Streatham choir members perform at at Mercury Prize Albums of the Year gig (From Sutton Guardian)

Streatham choir members perform at at Mercury Prize Albums of the Year gig

7:00am Thursday 25th October 2012 in Freetime By Alice Foster, Reporter

Choir members performed with a nominee at a Mercury Prize Albums of the Year gig last night.

London Contemporary Voices (LCV), founded by Streatham residents, appeared with band Alt-J, whose debut album ‘An Awesome Wave’ is shortlisted for the prize.

The performance came a day after the modern mixed voice choir joined Alt-J for the filming of the ‘Later... with Jools Holland’ television show.

Co-founder Didier Rochard, 28, from Streatham, said they had watched the show as children and it felt surreal to be there with legends Alice Cooper and Dionne Warwick.

Mr Rochard said: "We are all still on a bit of a high. I am very pleased with our performance."

Mr Rochard and Anil Kamalagharan, also from Streatham, founded LCV performing a one-off show with Grammy Award-winning singer Imogen Heap almost two years ago.

Singers from the now 40-stong choir also performed with Alt-J at Reading Festival in August. Mr Rochard said: "It’s been great to work with these internationally renowned groups."

On the heels of last night’s Mercury Prize Albums of the Year gig at London Symphony Orchestra’s music centre, the choir will celebrate its second anniversary next week.

The debut album of a Streatham singer songwriter Lianne La Havas is also shortlisted for the Mercury Prize Albums of the Year.

Her album 'Is Your Love Big Enough?' is among 12 entries shortlisted for the prize and the winner will be announced on November 1.

LCV’s anniversary concert is at 7pm on November 3 at St George’s Bloomsbury. For more information and tickets visit: www.lcvchoir.co.uk.