For property managers
Carol singers for the one evening in December your residents come downstairs

How we work with property managers

Send us the date, the building, and a rough headcount, and we come back within 48 hours with a written quote and two or three programme options. Most residents’ evenings are booked as a Small Choir (4) or a Quintet. Schemes with a double-height atrium, or an estate gathering everyone in a courtyard, tend to want a Sextet or the Full Choir (8).

The singers can roam — moving through a lobby, along a colonnade, up through the podium levels as residents arrive — or stand in one place and sing set pieces. Roaming suits a drinks reception where people trickle in across an hour. A stationary set suits a switch-on where everyone is already gathered and looking at the tree.

We sing a cappella, which means the building supplies nothing: no power, no stage, no amplification, no risers. Trained voices fill a stone-floored lobby without a microphone, so the concierge desk keeps working and the lift lobby stays clear. Where there is a piano in a residents’ lounge or club room, we can bring a pianist, including a package where the choir sings sets and the piano plays quietly in between. If your building has no piano and you want one, we bring a keyboard and speaker for an extra charge, quoted upfront in the written quote.

Dress is your call at the booking stage: concert dress, all black, casual, or Christmas jumpers. Santa hats are available if the evening is aimed at families. You tell us which, and the singers arrive already changed.

What your residents receive

The repertoire takes in the traditional carols — O Come, All Ye Faithful, In the Bleak Midwinter, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — and a cappella arrangements of the popular Christmas songs people know from the radio rather than from church. For a residents’ evening we usually build the programme around carols everyone can join in with, and hold two or three arrangements back as listening pieces, so there is one moment where the room goes quiet.

If you want residents singing, print song sheets and we will lead from the front. Four trained voices are enough to carry a lobby full of people who half-remember the second verse. If you would rather it stayed a performance while residents drink mulled wine and talk to their neighbours, we programme it that way instead. Between sets the singers stay in position and keep out of the way of the door.

What this buys you, as the person running the building, is one evening in the year when residents who share a lift stand in the same room for an hour. It is also the simplest thing on a building’s calendar to repeat: same week next December, same choir.

Booking and invoicing

Prices are the same in December as in any other month. Carol bookings start at £1,150 for a Small Choir (4), £1,400 for a Quintet, £1,600 for a Sextet, £2,000 for a Full Choir (8), and £3,000 for a Chorus (12). They include all taxes, fees, and travel within Greater London. A premium applies only to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and to bookings that run longer than the standard hour and a half; both are confirmed in the written quote before you commit anything. Full figures are on the pricing page.

The legal entity on every invoice is Alma Consort Ltd, the operating company behind the London Choral Service. Standard payment terms are 30 days net from the invoice date. We invoice whichever company you nominate — the managing agent, the resident management company, or the developer — and we put your purchase order number, cost-centre code, or scheme reference on the invoice if you tell us at the booking stage. That is what an accounts team needs to clear it without coming back to you. BACS to a UK business account is the usual route.

Budget periods rarely line up with December. If the cost needs to land early, we can issue an advance deposit invoice (typically 30 percent) at confirmation and invoice the balance after the event. If a single invoice suits you better, we send it the working day after. Either pattern is fine.

For a building that runs the same event every year, we can put a master service agreement on file once and invoice against it each December without further paperwork. Rebooking then takes one email.

Frequently asked questions

What kind of carol performance works in an apartment lobby or courtyard?

Both spaces work without any technical setup. In a lobby the singers can roam as residents come in from the lifts and the front door, or stand in one place for a set of carols. Outdoors in a courtyard, at a light switch-on for instance, we sing stationary sets, because a moving choir is harder to hear in open air. We sing a cappella either way, so the building supplies no power, stage, or amplification.

Can residents join in and sing, or do the singers perform on their own?

Either, and most residents’ evenings work best as a mix. Print song sheets and we will lead the carols everyone half-remembers from the front; four trained voices are enough to carry a lobby full of people. Alongside that we programme two or three a cappella arrangements that the choir performs while residents listen. Tell us which way you want the evening to lean and we build the programme around it.

How does invoicing work for a managing agent?

We invoice whichever company you nominate — the managing agent, the resident management company, or the developer — and put your purchase order number, cost-centre code, or scheme reference on the invoice if you give it to us at the booking stage. The legal entity is Alma Consort Ltd, the operating company behind the London Choral Service. Terms are 30 days net, and payment is by BACS to a UK business account.

How long does a residents’ carol evening run?

A standard Christmas booking runs up to an hour and a half including the singers’ breaks, which covers most residents’ evenings: long enough for people to drift down over half an hour and still hear a full programme. Longer bookings are possible at a premium, quoted upfront in the written quote so nothing arrives on the invoice you have not already seen.

When do we need to book carol singers for a December residents’ event?

December closes out by mid‑September, and the second and third weeks go first. If your building runs a residents’ evening every year, the safest approach is to fix next December’s date as soon as this one is over. Standard prices apply throughout December, with a premium only on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Enquire about a date

Tell us the building and the date and we’ll come back within 48 hours. For a quicker conversation, head to the contact page or call Luca on 07356 042468.

Or visit the contact page, or call Luca on 07356 042468.