vivamuschoir
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gloria bells and bangers
As I sit at the (computer) keyboard on Valentine’s Day, I am delighted to write about…
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From St John’s Passion to the Pub: 20 Years with Vivamus
This week (give or take a few days) marks my 20th anniversary of joining Vivamus and…
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Concert programme: Christmas at st clement danes
St Clement Danes, Strand, Thursday 11 December 2025 Programme Performers Programme Once in royal David’s city…
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Looking back, looking forward: remembrance and requiem
On the first Thursday in September, Vivamus returned to rehearsals after the summer break. It was…
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Concert programme: Requiem for the Fallen
St Clement Danes, Friday 7 November 2025 Programme Performers Join Vivamus for a selection of Remembrance-themed…
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How to make the most of choir rehearsal
What do we love most about being in a choir? Concerts are magical, of course, and…
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Our new look and feel
In our post welcoming in 2025, we mentioned that we were hoping to see a rebrand…
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La gioia di cantare / The joy of singing
I recently returned to London after nine months of sabbatical research leave in Florence. (Yes, someone…
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How to look after your voice, whatever the weather
The weather is increasingly unpredictable – one moment it’s sweltering, then there’s puddles everywhere. Bright sunlight…
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Fuelling the voice: what to eat (and avoid) before you sing
When it comes to singing well, we focus on warm-ups, breath support, and posture. But one…
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Sure, on that shining night…
At 8pm on the eve of the longest day of the year, we took our places…
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Concert programme: This Shining Night
St James’s Piccadilly, Friday 20 June 2025 Programme Performers Vivamus presents American, English, French, Latvian and…
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Here comes the sun: Vivamus and Stephen Dodgson
Summer is here, even if the Great British weather doesn’t always want to agree. But despite…
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Am I good enough to sing in a choir?
Most of us have to deal with that little voice that asks, am I good enough?…
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Reflecting on a reflective spring concert
Last Thursday evening, Vivamus performed one of our most atmospheric concerts yet, in the evocative setting…
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Concert programme: Lament and Light
St Dunstan-in-the-West, Thursday 10 April 2025 Programme Performers A week before the end of Lent, Vivamus…
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Why do choirs wear black?
Most of Vivamus’ singers have experience of singing in other choirs, whether formerly at school or…
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Passion Week and the presence of absence
Vivamus is singing well-known works by Allegri, Lotti and Tallis on 10 April. Selling the blazing…
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When a rehearsal isn’t a rehearsal
Last week was Vivamus’ first rehearsal of 2025. After a break over Christmas, we were all…
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What we hope to see in 2025
At Vivamus, we ended 2024 on a high with a triumphant performance at Hitchin Winter Festival,…
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Feeling the joy with Vivamus at Christmas 2024
Sparkly earrings? Check! Obscenely heavy folder full of sheet music and carol books? Check! Gallon of…
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Sing with cheerful voice: Looking back at Hitchin Winter Festival
Watch a video summary of Vivamus at Hitchen Winter Festival 2024 On Saturday 30 November 2024,…
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Vivamus at Christmas 2024
St Clement Danes, Thursday 12 December 2024 Programme Performers Programme O Radiant Dawn – James MacMillan…
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Insights from Anna Le Hair: “Never stop finding the magic in music”
Vivamus are absolutely thrilled to be working with the incomparable Anna Le Hair. Anna has a…
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Vivamus at Hitchin Winter Festival: Britten’s Saint Nicolas
St Mary’s Church in Hitchin, Saturday 30 November 2024 Programme Performers There’s no better way to…
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A Christmas carol – or two, or three, or more…
The evenings are drawing in, the Christmas lights are up in the streets, and the first…
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The magic of Christmas concerts
There’s just something about Christmas music. Don’t me wrong. Christmas is full of so many things…
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How music can rescue this weird summer
We’re having a bit of a strange time in the UK right now. Patches of dazzling…
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Singing in a religious service when you’re not religious
I was glad to sing at an Evensong service with Vivamus recently. The picture accompanying this…
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Winning at soundtracks: Choir music in video games
“I love video game soundtracks.” Back when I said this as a teenager, people chuckled and…
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A new chapter of the year: A reflective on our spring concert
