VOCES8 Foundation Education

Newsletter: June 2024

It's been an inspirational few months at The VOCES8 Foundation with workshops and collaborations happening across the UK, Europe and the US. 

In April we hosted our first education day of the year at The VOCES8 Centre. VOCES8, APOLLO5, Lyyra and Paul not only performed but delivered workshops where they have been on tour. We're also excited to share more information about the research we've been doing with some of our partner schools in the UK and the US. 

Here's a snapshot of what we've been up to below:

In this update:
Education Day at The VOCES8 Centre
International Symposium on Research in Choral Singing Research in the UK
Spring and Summer Performances with our French Foundation
Lyyra visits St. Louis, New Jersey and Albuquerque
VOCES8 and Paul at MusicFest Eichstätt

Education Day at The VOCES8 Centre

Each year hundreds of children visit the VOCES8 Centre for a workshop and concert to showcase the singing they have been doing with our Education Leaders and perform with members of our singing team.

Friday 26th April saw the first group of children, two year 4 classes from Oldhill Community School in Hackney, join us for their day at the Centre. The children showcased the pieces they had been working on throughout the year to family, school staff and Friends of The VOCES8 Foundation.

We are very grateful to the Worshipful Company of Glovers whose support has enabled us to work with Oldhill for two years now. The school does not have a specialist music teacher and the year 4 class teachers were not confident in leading singing. As this year’s project drew to a close, both teachers reported noticing the positive impact singing is having on the wellbeing of the children, and parents commented that the classes had a ‘tighter bond’ through coming together to sing.

Want to see our education work in action? Become a Friend of The VOCES8 Foundation to be invited to our next education day. 

International Symposium on Research in Choral Singing

At the end of April, Advisory Board member Dr Cathryn Booth-LaForce and our Director of Education Ann presented the results of their research into the Foundation’s partnership with ‘Sing Together Albuquerque’ at the American Choral Director Association’s International Symposium on Research in Choral Singing. The symposium was attended by researchers from across the United States as well as some online attendees from Australia, Austria and Canada.

You can view their presentation and find out more about 'Sing Together Albuquerque' here.

Research in the UK

Researching the Impact of Classroom Singing on the Wellbeing of Participating Children

A growing body of research demonstrates that group singing has a positive impact on participants' wellbeing. Most studies have focused on choirs, adult groups, people with illnesses such as COPD and Parkinson's disease, and people of all ages facing mental health challenges. However, there is still limited research on the impact of whole class singing projects on children's wellbeing.
 
The Foundation is fortunate to have the support of a donor, enabling us to collaborate with Professor Graham Welch at UCL’s Institute of Education to study the impact of one of our whole class singing projects. We have been working with Years 1 and 2 (children aged 5 to 7) and their teachers at an inner London primary school. The teachers have enthusiastically embraced this project, singing regularly with the children.

We are delighted to announce that, with additional funding, we can extend the project from two terms to four terms. This extension will allow us to continue working with these children and collect further data to examine the impact of whole class singing.

Sing'In:  Spring and Summer Performances with our French Foundation

May and June are always significant months for our Sing'In programme across France. If you're new to our education initiatives, we hope this newsletter introduces you to Sing'In, our branch of The VOCES8 Foundation in France, operating alongside our UK and US counterparts.

APOLLO5 perform with young singers as part of Festival de la Vézère

By the end of June, we will have had concerts to wrap up major projects in Paris, Reims, Calais, Menton, Clermont-Ferrand, Lyon, Le Mans, and the charming rural village of Hirson in Northern France. Special recognition goes to our deeply embedded programme in partnership with the Festival de la Vézère. Alongside three concerts featuring around 600 students, three fortunate young leaders were awarded the 'Sing'In Prize,' granting them the opportunity to attend our VOCES8 International Summer School at Milton Abbey this coming summer. 

Congratulations to Morgane, Manal and Charlotte, who were awarded the 'Sing'In Prize'.

Paul and APOLLO5 lead these concerts across France and the students and singers have had an amazing time, performing music ranging from Hildegard von Bingen to Michael Bublé! We want to take a moment to thank the incredible Sing'In team for their fantastic work and our education leaders who have been visiting schools in these project areas throughout the year. A heartfelt thank you to our leaders: Emily, Charlotte, Lydia, and Greg, and to our management team: Ann, Thomas, Anne, Fantine, and Dorothée!

After the first concert with the Festival de la Vézère, Paul remarked: "Wow! Once again, I'm reminded of the importance of these events - there was such a wonderful sense of excitement and energy in the room tonight! The students gave everything they had to an audience of family, friends, and the local community. By the time we had the whole room singing together, the sense of joy was palpable. Taking these students and their teachers on this year-long journey, introducing them to everything from Renaissance music to Jacques Brel and Clean Bandit, is vital for their musical development. They also learn about various languages through these songs. Everyone onstage tonight should be incredibly proud of their achievements. Leading these concerts is truly my 'happy place,' and I look forward to the rest of the season - it's just so much fun!"
 

