This page tells you about the work we do out in the wider community, particularly with schools and partner organisations…
Cosmos Choir
Cosmos is St George’s Children’s Community Choir project, which began in 2009 and attracts young people from a mix of schools in the Knowle West area of South Bristol, brought together through a passion for singing.
Directed by Bristol-based music educators Laurie Stewart and Mark Lawrence, Cosmos is living proof that singing is something we can all enjoy, be inspired by and develop through, regardless of our social, cultural or economic background. To date, over 150 young people have grown through the experience of singing in Cosmos. Last year alone the choir sang three times at St George’s, as well as at the Colston Hall (‘A World Beyond’) and Bristol’s Harbourside (‘Sing for WaterAid’), and took part in Song-Shares in Southville (South Bank Arts Trail) and in Withywood, South Bristol. Praised for the ‘fresh enthusiasm’ that comes across in its sound, Cosmos has made three recordings to date for Faber Music for the Sing Up website and earlier this year they recorded further songs for an album called ‘Stars’ which is available now!
Cosmos is St George’s own small contribution to transforming children through singing.
SongLines
‘Gathering Voices has developed the SongLines Training Programne and Cluster Network in association with St George’s Bristol, Drake Music and Bristol Ensemble to follow on from the fantastic achievements that have been made in the Primary sector in the last four years and to build on the legacy of the National Sing Up Programme delivered across the city.
Alongside regular Twilight Trainings our association with St George’s has enabled our member schools to benefit from a wide range of exciting, high quality opportunities, at little or no cost including School Music Days with visiting professional musicians, Lunchtime Concerts followed by on-stage exploration workshops and Family Concerts.
Clusters are a minimum of 10 schools formed around geographical partnerships or particular focuses for example, around SEN and Autism or specifically for KS1. In addition to quality and relevance, our main aim when putting the training programme and Cluster Network model together has been to make it as cost effective and therefore sustainable as possible for individual schools. So as well as offering discounts for schools that offer themselves as a training venue within the Cluster we have also devised a discounted model for schools when they partner together for training.’
Hannah Klewin, Director – Gathering Voices
For more information or to join the Gathering Voices SongLines Cluster Network please email Gathering Voices:
Clusters@gatheringvoices.org.uk or call on 07980 765947