Come and Sing

Event details

Immerse yourself in gorgeous harmony with a massed choir of singers from Bergen (Norway), Cumbria, the North East and York as we test the idea that group singing is an effective way of connecting with strangers. 

Hosted by leading academics and singing leaders from the UK and Norway, this promises to be an inspiring and uplifting session demonstrating the power of group singing, with lots of opportunities to join in.

Bergenhus Entusiastkor - Bergenhus Enthusiast Choir

With almost 70 members Bergenhus Entusiastkor is one of the largest amateur choirs on the West coast of Norway as well as a significant feature of Bergen’s cultural life. The choir has chosen ‘Solidarity and Joy of Life’ as a guiding principle for its musical commitment. The Bergenhus Enthusiast Choir was founded in 2003 and, ever since, has  performed on small and large stages at home and abroad. 

The choir has its 20th anniversary this year, and to celebrate this, they will visit the beautiful City of York as part of York Festival of Ideas, and they will also conduct an Anniversary Concert at the Corner Theatre in Bergen in September.

The choir's co-founder and longtime conductor is Tiri Bergesen Schei, Professor of Music at The Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.

Mouthful Voices / Sing Owt! / Wild Chorus

Mouthful are a four-piece a cappella vocal group who make innovative, exciting and original music using only the human voice as an expertly-played and finely-tuned instrument. They run weekly singing groups across the north of England, including the three choirs represented today. 

Mouthful Voices meet in Gosforth, Newcastle led by Bex Mather and Dave Camlin, while Sing Owt! and Wild Chorus are both based in west Cumbria, led by Dave. 

As ‘natural voice’ choirs, they’re non-auditioned, with an emphasis on social bonding and community solidarity as well as sounding good. Mouthful Voices explore group singing and theatre to create unique events, while Sing Owt! welcomes everyone including beginners and less confident singers, and Wild Chorus is an eco-choir who perform repertoire with environmental themes.

They have performed at festivals and arts venues across the UK, including many outdoor performances at festivals and ‘off-the-grid’ musical events on mountain-tops, by lake-sides, in wildflower meadows and under full moons. The ‘Mouthful Way’ is about the power of group singing to transform our experience of the world, forging deep social connections through the power of the human voice.

York St John Choir

Opening in May 1841 as the York Diocesan Training School for teacher education, York St. John (YSJ) became a university in 2006. 

Music has long been an important part of the curriculum and YSJ offers a suite of BAs in Music, Music Performance, Music Composition and Community Music. We also offer MAs and PhDs in Music Composition, Music Leadership and Community Music, with the International centre for Community Music (ICCM), a key research centre, housed within the institution.

YSJ's Music Department ethos is captured in their innovative modules where students across all year groups work in creative collaboration to enhance university life and support the wider community. Students also take part in projects based in the community and, as a university with a core value of social justice, students are encouraged to invest in socially engaged music practice.

The University Choir frequently sing in York Minster, including a candlelit All Saints’ Day service in the crypt, the Carol Service with a congregation of 1,200, and degree conferment ceremonies with audiences of 2,000. We sing a wide variety of music from all eras and countries, but particularly enjoy focusing on repertoire from the 20th and 21st centuries.

Partners