#ChoirsAgainstCancer

#ChoirsAgainstCancer is a project that invites the whole choral singing community to join together during the festive period to support Macmillan Cancer Care. We are making a brand new choral piece by Jamie W. Hall available for free and without any limitations to choirs everywhere who will then use their performances to support the work of this fantastic charity.

A cancer diagnosis is among the darkest of life’s moments, and the following months and years of treatment can be incredibly tough. As choral singers, we KNOW the incredible power of community singing to bring light and relief in these moments.

O Nata Lux is a brand new choral piece in versions for SATB, SAB (for limited numbers of low voices or a cambiata part), SSAA, and ATBarB, so you can choose a version which works best for your choir, and since this text is not just for Christmas, you can perform the piece at any time between now and Candlemas (February 2024) when the project ends. 

Using this piece you can raise funds in whatever way is best for you and there is no minimum donation but we’d obviously like you to be as generous as you can. From a simple donation, a choir whip-round, a retiring collection, a percentage of ticket sales, or simply asking your online followers to support the cause – there are many ways that you can take part. 

*BREAKING NEWS*

Jamie is also teaming up with digital choir Homechoir to give everyone worldwide the chance to sing his beautiful O Nata Lux for Choirs Against Cancer. Those who are isolated through geography, practicality or health issues can learn and record the piece from home, with a particular focus on those living with cancer who may feel too ill or be too immunocompromised to go to choir rehearsals in person.

Homechoir is open to everybody worldwide and so if you would like to take part, all you need to do is learn O Nata Lux with Homechoir's Musical Director Ben England, follow his easy instructions to record yourself singing it, and send your recording to Homechoir by Wednesday 25 October 2023 at 11.55pm UK time. Their amazing sound engineers will mix everyone's recordings together and Ben will play the final international recording of O Nata Lux in December! All of the information and resources you need are available on Homechoir's website at: https://homechoir.org/sing-and-send/choirsagainstcancer

Homechoir's O Nata Lux 'Sing & Send' project is free, although Ben and Jamie would be very grateful if those who take part could donate to the Choirs Against Cancer Crowdfunder page."

-------------

Singing new music is an exciting part of every choir’s experience and well worth the small cost of buying copies, but here the music is free so that you can support this fantastic charity at no extra cost to you or your choir, and that means more money for Macmillan! Visit their website to learn more about the work they do. http://www.macmillan.org.uk/

So what next? Simply download the PDF of the carol and the rest is up to you. There’s no sign-up, no conditions, no rules… We just want you to enjoy singing it and get on with raising those all-important funds.

A score can be downloaded by pasting the following link into your web browser. www.jamiewhall.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Choirs-Against-Cancer-2023.pdf

Jamie would love to hear about your performances through his Twitter feed [@JWHallBaritone], and you can make donations via the Crowdfunder page at any time up to February 5th 2024 or afterwards direct to Macmillan.

Visit http://jamiewhall.co.uk/choirsagainstcancer1 for all information, scores, and to keep track of performances. 

A WORD FROM JAMIE “Back in 2016 something amazing happened. I offered a new carol to choirs, for free, hoping that we might raise a little bit of money for a good cause – and people just ran with the idea. So many choirs took part, and together we raised over £17,000!

Since then the world has become a much darker place – political uncertainty, civil unrest, a global pandemic, the decimation of the arts industry, war in Europe – and still people live with the devastating effects of cancer. My O Nata Lux is all about light shining in the darkness and I  hope that we, together, can recreate the magic from 2016 to bring light to people who are experiencing one of life’s darkest moments. 

Thank you all for supporting this campaign. 

Jamie x