With special guest singer-songwriter Karine Polwart
7.30pm Monday 19th June 2023
Full event info and online tickets at www.lovemusic.org.uk/events
This June, the Love Music Community Choir continues its 10th anniversary celebrations by bringing together 500 singers on the Usher Hall stage in a celebration of community singing. They will be joined by the Edinburgh Ukrainian Choir, Phoenix Choir Edinburgh, and Soundhouse Choir, alongside seven times winner at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, special guest Karine Polwart, the genre-defying pianist Dave Milligan, and Oi Musica with its street band The Shunpike Social Club. The concert will be streamed live on YouTube to make it accessible for those who can’t make it to the hall.
The event features an eclectic programme including soul, gospel, folk, pop and massed choral anthems by songwriters including Big Country and The Cranberries, and a Ukrainian folk song. ‘Enough Is Enough’ written by Karine Polwart, Oi Musica and Heather Macleod of Soundhouse Choir, was written in response to the recent COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in 2021 and is one of two large scale works in the concert alongside ‘One Day Like This’ by Elbow, which will feature all 500 singers on stage alongside the brass section of Oi Musica and its street band The Shunpike Social Club. Love Music is delighted that the Edinburgh Ukrainian Choir is joining the Edinburgh Sings community collaboration to welcome new residents to the city and the Usher Hall.
Formed in 2013, Love Music joined forces with Edinburgh’s Usher Hall to create the UK’s largest community choir, growing to over 350 singers and recently with members participating online from across the globe. The choir has a history of unique collaborations with world renowned artists, including champion beatboxer Hobbit, Edinburgh City organist John Kitchen, singer songwriter Karine Polwart, the Dave Milligan Trio, opera soprano Anne Sophie Duprels, jazz musician Denys Baptiste, piper Steven Blake, and Manchester band James! The choir is proud to have Edinburgh’s Lord Provost as its Patron.
Love Music choirs are inclusive and accessible, for both choir members and audience alike. Not everyone feels ready to sit and sing together in the same space, but thanks to technology, the joy of singing together and being part of this community are still possible. In this hybrid concert, we welcome singers on stage alongside those joining in from home, and the audience has the option of coming to watch in person or tuning in online.
Quote from patron of the Love Music Community Choir, Rt Hon Lord Provost Robert Aldridge
The wonderful Love Music Community Choir are continuing their 10th anniversary celebrations with this fantastic concert. Covering a range of genres there really is something for everyone whether you like gospel, folk, pop or soul. I’m extremely proud to being patron of this wonderful organisation which continues to go from strength to strength. Love Music Community Choir is for everyone and anyone who wants to sing and this promises to be a special night as they welcome the Edinburgh Ukrainian Choir and perform together.
Quote from Stephen Deazley, Love Music Artistic Director
We’re still feeling our way out of the Covid years with all the challenges it brought to our communities. It’s been a long road, but events like these help bring us back into cultural life, to reach out and connect with other people. The Usher Hall stage will be full to bursting and not just with the number of people, but also with joy, with the spirit of musical adventure, collaboration and a renewed sense of comradery for singing together.
Quote from Karina Cherviakova conductor of Edinburgh Ukrainian Choir
We are very happy to sing on the same stage with such choirs and we want to show the beauty and depth of Ukrainian folk song.
Quote from Kat Brooks, Choir Director of The Phoenix Choir Edinburgh
We’re absolutely thrilled to be invited to be part of this event – it’s a brilliant opportunity to both link up and work with other fabulous musical groups in the Edinburgh community, as well as having our own wee moment to shine in such a prestigious venue! Our singers are buzzing with excitement, and we’re working away in our rehearsals to bring our very best to the stage.
Quote from Heather Macleod, musical director of Soundhouse Choir
Soundhouse Choir are beyond delighted and very excited to take up on this invitation from Love Music. To sing in such a special gem of Edinburgh, the Usher Hall, and unite in voice with such a brilliant range of Edinburgh choirs in an epic, grand-scale finale – there is nothing not to like! We can’t wait!
Quote from Marcus Britton, Lead Musician at Oi Musica and Director of The Shunpike Social Club
It’s going to be a great night! We’re delighted to be involved in such a huge celebration of singing and community music. It’s a fantastic opportunity for The Shunpike Social Club to perform in an iconic venue, and it’s also going to be quite emotional to bring Oi Musica’s song ‘Enough is Enough’ to life again with co-creators Karine Polwart and Heather MacLeod – not to mention hundreds of singers. I know how powerful that’s going to sound.
