Margaret Hastings, Treasurer for the Helensburgh Oratorio Choir, tells us how their group organised their Diamond Jubilee concert.Susannah Wapshott,...
Director Rebecca Hanbury and composer Alex Groves, commissioned by Sky Arts and funded by Arts Council England, are looking for choirs to co-create a British Songbook that celebrates what it means to be British through the power of song.
They are conducting a nationwide listening project to collect stories about British life in 2018 and want to hear from a huge array of people and communities to take a snapshot of different lives across the UK - exploring our commonalities and celebrating our differences.
Theatre maker Rebecca will collect the stories via workshops and interviews. She will then craft them into lyrics and composer Alex Groves will set them to music. The resulting songbook will be available for free to all choirs across the UK to sing and enjoy. We hope to be able to invite participating choirs to join mass performances around the UK including at the Barbican, London and Sage Gateshead.
They want to hear from choirs of every kind – community choirs, school choirs, gospel choirs, rock choirs, LGBTQ+ choirs, acapella choirs, church choirs, NHS choirs – and to represent the incredible idiosyncrasies and diversity that makes us all proud to be British.
For any queries or to register your interest, get in touch with britishsongbook@gmail.com
