Steel City Choristers launch second Reasons to Sing project

Sheffield-based choir, the Steel City Choristers, have launched the second iteration of their Reasons to Sing! project, which sees the group invite people to share their favourite songs, which are then paired with historic pieces from the choristers’ choral repertoire for a multi-genre performance.

The scheme aims to broaden the accessibility to of English church music by building new relationships with the local community and making choral music relevant to audiences who might engage with it. Six songs, chosen by people attending the St Mary’s Social Supermarket, a community food scheme in Sheffield, have been arranged for SATB and paired with historic choral works.

Steel City Choristers chair of trustees Kate Caroe said: ‘We ought to be taking choral music out to communities because people need the space and beauty that it provides. It's not fair that not everyone knows how to access the 1,000-year-old heritage of this country. Anyone can walk into a cathedral in England, hear a choir singing Evensong for free and just take time to soak in the music, but if people aren't going to come into the building then we should be taking it out to them.’

The choir, which was formed after the controversial disbanding of the Sheffield Cathedral Choir, has been successful in breaking down barriers around choral music according to testimony from participants in the project’s inaugural year.

The choir’s upcoming Reasons to Sing! performance will feature song pairings including Mama by the Spice Girls, which has been matched with Rachmaninoff’s Bogoroditse Devo, and This Is Me from the film The Greatest Showman which will be performed alongside a setting of Psalm 139. The programme of musical pairs will be performed on 7 October following workshops and rehearsals taking place this month.