The Ambrosian Opera Chorus is the soubriquet under which the Ambrosian Singers, founded in 1956, have made innumerable recordings of operas and American musicals. The group's precursor was established by musicologist/author Denis Stevens and tenor John McCarthy for the performance of stylistically correct examples of early music. As Stevens had become a part of the BBC's music department in 1949, he was assigned oversight for the company's series, The History of Western Music, the chorus' first major project.