Margaret Hastings, Treasurer for the Helensburgh Oratorio Choir, tells us how their group organised their Diamond Jubilee concert.Susannah Wapshott,...
The UK Choir Festival supports, trains and brings choirs together in a great setting where they can learn, develop and thrive.
Launched in 2016, the festival has been hailed by American Express Essentials as 'one of the most awe-inspiring choral festivals of the world'. From its inception, they have welcomed over 5000 attendees from over 200 choirs. The festival is designed for choirs of all abilities, ages and style, no matter whether you are a local community choir, a cappella choir, school or university choir, gospel choir, choral society or barbershop choir. Choirs of all sizes attend from as small as a quartet to those with 100+ members, and individuals can also attend without their choirs if they choose do so. Basically, if you sing - you’re welcome!
The UK Choir Festival give choirs the opportunity to be taught by some of the best workshop leaders in the UK, in a supportive, informative, collaborative, non-competitive and inspiring conference-style setting. It involves practical and method teaching, and everyone is involved as they work on vocal technique, performance, stage craft, blend and balance, language, and work on new styles and genres of singing.
Attendees watch and take part in a series of workshops led by experts who then come together for a joint session in the afternoon. There’s lots of singing, great music-making and a lot of fun to be had – attendees come away feeling uplifted, excited and ready to work on the what they have learned.
The festival is non-competitive, but very much 'hands-on' for everyone to watch and learn from each other. At the end of each day, choirs get the opportunity to perform (if they choose to) in front of each other and the panel of workshop leaders who give each choir written constructive critique to help them leave with confidence, ambition and improved skills.
Find out more on the UK Choir Festival website
Follow the UK Choir Festival on Facebook / Instagram / X (Twitter)
We hope you find this Making Music resource useful. If you have any comments or suggestions about the guidance please contact us. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the content of this guidance is accurate and up to date, Making Music do not warrant, nor accept any liability or responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the content, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on the information contained in it.
