Choir Outreach

Lincoln’s Choir Outreach Project engages with schools around the county, offering an opportunity to develop children’s singing in partnership with our professional musicians.

Music making should be fun

The games, vocal warm-ups and exercises we use animate children’s listening skills, connect them with the physiology of singing, and encourage co-operative team work. There are linguistic benefits too – children learn about healthy voice production, diction and projection, and often get the chance to sing in a foreign language. We draw on the music of many nations and traditions, raising children’s cultural awareness.

Some more of the benefits

Singing is a powerful and multi-skilled activity, giving children access to a uniquely wide range of developmental and educational tools. As the concert day approaches, so the excitement builds and the focus sharpens, as the young singers prepare to offer their performance to staff, friends and family. They go away proud of the new skills they have acquired, buzzing with their creative achievement and hungry for more of the same.

All schools are welcome to get involved

Since launching our project in 2007, we have worked with primary schools, but we are equally interested in partnerships with secondary schools, and would welcome a conversation about this with any interested teachers. It does not matter at all whether or not your school already has a choir – we have started choirs from scratch, and worked with existing and experienced groups.

What we do

We aim make about ten visits to each participating school, preparing children for a concert towards the end of term. Concerts take place in the magnificent space of our Cathedral, but as the scheme develops, we might look at other venues around the county (reducing travel and cost burdens for schools).

A lasting legacy

Providing children with an experience of high quality and high value is at the core of our work. Important too is leaving a lasting legacy of ideas, energy and good practice for staff to draw on in the future. The concert is an exciting waypoint on the journey in each school’s flourishing musical life. To date, our work has reached nearly 2000 children around Lincolnshire, and the number of interested schools is growing all the time. Many schools have invited us back, some more than once!

A Christmas CD

In 2010, we welcomed some of our partner choirs to the Cathedral to make a CD of Christmas music, which went on sale in Cooperative stores around the county. We hope that our involvement does not end with the concert, and aim to be available to help, encourage and advise as choirs continue on their musical voyage.

What next

If this interest you and you want to find out more, please contact Charles Harrison our Assistant Director of Music on 01522 561647 or charles-harrison@gmx.co.uk. Charles works on the project with Stephen Clay our Senior Lay Vicar.