The BIG CHOIR was formed in February 2016. It started life as a fundraising exercise to raise money for cancer research at The Crick Institute, www.crick.ac.uk, for research into 200 different types of cancer. We had aimed to run the event for a number of months, hosting weekly choir rehearsals, ending with a big summer performance, with all proceeds going to the charity.
What we hadn’t banked on was the level of interest and support from so many members who came to join us. The response was fantastic and we are now in our 3rd year with over 100 members attending our groups. We have 4 to choose from currently, with a view to extending further into other areas in the future.
We decided from the beginning that we would be a choir that learns by ear, not wanting to exclude the many people who don’t read music. To compensate for this, we provide all members with pre-recorded harmonies so that they can learn in their own time, in between rehearsals. When we come together weekly we can put into practice what we’ve been learning. Many members tell us they can’t really sing, but when you hear them all together, it’s always a fantastic sound!
Whilst we encourage our members to put in some hard work to learn their harmonies, there is also a lot of laughter during the sessions. We have singers of all abilities. Some members attend multiple choirs, and others have not sung since their school days. The age range is also vast, from 30’s to 80’s. We love a good social too!
Our musical team is made up of hugely experienced professional musicians, each with their own style of teaching and we encourage members to visit alternative sessions so that they can experience different warm-ups and techniques. The one constant between the 4 groups is the songs we sing, with each learning the same repertoire.
The majority of our repertoire is pop, but we are going to bring in some gospel and show tunes in the near future. Our latest song is one from The Greatest Showman, a real hit with a lot of our members. If our members come to us with a request for a particular genre of music we are always happy to try something new.
We welcome new members throughout the year, and offer free tasters for first time visitors to the choir.
To date we have donated in excess of £20,000 and hope to match that in 2018. The more members we have, the bigger the donation. Sadly there are not many people who have not been touched by cancer in some way, and we just love the fact that the fun we have singing weekly, raises money that is put to such good use.
The Big Choir
Singing together to find a cure
T: 07971 957188
