This year the SING! programme is going from strength to strength as it expands in areas, teams and participants.

In state schools across the country, young people who love music miss out on opportunities to sing together at a high level due to unequal provision. The SING! programme was developed to challenge this inequality of opportunity and to offer participants a supported pathway into membership of National Youth Choir. 

Coming back from the Covid-19 pandemic, we also find that low levels of confidence and self-esteem are holding many young people back from pursuing their passion for singing. By working in targeted areas with regional partners, the SING! programme offers local support at regular intervals to help build up the ambitions of these young singers.

Through fun, accessible and welcoming workshops throughout the year, participants learn new skills and explore new styles of music with the team of expert vocal leaders. Each workshop ends with a short performance for families, passing on the joy and sense of achievement from the day’s activities. In our autumn SING! workshops, young singers are then invited to audition for a place in National Youth Choir if they choose.

SING! focuses on helping young singers become confident in their own abilities and encouraging them to work on their musical skills whilst having plenty of fun at the same time! And it’s working: so far in 2024, 93% of those taking part scored workshops very highly and more than 80% recognised that they had improved their musical skills through taking part. This autumn we have three days of SING! auditions as part of the programme and look forward to celebrating the achievements of all our participants.

Expanding SING! into new areas

In 2024 we launched new SING! programmes in Nottinghamshire and Greater Manchester. Together with regional partners, we have devised bespoke models for each new area, tailoring the content of workshops, variety of venues and age ranges to best suit each region. So far in 2024 we have visited Nottinghamshire four times - and the Greater Manchester team has been in Bolton twice with one more visit planned for early November. Numbers of participants in the new areas are growing and we really enjoyed hearing our first participants from these areas audition to join the National Youth Choir in early October.

Each area has a dedicated team of music and pastoral staff who return for each SING! workshop. This consistency is great for the young singers as well as being crucial for successful programme delivery. Knowing and working with the same team throughout the year allows staff to work creatively, bringing new ideas to the workshops and to support one another, developing skills and practice together. We have included some of our Emerging Professional Artists within each team and are finding that this set-up gives them space to hone their leadership skills as well as creating valuable connections with other members of staff and regional partners. We are delighted that there have been several connections made on SING! projects which have led to new work opportunities for staff. 

Later this year, we will be growing the SING! programme further through several new dedicated partnerships, to start in 2025. Watch this space!

We are now looking ahead to partnerships in 2025 and 2026. Interested in the SING! programme for an area or partner organisation you know? Get in touch with the Learning & Engagement team. Email Katie on [email protected]