Festival Schedule

• 08:45

Registration

• 09:15

Festival Welcome

Presented by Founder and Producer of the UK Choir Festival, Russell Scott.

• 09:30

Morning Warm Up

This inviogorating and lively warmup to start the day off, led by one of our esteemed workshop leaders.

• 09:45
• Craig Lees

Performing Contemporary Rock & Pop Music with Craig Lees

Join choral director and arranger Craig Lees for an inspiring workshop, exploring contemporary rock and pop choral singing. Discover new techniques for singing and performing, try out new arrangement devices and take a deep dive into song interpretation, all whilst whilst enjoying a fresh arrangement of an uplifting song in a relaxed group atmosphere. This session is open to all - a passion and love for singing is all that is required! Focussing on styles that range from Gospel through Soul and Reggae and beyond, this promises to be a high energy workshop that will be both inspirational and informative. You will be amazed at how much music can be made from scratch in such a short time.

• 10:30
• Nicholas Cleobury

The Wordshop with Nicholas Cleobury

Composers set Words, Words are added to existing music, some Words are set many times by different composers. Musical responses to Words vary, with a wide variety of style and genre. Why are Words set as they are? This Workshop will go behind the scenes, as it were, with Composers and ask how and why they set the Words as they did. Do we do justice to the Words when we sing? What are the musical tools that enhance their meaning? With full participation – singing and contributing – we’ll look at how we can bring extra depth, meaning and colour to our singing.

• 11:15

Morning Break

• 11:45
• Suzzie Vango

Vocal Keep Fit with Suzzie Vango

Join Suzzie Vango, international vocal coach and co-author of the new ultimate choral warm-up book, 'How to make your choir sound awesome', as she takes you with a vocal keep fit. With a focus on vocal technique, aural skills and having plenty of fun, Suzzie will take you through your paces with a mix of fun vocal exercises, traditional and contemporary music and there may even be a small does of elementary beatboxing thrown in.

• 12:30

Lunch Break, Drop-In Session & Rehearsals

Choirs will be allocated slots during the extended lunch break to rehearse in preparation for the afternoon Performance Session. PLUS there is an opportunity for Attendees to talk directly with all our Workshops Leaders in a relaxed Drop-In session to asnwer any vocal or choir-related questions.

• 14:00

Afternoon Warm Up

Before the afternoon session kicks off, one of our workshop leaders will get your voices warmed up once again, ready for the final workshops.

• 14:15
• Carla Jane

Gospel Expressions with Carla Jane

Award winning vocalist and Choir director, Carla Jane will guide you on a journey to experience what it feels like to sing in a gospel choir.  This is an inspirational 'no holding back' session, where strong vocals coupled with expressions from the heart are encouraged. 

• 15:00

Mini Break 1

• 15:15
• All Workshop Leaders

The Joint Session

This final workshop is a collaboration by all the workshop leaders of the day working on one single piece in a Masterclass format, whilst giving everyone the opportunity to take part. Putting together all the learnings of the day, this session is aimed at consolidating whilst giving choirs the opportunity to work with all 4 workshop leaders at the same time.

• 16:30

Mini Break 2

• 16:45

The Performance Session

The Performance Session is often one of the festival's highlights. Choirs take to the stage to perform whilst being adjudicated by our panel of workshop leaders, giving positive and constructive feedback in written form to help choirs develop and thrive even more than ever before.

• 17:45

Festival Finale

• 18:00

The Platinum Sessions*

Platinum Sessions have always played a big part in the festival with invaluable 1-2-1 feedback and Q & A with our workshop leaders. We are excited to expand this further as we split the sessions into 2, so each choir receives 2x 20min sessions each with 2 workshop leaders, giving more value than ever before and much less waiting time as we work on 2 sessions at a time.

• 19:00

Close