Members area

Autumn rehearsal schedule

• Autumn 2025 rehearsals begin 7pm, Thursday 2 October 2025. Book collection from 6.30pm
• LTB 6/7 in the Lecture Theatre Block

Hire or buy music

You can buy or hire music through the choir through our Librarian. There should be scores to hire/buy on a first come first served basis for new and existing choir members.

Autumn Term 2025

Music for the Autumn Term:

• Joseph Martin: Christmas Dreams
• Judith Bingham: Christmas Truce
• Gerald Finzi: In Terra Pax
• Kim Arnesen: I will light candles
• Kim Arnesen: Cradle Hymn
• Jonathan Dove: The Three Kings

The deadline for ordering music is 31 July 2025.

Learning the music

Don’t worry if you’re not experienced in sight-singing. Some people will be proficient at this whilst others will be gaining experience and learning the pieces slowly. Ben will be aware if there are sections of music that the choir is struggling with and will take time to go over pieces repeatedly during the term. To help yourself:

• Aim for 100% attendance at rehearsals
• Arrive on time and stay for the whole of the rehearsal
• Bring a pencil and rubber to every rehearsal so you can write down Ben’s instructions in your music

Voice reps

There is a voice rep for each vocal part. You will meet yours at rehearsals and he/she will provide you with contact details. Your voice rep will:

• Keep an attendance record - if you arrive late, please inform your voice rep
• Allocate seating for the performances and ensure that arrangements needed for any disabilities are notified to the concert manager
• If you need to miss a rehearsal, please let your voice rep know

Selling tickets

The choir is funded by members’ subscriptions and by selling tickets. So please encourage your friends to come to hear you sing.

Subscriptions

• Full members- £210
• University of Essex students-  £21  - you first buy membership from the Student Union for £5, then pay £21 to the choir. Your £5 is returned to you later.
• Under 18s - £21

6.15 Choir

Our conductor Ben Vonberg-Cark runs sessions at 6.15pm at the University every Thursday before the main University Choir rehearsal at 7.00 pm. The 6.15 Choir is for people who want to sing different choral repertoire (jazz, close harmony and so on) to complement the music sung in the main choir.