The cobwebs of winter were finally blown away as Richard Hills, Vivamus’ Accompanist and Associate Director…
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Music for spring: Duruflé Requiem
St Mary’s Bourne Street, Friday 19 April 2024 Vivamus presents a performance of Duruflé’s Requiem as well as…
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“There’s something going around” – singing through sickness
I’ve been under the weather recently. I had to take a sick day off work last…
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Mozart, Maurice and me: seeking solace in Duruflé’s Requiem
I first sang a setting of the Latin Requiem – Mozart’s – as a treble in…
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Rachmaninoff, concertos, and the allure of sitting down – Q&A with cellist Yuki Ito
It’s an honour and a privilege for Vivamus to be working with renowned cellist Yuki Ito…
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Growing as a singer for our spring performance
I was really excited when I heard that this term, we would be singing Duruflé’s Requiem.…
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#TimeToTalkDay, diversity, and the power of singing
Today, 1 February 2024, is #TimeToTalkDay. It’s a campaign by the mental health charity Mind, to…
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Season’s greetings: A Christmas concert reflective
It really is that most wonderful time of the year! Music is everywhere and carol concerts…
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Vivamus at Christmas: A Ceremony of Carols
St Clement Danes, Thursday 14 December 2023 ALL: Once in Royal David’s City – H. J.…
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A Ceremony of Carols: a personal response on St Cecilia’s Day
Benjamin Britten composed A Ceremony of Carols on a sea voyage from the United States to…
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Learning in concert: Performance as (re-)education
I haven’t double-checked, but I think it was a character in a Stephen Fry book who…
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Programme: Celestial Fire
Friday 13 October 2023 Vivamus presents music from the sixteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries in a…
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“Be passionate and always have an open mind” – Q&A with Joshua Gearing
We’re absolutely delighted to be collaborating with BBC Young Musician of the Year’s Joshua Gearing for…
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St Albans Cathedral away weekend: A retrospective
I’ve just arrived back home from an absolutely brilliant weekend of singing on tour with Vivamus…
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Choral music as storytelling
I’ve been a member of Vivamus since 2018, and for the last nine years I’ve been…
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Evensong: What it is, and why you should go
You may be familiar with Evensong already. Perhaps you’ve sung it yourself, or you’ve heard some…
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“Take any opportunity to learn”: Q&A with Richard Hills
Richard Hills is Vivamus’ accompanist and associate director of music. A Fellow of the Royal College…
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The post-concert comedown
What is this feeling? This feeling of numbness, of vague and vacant loss? Mere days ago,…
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Programme: Faire is the Heaven
Saturday 13 May 2023 Vivamus presents English music from the 17th, 18th, 20th and 21st centuries,…
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The Hanover Band Q&A with Julia Black (baroque violin)
At Vivamus, we’re incredibly excited to be collaborating with The Hanover Band to bring you our…
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May 13th 2023: What will you do?
Sometimes in life, we’re faced with a choice. A or B, left or right, stay or…
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Can choirs do remote rehearsals online?
One of the great things about being in a choir is the community aspect. In Vivamus,…
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An ode to St Cecilia
We’re delighted to be performing Purcell’s Hail! Bright Cecilia at our Baroque concert in May. The…
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How to pass a choir audition
Are you thinking of joining a choir? Nervous about the audition process? Here, we demystify chamber…
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Our resolutions for 2023
The New Year is traditionally a time for making plans and looking ahead. After our Annual…
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Singer Q&A with Kieran Morgan (bass)
Bass singer Kieran talks to us about his experiences of Vivamus. What was your singing life…
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2022: A year to remember
It’s not been an easy year for any of us. Economic hardship, political turmoil, international conflict,…
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Thursday choral singing: the start of my weekend
It’s Thursday afternoon, and I’ve had yet another busy week of work, socialising, life admin: the…
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Want to join a London chamber choir?
We – we as individuals, as families, as a country, as a world – are in…
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Programme: Nowell, Nowell
Thursday 15 December 2022 Join Vivamus for a selection of festive favourites by famed American, British…
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Programme: A German Requiem / O Vos Omnes
Friday 4 November 2022 In tonight’s concert, which nominally contains only two works, Vivamus presents music…