www.lovemusic.org.uk/events
About the choirs & artists
Love Music Community Choir
Run in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council and Usher Hall, Love Music Community Choir calls the iconic Usher Hall its home. You don’t need any previous musical experience to join, just your love of singing. Choir repertoire includes everything from Mozart to Joy Division and is led by Love Music’s inspiring and celebrated Artistic Director Stephen Deazley. The choir regularly works with internationally acclaimed musicians and is ambitious, fearless and fun! As an inclusive community of people from different backgrounds right across the city, the choir celebrates difference and its members support each other through their musical adventures. The choir broadcasts its rehearsals online so that members who can’t make it to the hall can still sing as an integral part of the choir. The choir is a formidable force in the continuing demonstration of the positive effects of singing on its members’ health, wellbeing and confidence. The choir is proud to have the Lord Provost as its patron. choir.lovemusic.org.uk
Scottish music inclusion and education charity Love Music inspires and empowers people to be curious, creative and adventurous with music, regardless of their skill base or background, raising aspirations and changing lives. It creates innovative, no-barrier models of music engagement and new music through which young people and communities can come together with musicians in a professional setting and participate in inspirational music making. lovemusic.org.uk
The Phoenix Choir Edinburgh
Up-lifting, up-beat and fierce, The Phoenix Choir bring their feisty energy together for this special performance! Their ethos stands on welcoming everyone, and loving the music that they sing; they love songs which pack a punch and kick a groove! They feature funk, gospel and contemporary songs with a soulful twist! All of their songs have been taught & learnt by ear, with all arrangements written especially for the choir. Rehearsals are a great place to unleash your energy and get a bounce that lasts the rest of the week. Kat started The Phoenix Choirs from scratch in 2016, and have grown (even singing online throughout lockdown) to the vibrant choir you see today! They have 3 choirs: Leith, Central, and Carers & Co! Get in touch to join them: www.thephoenixchoir.com
Soundhouse Choir
Right from the start in 2016, Soundhouse Choir has been a big community choir and part of a much bigger picture. It has the heart of a community choir and the soul of a big band. The experience is an exciting and creative joy ride; a choir for all voices, driven by dynamism, professionalism, good humour and musical inspiration. ALL are welcome to add their voice and to be part of something very special – no previous singing or musical experience is required, just a love of music and a dash of give-it-a-go! Soundhouse Choir have performed in some of Scotland’s most legendary venues, from their home city of Edinburgh, Greyfriars Kirk, Queens Hall, Usher Hall and The Scottish Parliament, to the streets of Glasgow, Shetland’s Mareel (and nearly Cuba!) – featuring a host of stellar live and recording collaborations along the way with Mark Bonnar, Stuart Nisbet, The Bevvy Sisters and Moishe’s Bagel. Soundhouse Choir is run by Leod Music in partnership with The Soundhouse Organisation. Heather Macleod’s love of harmony singing has led to over thirty years’ experience as a singer, teacher, arranger and producer. www.soundhouse.org.uk/choir
Oi Musica
Oi Musica is a vibrant arts organisation with a social purpose, founded in 2011 by musicians Marcus Britton and Olivia Furness. They use the music of street bands to bring people and communities together. Their work celebrates all aspects of group music making – generating positive shared experiences, celebrating collective success, and finding common ground between players from different backgrounds. They aim to broaden participation in music, and their programme of work includes youth bands, music programmes in schools, community music, artistic collaborations, practitioner training, festival programming, and lots of playing out in the streets. Oi Musica is based in East Edinburgh, where their youth programme Brass Blast currently welcomes 80 young people every Tuesday to learn brass, street drumming and creative music making. And where Monday nights are all about The Shunpike Social Club – meeting for regular 6-week courses in celebratory street and carnival music, bringing a wee spark of joy to the start of the week!
The Shunpike Social Club
The Shunpike Social Club is an all-welcome band for players of brass, reeds, drums & percussion, with guitar & bass completing the rhythm section. Led by Marcus Britton, collaborating with guest tutors specialising in Brazilian, Latin American or carnival percussion, sessions are welcoming, relaxed and full of good vibes. They welcome players at all stages, build a set of tunes together and perform all year round, with plenty of outdoor gigs through the summer months. Directed by Sam Ward-Hardy and Jose Rojas (percussion) and Marcus Britton (melody). Interested in getting involved? www.oimusica.co.uk/shunpike-social-club
Stephen Deazley
Born in Belfast, now living in Scotland, Stephen Deazley is a composer and renowned educationalist. Widely acknowledged across the UK as a champion of music for children and young people alongside his work with community musicians, Stephen is a former director of education for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and a recipient of a British Academy of Composers Award for his education and community work.
Dave Milligan
Dave Milligan is a highly versatile musician and a leading figure in the diverse Scottish music scene. His musical imagination flows freely between multiple genres, and is in great demand all over the world as a performer, composer, arranger, musical director and educator. Having established himself early in his career as one of the most sought-after jazz pianists in the country, Dave’s work with some of the folk and Celtic music scene’s brightest artists earned him a reputation as a hugely adaptable, creative force. www.davemilligan.co.uk
Karine Polwart
Karine Polwart is a multi-award-winning Scottish songwriter, folk singer, and storyteller. Her songs evoke a richness of place, hidden histories, scientific curiosity and folklore. Trees and rocks speak. Birds flit in and out of vision. And the stars know everything. She conjures the beauty and magic, the sorrow and complexity of the world out of the corner of her eye, with lyricism and tenderness. Karine’s many collaborative projects include: Still As Your Sleeping, a duo with pianist Dave Milligan; a longstanding trio with brother Steven Polwart and multi-instrumentalist Inge Thomson; her Scottish Songbook re-imaginings of classic Scottish pop; Spell Songs, a multi-artist response to environmental loss; and Wind Resistance, her peatbog-inspired theatre show for The Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh. In collaboration with sound designer and composer, Pippa Murphy, she has been commissioned over the past two years by both the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. And 2023 will see her collaborate with Pippa again on Seek the Light, a poetic three-part BBC Radio 4 documentary series combining science, music and folklore. karinepolwart.com
Press enquiries
Victoria Fuller, Marketing & Communications, Cultural Venues, City of Edinburgh Council / Victoria.Fuller@edinburgh.gov.uk / +44 7791 251238
Kirsten Hunter, Producer, Love Music / kirsten@lovemusic.org.uk / +44 7815 566861