NEWCASTLE SINGS 2022

The aim of the first Newcastle Sings festival was twofold: to celebrate, inspire and enthuse singers from across the region, and to provide exciting opportunities for all to try out something new or perform somewhere different.

Between May and July 2022, over 2,000 singers aged 8 to 80 took part in activities organised directly by the Newcastle Sings team including pop-up family-friendly concerts and a schools’ festival at cultural venues across Newcastle city centre.

The team also worked to promote concerts, community choir showcases, composition competitions and open rehearsals on behalf of many of the North-East’s broad base of community choirs and groups. Schools took the opportunity to showcase in-house events, visiting artists and larger scale singing activities, and Sing for Pleasure CPD was attended by over 60 school-based practitioners from 45 regional schools.

Newcastle Sing’s Newcastle Youth Choir Project (NYCP) also celebrated the festival’s partnership with ICMuS at Newcastle University. Over 300 young people took part in NYCP workshops in the run up to the main project, with 30 young people aged between 10-18 then going on to take part in core activity.

NYCP activity in the summer of 2022 was supported by ICMuS students, NYCGB young leaders and Newcastle Choral Society. NYCP also co-composed a piece with Joanna Ward: My Favourite Walk, and took part in a performance of Dream of the River by Will Todd.

So…what’s next?

The Newcastle Sings team are supporting a variety of educational events this Christmas, including a concert organised by Palladio Education at St Gabriel’s Church, Heaton, and Christmas Sings events for schools at Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle City Library and Newcastle Cathedral. Music Partnership North Newcastle are coordinating accessible virtual Christmas performances for KS1 and KS2, and NYCP activity continues in partnership with ICMuS.

And of course…we’ll be planning for the summer of 2023.

Register here to be kept in the loop. Or perhaps you’ve got a burning idea for Newcastle Sings 2023? Just get in touch at hello@newcastlesings.org and we’ll get back to you.

Newcastle Sings is YOUR festival. It’s a sing thing…

The Newcastle Sings Team (October 2022)