Let the peoples sing is a biennial international choral competition promoted by the European Broadcasting Union ("EBU"). Broadcasting organisations which are members of the EBU select choirs to represent their own countries in each of three categories (Adult, Youth and Children’s).

In the past, Radio 3 has relied to a greater or lesser extent on the results of the prior year’s Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year competition in choosing the choirs to represent the UK. This year, however, it decided to hold a separate competition, and invited a number of the UK’s leading choirs to the Blackheath Halls, London on January 25th to participate. Highlights of the recorded event were broadcast in an extended edition of "Choirworks" in May.

The heat attracted arguably the strongest field of adult UK choirs ever to appear together, as well as three of the country’s leading junior choirs:

ADULT CHOIRS:

• Bath Camerata (Sainsbury’s Adult Choir of the Year 2002)
• Chantage (Sainsbury’s finalists 2002)
• Choros Amici (Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year 2000)
• The Elysian Singers (Sainsbury’s finalists 2000)
• The Joyful Company of Singers (Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year, 1989, Choir of the World at Llangollen in the 1994 International Eisteddfod )
• Moscaglia
• Schola Cantorum of Oxford (Winners of the 18th Takarazuka International Chamber Chorus Competition)
• The Vasari Singers (Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year 1988)
• Warwick University Chamber Choir (Sainsbury’s semi-finalists 2000)

CHILDREN'S CHOIR:

• Berkshire Girls Choir (Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year 2002)

YOUTH CHOIRS:

• Farnham Youth Choir (Sainsbury’s Youth Choir of the Year 1992 and 1998)
• Methodist College Girls Choir, Belfast (Sainsbury’s Choir of the year 1998 and Sainsbury’s Youth Choir of the year 2002)

Choir after choir turned in performances of exceptional quality, leaving the two adjudicators, who judged "blind" (i.e. on the basis of the recordings alone), in considerable difficulty. Their verdict, after lengthy deliberation, was as follows:

ADULT CHOIR: Winners: Elysian Singers
Highly commended: Choros Amici, Joyful Company of Singers

CHILDREN'S CHOIR: Berkshire Girls Choir

YOUTH CHOIR: Methodist College Girls Choir, Belfast