Glasgow Youth Choir

What We Do with Your Donations

The funds raised through donations on Crowdfunder will go towards special projects like going on tour, collaborations with other choirs, various team building workshops and social events like an end of year party for our Juniors members and bowling night for our Seniors.

We also hope that any extra monies could be used to fund recruiting programmes and activites so that the choir can continue to grow its membership and carry on the legacy of the GYC founder Agnes Hoey.

In May 2023, Crowdfunder donations helped send the Glasgow Youth Choir Senior on their first post-Covid trip to Mansfield where they performed with the award winning Cantamus Girls Choir.

Who We Are

The Glasgow Youth Choir (GYC) has been having fun singing and performing for over 65 years.

The choir was established in 1957 by the indomitable Dr Agnes Hoey who inspired generations of children with her passion and spirit. Her belief that most children can sing if given the chance is one of the choir's guiding principles. She welcomed children from all parts of Glasgow who were willing to try and many of her pupils have gone on to become successful professional singers and teachers .

Dr Hoey's legacy continues under the choir's current Conductor Audrey McKirdy who is a former Glasgow Youth Choir member. Audrey has worked just as tirelessly as her mentor to provide the current members with the same sort of experiences she had growing up in choir:

 "Being a member of the Glasgow Youth Choir when I was growing up changed my life, helped me gain self-confidence, set me off into a career as a music teacher and gave me friends for life."

The choir still aims to gives the young people of Glasgow the opportunity to experience the joy and support of singing in group while learning the importance of teamwork, commitment and choral discipline. Under Audrey's baton the GYC whilst respecting its history has developed it into a modern, vibrant award-winning Choir.

Things We've done

The Glasgow Youth Choir has not only performed for various members of the Royal Family including Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III but for thousands of ordinary Glaswegians in venues all across the city. Every November the Senior choir leads the singing at the Remembrance Day Services in George Square.

In addition to the live performances the choir has made numerous appearances on TV and Radio including Songs of Praise.  Recent TV highlights include singing with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the 2019 Proms in the Park which was broadcast live on the BBC Last Night of the Proms. On 31 December 2021 the choir was also featured on an American TV show called Wonderama which highlighted the choir's involvement in the COP26 conference in Glasgow.  At COP26 the choir sung supporting vocals on a song written by acclaimed US composer and actor Paul Hampton in collaboration with the charity Heal R World.

During the 1970s and 80s with help from Council subsidies the GYC toured extensively both in the UK and abroad. The most recent tour was to Italy in 2018. Although Covid meant that no trips could be undertaken from 2020 to 2022 the choir still managed to connect with other young singers all over the world via Zoom.  The Children's Choir's Connecting Zoom group allowed choirs from the USA, Canada, South Africa, India and of course Scotland to share stories, ideas and songs from all parts of the world.

Since the end of the Covid restrictions, the choir has been able to meet up in person with a couple of touring American choirs. The renowned Philadelphia Girls Choir visited  in July 2022 and the GYC spent an afternoon in a workshop with them followed by a lovely dinner out together.  In March 2023 the Glasgow Youth Choir and the Huron High School Choir from Ann Arbor, Michigan put on a spectacular joint concert for the benefit of the Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity. Everyone who was part of this performance from the singers to the audience members were blown away by the energy and power that was generated by this shared experience.