On Sunday 10 July, more than 1,500 singers from around the world will be taking part in The Really Big Chorus performance of Carl Orff’s iconic work Carmina Burana. Here’s what some of them have to say about their preparations and the unique nature of a TRBC concert with a note from a regular member of the audience too. Lynn from Bristol: There are nine of us from Stokes Singers in Bristol (a four-part community choir) coming to London's Royal Albert Hall next month to take part in The Really Big Chorus ‘Singday’. I have been organising everything from rehearsals to buying the T-shirts.

We decided to have monthly meetings. At our first, I gave a run-down on what we would do each month, covering the acquisition of tickets for the performance, transport there and back, accommodation, CD's and scores, T-shirts and shows (as we decided whilst there, we'd do a West End show too). So every month since January, we have had a meeting at my house to discuss everything and sing through our parts.

We ran through the music looking particularly at the pronunciation. I must admit, the practice CDs have been invaluable. You can listen at home and in the car, practising wherever takes your fancy.

I’m really looking forward to it!

Angelina from Paris: My name is Angelina. I am a 35-year-old mum of 2 children, practising as a doctor in my working hours and singing soprano in my leisure time. I started singing in a choir in Paris when I was 19 for about 10 years then moved to England where I discovered what choral singing really meant!

The first time I was offered a chance to sing with The Really Big Chorus at the Royal Albert Hall, I was very impressed. I thought it was a great opportunity for me having come all the way from France with only a couple of years of experience singing in the UK. The Hall looked so grand! I remember very well that it was Carmina Burana that year. The day went so well that I repeated the experience several times after that.

The biggest challenge when singing in The Really Big Chorus is to feel the music when you don’t know it yet. Practising on your own can be quite daunting. What I tend to do is to buy a performance CD of the work and listen to the piece endlessly until I can almost hum it in my sleep. In parallel, I decipher my voice part in the score and, when I know it well enough, I try to sing it with the CD. I prefer to know the colour of the music first, apprehend the feelings that it reveals and then tackle the sight-reading: it actually becomes much easier because you already know the piece well.

The next challenge is to rehearse with the orchestra on the concert day. It makes the music come to life. This is the exciting part. Then comes the time of the actual concert: the best part of all. The atmosphere at the Royal Albert Hall is extraordinary: the singers are full of anticipation, waiting eagerly for the conductor to give the first beat; the musicians are ready to play; the audience are all ears. Then the music starts, and when the voices join in it’s almost like a dream! That’s when I live the music through my heart and soul.

Although I have now moved back to Paris, I could not resist coming to London to participate once again in The Really Big Chorus. I am very excited to be seeing friends from my former choir, to be singing under the direction of the inspirational Brian Kay, and I can’t wait to vibrate once more in the energy of Carmina Burana.

Classical music enthusiast Michael Brecknell has been attending The Really Big Chorus concerts almost since they began. Messiah from Scratch caught his eye back in the 1974 when it was launched and received widespread television coverage. He says:

I'd been to many performances of Messiah before, but never one of this size, so I rounded up a group of friends to go. We've been almost every year since and to some of the other Concerts from Scratch events too. We book a box, treat ourselves to a couple of bottles of “Chateau Albert Hall”, and sit back to enjoy the sound of thousands of voices.  The enthusiasm of the massed choirs is infectious and we find it absolutely uplifting, despite most of our group having no ability to join in. It is this atmosphere which makes it so special for us.

Read part one of this epic here and part three here.