Lyyra visits St Louis, New Jersey and Albuquerque

In May, Lyyra embarked on a tour that included collaborations and performances with choirs in St. Louis, Missouri, and Verona, New Jersey. They then travelled to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for school visits and a concert as part of the Music at St. John's series.

In St. Louis, Lyyra and Ann received a warm welcome at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, working with both Ritenour High School and the church choir. In Albuquerque, they visited two elementary schools participating in the Sing Together Albuquerque program. This visit coincided with an announcement from Albuquerque’s District School Board that all Albuquerque elementary schools will now offer both music and art lessons taught by specialist teachers.

During their workshop at Lew Wallace Elementary School, a journalist from the Albuquerque Journal was present to observe and report on the session. You can read the article here.
 

VOCES8 and Paul at MusicFest Eichstätt, Germany

The MusicFest Eichstätt invited VOCES8 and Paul to return this year as they celebrated their 10th anniversary - our previous visit was for their second edition, many years ago! This year, alongside the VOCES8 concert in the festival, Paul led sessions with local adult and student choirs and also led an open singing event, which was a first for the festival.

The festival has a focus on early music, and with our deep passion as a Foundation for that style of music, the team loved performing music from the Renaissance alongside music from more contemporary composers. VOCES8 shared the stage with a massed choir of 120 young singers for a special collaborative evening and the event was truly uplifting for everyone. Sharing the stage with students from the cathedral choir, local high schools and the local university provided students from many different stages of their education a chance to sing alongside VOCES8 and enjoy performing to and with the other students.

Newsletter: February 2024

Tower Hamlets Primary School Assembly Tour: 3 days, 8 singing leaders, 9 schools, 1,500 children

The Foundation works closely with Music Hubs to help support singing in schools. When primary school teachers in Tower Hamlets told their Music Hub they would like professional ensembles to visit their schools and perform for the children in a school assembly, we secured funding for a Tower Hamlets Assembly Tour. Ann and a team of singing leaders visited 9 primary schools delivering interactive concerts to 1,500 children.

Following the concerts, we sought feedback from each school in order to learn more about what they wanted to achieve through the concerts, what the children thought, what the teachers thought the impact of the concerts was and if schools felt the concerts supported the music they do in school. You can see some of their responses below.

During the first day of the tour we quickly discovered that there was rarely enough time for all the questions the children had. Ann therefore invited teachers to send her the children’s questions and she would gather response from the singers. The children in Aspen Class at Olga Primary School had some excellent questions and their class teacher, Cheyney Kent sent these through to Ann.

1. Do you ever get out of breath when you sing a long note?

2. How many times have you been on a plane?

3. What’s your favourite song?

4. Who taught you how to sing those songs?

5. Did you find the songs or did you make up the songs?

6. Do you ever get tired of going to concerts?

7. How many concerts have you sung in?

8. Do you ever want a break?

9. Do your parents come and watch you sing?

10. Do you have special clothes to wear?

Singers Ailsa, Katie, Jack and Greg all responded with their answers and the children in Aspen Class were thrilled to hear from us.

Just in case you ever wondered whether the singers get out of breath when they are singing a long note here are their answers!

‘Absolutely! But the bigger breath you take, the easier it is to sing longer notes. It’s something you can practise too.’

Ailsa Campbell

‘I often run out of breath! So I have to make sure, if I know there’s a long note coming, that my lungs are especially full with air, and then when I’m singing I have to make sure not to panic or I will run out of breath quicker.’

Jack Harberd

‘Sometimes! That’s where practice and rehearsal come in - it’s important to do a proper warm up before we sing to make sure we are really prepared.’

Greg Link

Teacher Feedback

What were you hoping the children/your school would gain by participating in the concert?

‘Inspiration from seeing live performance; endorsement of their own singing and the possibilities; realisation that music can be a job and a career.’

Laura Nash, Seven Mills Primary School

‘A live musical experience delivered by musicians with new repertoire and approach to singing.’

Rob Pinniger, Cayley Primary School

‘Experience and participate in a concert with skilled professional musicians.’

Kate Wheeler, William Davis Primary School

Have you asked the children what they thought/heard their thoughts about the event? What have you gathered from what you’ve heard?

‘Many children approached me through the day, after the performance, from across the age range. One gave me a hug and said “Thank you for bringing VOCES8”. A child in Year 6 asked how to spell VOCES8 so she could look up performances at home.’

Laura Nash, Seven Mills Primary School

‘Talking to the children I think that they really enjoyed it and this was also evident in the way it keep their attention for the whole session.’

Josh Kaye, Arnhem Wharf Primary School

What impact do you think the concert had on the children?

