, Janacek's Glagolitic Mass, the Dvorak Stabat Mater and La Damnation de Faust by Berlioz. Many of these performances were under the batons of the choir's late Presidents Richard Hickox and Sir Charles Mackerras, and included concerts at the BBC Proms, broadcasts on BBC radio 3, BBC 4, and studio CD recordings for the Chandos label.

 Bristol Choral Society is a Registered Charity - No.266472