When do you rehearse?

We only operate during school term times.

Our normal rehearsal pattern: Every other week on a Sunday afternoon. Sometimes, this changes to accommodate Sundays in half-term and/or concerts. We have found parents enjoy the one week on, one week off pattern. Click for more.

My child has Additional Learning needs. Can they still come?

We believe every child should have a voice: we will do what we can to help a child sing successfully if they have additional learning needs. We are happy to discuss on a case by case basis what the needs are and how we can best aid your child. So far, we have experience providing help for children with autism and have found they often learn the music very quickly.

what will my child learn?

Our professional musically trained staff share a passion for providing the skills your child needs to become a well-rounded musician. Your child will experience singing in many different styles and will learn many amazing songs. At Children’s voices however, we go beyond the expectation of a normal ‘choir’. Our aim is to train musicians, not just singers. What does this mean? It means developing a child who truly hears music, responds to it joyfully and wants to create their own music too!

Our Young Voices choir (5-8 yr olds) will spend a lot of our rehearsal time moving around the room, singing folk melodies & play songs, and expressing music with their body. Science has shown that between the ages of 4-8, the brain is at its most receptive to the growth of musical skills. Building these skills up gives children the ability to create their own songs and to become musicians in their own right. It also hugely helps anyone who is learning an instrument as well.

In our Senior Voice choir (9-16 yr olds), the challenge of the songs we sing increases as we start to focus on music literacy. Children are given sheet music (yes, with all the dots and lines!) and are encouraged to learn to read it (although we almost always perform from memory). We have a magnetic whiteboard and play note games to re-enforce this learning. This is an important focus for us. We don’t expect it to be perfect, but we know first hand the freedom and possibilities that come as a result of having been taught to read music at a young age. We’ve never heard anyone say they regret being taught to read music, but we’ve met plenty to regret having not learnt it who have to try to learn it later in life.

This choir also sings in up to three parts at the same time, resulting in a blending of melodies and rhythms that creates a unique and enchanting experience.

We believe that voices develop organically. The true voice that allows a child to express themselves is one that is free from stylistic adorations (such as classical-warble or pop-swooping) and that operates naturally. You wouldn’t introduce a child to shot-put until their muscles were built enough: so it is with singing that we avoid introducing any styles that would cause a child to use their voice in an unnatural (and more adult orientated) way. This avoids risking damaging the voice and ensures that the child is singing what feels most normal to them, and therefore what is most authentic.

We also want children to experience all kinds of music to give them the greatest opportunity to find music that speaks to them, especially if one day, they go on to create their own music or become a musician.

Therefore we introduce all kinds of music to the children. They will sing songs by contemporary composers, ABBA, Folk song arrangements, classical masters such as Purcell to list but a few. The oldest song we have sung comes from 1600. The newest has just been written for us. Our only criteria is the music must be worth singing!