Help the Phoenix Choir launch Kids & Youth Choir!

Aim

We've got 4 thriving choirs in Edinburgh for adults - and now we want to reach the next generations with 2 brand new kids & youth choirs!

Who: We are The Phoenix Choir Edinburgh - and we currently have 4 choirs in Edinburgh! We have community choirs as well as an auditioned choir, and we love singing soulful songs which pack a punch and kick a groove! We really believe that singing is for everyone - and so often we hear the stories of people who enjoyed singing when they were young, but stop for various reasons. When they find our choirs, they are relieved to find a safe place to sing again and find their voice - and we want to bridge that gap!

We want to inspire the next generation to sing - and what better way than to start our own youth initiative!

What: Our aim is to eventually have 2 regular choirs that cater to those under 18: Kids Choir (8-11yrs) and Youth Choir (12-18yrs) - but first we want to kick start our journey with a number of free workshops!

The workshops will be across the city, so that young people from all around Edinburgh can join and see how a Phoenix Choir works: it's up-lifting, engaging, and full of energy! 

We have 2 brilliant choir leaders who will run a session for the Kids Choir and then the Youth Choir - you don't need to have previous experience of choir singing, and you don't need to read music as we will teach everything by ear. 

When: We want to host at least 6 workshops across Edinburgh in the new year (2026). They will be spread out across the city and free to attend

Why: Because choirs are the best! 
We know that choirs have amazing benefits - both for learning new skills, physical health and mental well-being - and we think that getting the younger generation to meet up and sing in person is important more now than ever.

The pandemic saw a younger generation of children without social contact - and singing in a choir is one of the best ways to meet new people, learn to socialise face-to-face - as well as learning and practicing a new skill in person. 

It's important to us that we include young people from diverse backgrounds rather that just in their own school: a choir is a level playing field. We are all learning the same song at the same pace, and every voice in the choir contributes to making the whole sound!

Singing in a choir has so many benefits, both for your physical and mental well-being, as well as learning new skills. Singing is excellent for your breathing, releases endorphins which contribute to stress reduction, it Improves posture, can improve your immune system and is proven to improved mood, as well as being beneficial for mental health.

Not only do you learn singing as a skill in itself, but it’s good for your memory and excellent for teamwork, discipline and growing confidence! Choirs are an excellent way to create a sense of community, and work towards something greater than yourself. 

Why Kids/Youth:  We already know that our choirs work; we have over 260+ people attending our choirs every week, and the feedback is wonderful! We now want to encourage young people to get singing too - and we can't see any other groups in Edinburgh offering what we do: singing with passion, in a supportive environment, which is accessible both educationally (no music reading required) and financially accessible (our usual community choir subs are £5/session with free scholarship places available.)

We also work towards exciting performance opportunities which we ultimately want our youth choirs to be part of - in past years we have performed in The Usher Hall, The Assembly Rooms, The Queens Hall, The Ross Band Stand and other venues across Scotland - and we can't wait to bring more young people into these spaces for amazing performance opportunities!

Specifically What & Where: Our goal is to start with 6 workshops for the Kids Choir (8-11yrs) and 6 workshops for the Youth Choir (12-18yrs) which will take place across Edinburgh and will be free to attend.
We think this is the best way to engage a wide range of young people across the city - and get them singing! The money raised will:

- Cover the cost of venue hire
- Pay our teacher a fair wage for their time
- Cover admin costs
- Help to advertise the workshops

We believe that by hosting these workshops, we will introduce a generation of young people to the love and joy of singing in choirs, as well as the performing arts - and potentially lead to the launch of regular Kids & Youth Choirs with The Phoenix Choir. 

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p.s The sentence "four thriving choirs" is such a tongue twister and an excellent warm-up exercise for your diction!

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made