‘I think all external musical visits are impactful because it exposes children to aspects of music and culture that they probably haven’t seen or heard before - especially in primary schools. ‘

Rob Pinniger, Cayley Primary School

‘In terms of feedback, I thought that the assembly was great. There was a good mix of performance and interactivity with the children. I also thought that Ann was very masterful at facilitating the session, I definitely learnt a lot from her!’

Josh Kaye, Arnhem Wharf Primary School

‘Always hard to measure, but I hope that it reflected back to their own singing, e.g. in Singing Assemblies. It has taken a while since COVID for our singing to feel valued by the children themselves, and we have just reached a turning point again where they are beginning to demonstrate developing skills, pride in singing, and in many cases love for singing together.’

Laura Nash, Seven Mills Primary School

Do you feel the concert supported the music you do in school? If so, how?

‘I think it supported singing in the school as it gave a good model of what really high level singing can look like.’

Josh Kaye, Arnhem Wharf Primary School

‘Yes - Year 5 have been having a go at singing vocal harmony with me and we have weekly music assemblies plus a choir so it’s all feeding into the musical awareness and experience of the students.’

Rob Pinniger, Cayley Primary School

‘Yes I do - most broadly to open up possible musical horizons.’

Laura Nash, Seven Mills Primary School

‘Yes, we are building up our knowledge of the various skills that go into music’

Aine Nettleton, Clara Grant Primary School

Newsletter: October 2023

Young Leader Programme

June 2023 saw Greg, Ann and a group of VOCES8 Scholars delivering a Young Leader Programme with year 7 students at Hatcham College. The students learned warm-ups, songs and importantly, how to teach these in a workshop. They also created their own warm-ups and shared some new tongue twisters with Greg. Once prepared, the Young Leaders then visited two primary schools, Hatcham Free School and Hatcham Primary School together with Greg, Ann and the Scholars. They performed for the children and led singing workshops.

‘The children and staff absolutely loved every moment and were even singing The Bear song in class afterwards. Feedback from staff included how well the session was structured and how much was covered, and they particularly enjoyed hearing the professional singers with the students. Mesmerised was the word they used!

— Teacher Hatcham Free School

This was the first time the Foundation has worked with schools in the Haberdashers’ Academies Trust South and it was lovely to see this group of year 7s grow in confidence and deliver engaging workshops for the primary school classes. Feedback from the students indicated that they felt the programme would have a longer term impact on their confidence and their leadership skills.

We are very grateful to The UK Voice Festival for the grant which made this project possible.

Banner photo Torbjörn Hultmark Photography

VOCES8 International Summer School:
Young Musicians' Course

Alongside our 160-strong adult Summer School participants we had 37 young musicians join us for our annual Summer School and Festival down at Milton Abbey, Dorset. Some of the young musicians opted to join the adult course to sing Handel's Israel in Egypt.

Led by Neil Valentine, those on the Young Musicians' Course worked on vocal and instrumental performances and they also composed a new song together. Their song 'Rhythm of the Seasons' was premiered during the Young Musician's Course performance on Friday afternoon and also opened the Gala concert on the final day. We're excited to announce that the sheet music for their song is now available on VOCES8 Publishing. 

Education Projects in London

Six primary schools and one secondary school began their singing projects this month. Singing leaders Sam, Laurel, Clover, Charlotte, Jack, Ailsa, Greg and Lydia have been travelling across Hackney and Tower Hamlets.

This term we are singing about animals and nature beginning with 'When the Red, Red Robin Went Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along'. Children in Albuquerque and London are both learning this song and exploring the differences between the European and North American Robin. 

Education Projects in the US

2023/4 will be our third year working in Albuquerque elementary schools with Quintessence and St John’s United Methodist Church. Ann and teaching artist Chris Short met four new classes to begin their singing journey. They were also able to work with high school choirs at Rio Rancho High School and Moriarty High School.

After Albuquerque and Plano, Ann travelled to Seattle for our first ever workshops there. She was joined by teaching artist MaryRuth Miller and they had a terrific time meeting and working with three high school choirs and one of the Seattle Girls Choir choruses, Cantamus.

Ann and MaryRuth also visited San Francisco where they were joined by teaching artist Cameron Rolling for workshops with iSing and with the San Francisco Girls’ Choir.

Working with Middle School Choirs in Texas

‘They had a great time and got to experience making music in some new ways. They also really liked hearing the pros sing.’

— Middle School Choir Director

A Saturday morning in September saw Paul, a group of US Teaching Artists and the VOCES8 US Scholars deliver a workshop for Middle School Choirs from Plano and Grapevine Texas. Students and their teachers came together at the beautiful St Andrew Church in Plano and spent the morning making music with this lovely Foundation team.

Following the workshop teachers were asked how they thought their students had benefited from the workshop and if they would apply aspects of the sessions in their classroom. Their responses were very positive and we were particularly delighted to learn some had not only begun to use the ideas but were also planning to continue doing so.

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