Everyone is welcome to try out London City Voices and see if we're a good fit for you. This first session is free and there's no commitment or pressure to join if it's not right for you. When you sign up you will receive an email with instructions to create your password and login to our Free Members area. Here you will find more information and advice about joining our choir and what to expect when you come along to experience the rehearsals for yourself. You'll also need to email us to arrange your free taster session.
FAQs
We do organise our year into terms, but they only vaguely follow school terms. For instance, we don't necessarily break for Easter Weekend. We'll take a break in the spring, but it's not always tied to holidays. Our terms are generally about 13 weeks long and tend to run January-April, May-August and September-December, with about a three-week break in between.
Our £7.50/month Pay-As-You-Go direct debit plan allows you to come to as many rehearsals as you like at £17 per session (payable by cash or card on the door). However, if you are likely to attend more than two sessions per month, you would find our standard Monthly plan better value. The Pay-As-You-Go plan does not give you access to our online rehearsals.
None whatsoever. You have the choice to join any time thereafter and we will send you a thank you email with the links to sign up. But there's no pressure to join, and if we're not the right choir for you then just let us know and we'll remove you from our database.
They’re wrong. You can. Seriously, we can offer a lot of help and support to you if you have problems singing in tune/time. We’re an all-comers choir, with a wide range of abilities.
Neither.
Not publicly. Richard may ask you to sing a few notes when you first speak to him, just so that he knows if you have a low or high voice, but that won't be really audible by anyone else. If you need some help with pitching, you may need to sing in front of Richard or Ben after a rehearsal, but you'll never have to perform publicly on your own if you don't want to.
Yes of course. We have new people at almost every practice - even towards the end of a term.
We run an online rehearsal on Zoom every Tuesday evening. This is also recorded so you can watch it later if you can't be around in person. We also try to livestream one rehearsal a week - usually Wednesday.
Yes of course. Simply contact us and tell us when you'd like to move it to.
No. Our members have very different abilities. Some are very experienced singers, who can read music and may even have perfect pitch. Some haven't sung since they were at school. Some are very nervous about their ability, and others very confident. We welcome everyone, and try to make sure everyone has a fulfilling experience. However, we do expect you to work hard at improving your accuracy. If you find it difficult to sing the right notes, we may come alongside you and offer some extra support. We'll do this in a very kind way that avoids drawing attention to you, but it may occasionally be necessary to have a conversation about it. If someone is singing the wrong notes a lot, it can be quite distracting for other members, so it does need addressing. We have many resources (such as Richard's book, available on a link on this site) which can help you improve as a singer. If you are unsure of whether you're singing the right notes, we would encourage you to sing quietly at first and then have a chat with Richard or Ben after a Wednesday or Thursday rehearsal (where we have a bit more flexibility with time).
You don't need to be able to read music. Some of our members can; many have no idea what those dots and squiggles are all about. We do supply links to the sheet music and Richard will often give tips about how to follow it as he's teaching. Even if you can't read it properly you can at least see when notes go up and down. Every so often we also offer workshops on reading music.
Best value for committed members
Attend multiple rehearsals.
Access to members' area and online resources.
Take part in concerts & events.
Access to private Facebook group and Telegram channels
Spread the cost of membership
Attend multiple rehearsals.
Access to members' area and online resources.
Take part in concerts & events.
Access to private Facebook group and Telegram channels
Suitable for members who do not live or work in London, including international members
Attend online rehearsals.
Access to members' area and online resources.
Attend top-up in-person rehearsals at discounted rate.**
Take part in concerts & events.
Access to private Facebook group and Telegram channels
up to 4 face-to-face rehearsals per term, pay £5 per rehearsal: for any further face-to-face rehearsals in that term, pay £17 per rehearsal.
For occasional members - PLEASE NOTE: requires extra payment to attend each rehearsals
Attend in person rehearsals at £17 per rehearsal.
Access to members' area and online resources.
Take part in concerts & events
Access to private Facebook group and Telegram channels
FAQs
Yes, we offer approximately 30% discount on our annual, monthly and Out-of-Town membership plans to those who are full-time students or receiving benefits. To receive this discount, you'll need to sign up for the free taster account, then discuss this with us over email when you organise your taster session. Discounts are at the discretion of London City Voices Ltd, and you'll have to provide evidence of full-time student status or low income status. Please do not ask for any larger discount than this - even at the non-discounted price, we already offer a lot for the price. London City Voices is our main source of income.
You can't set an actual date, but it takes about week after you set up your Go Cardless account for your bank account to be debited. This means you should be able to set up your plan so the payment leaves your account at the most convenient time.
You can begin it at any time. The money should leave your account about a week after you set up your Go Cardless account, then it will be automatically debited again a year later.
Our £7.50/month Pay-As-You-Go direct debit plan allows you to come to as many rehearsals as you like at £17 per session (payable by cash or card on the door). However, if you are likely to attend more than two sessions per month, you would find our standard Monthly plan better value. The Pay-As-You-Go plan does not give you access to our online rehearsals.
We use Go Cardless, the leading direct debit provider in UK. They handle all payments securely and you will receive a receipt from us via GoCardless when the mandate is set up. Your payment will be made automatically, so there's nothing for you to do, and you can cancel the direct debit any time. In terms of monthly payments, it works like this: We divide the year into three terms of 12/13 weeks (depending on how it lands), with a three-week gap (approximately) between each term. Effectively, the price is £150 per term (approx 4 months of rehearsals). However, to make it manageable for everyone, we have the direct debit in place to space out those payments. It’s because you’re looking at this month in isolation. If the date of your payment for a particular month happens to land at the beginning of a term break, it can feel like you're paying for not going to rehearsals, but it evens out later on. As long as you continue subscribing to us, you will get at least 36 (usually 37 or 38) weeks of rehearsals per year for your £450 (12 months worth of £37.50). If you're paying annually, you're getting all those same rehearsals for £370. What a bargain! It can seem confusing at first, but it does work out fairly for you. This is also taken into account for the mid-term breaks (for the Spetses holiday, ski trip etc).
Because of Covid we no longer give out actual paper music sheets. However, if you're a paid-up member you can download your music from the Members' Area of this website, and if you're coming to a taster session or you forget one week, don't worry. We have a QR code at each rehearsal which gives you access to a folder with all the music that will be covered that week. So as long as you have a smartphone or iPad you'll be able to access the music.
Our terms are usually about 13 weeks long. The spring and summer terms have a break part way through - for our skiing trip and our singing holiday in Greece - but our autumn term is a solid block. However, after our Christmas concert we usually do a couple of weeks of charity singing at mainline stations.
We offer a free taster session to all new members and then offer a range of memberships to suit all budgets so we don't generally offer refunds once the plan has been set up for you. If you are not sure if you can commit for the year, it is best to stick with monthly membership, and then you can cancel anytime.
If you have come to the right amount of rehearsals in a term as a pay-as-you go member (usually 6 or 7), then yes. But if you know you are going to come to more than 6 rehearsals in a term, we would advise you to join as a full member, either on a monthly or an annual plan, in order to save money.
To become a member of London City Voices please join one of our membership plans, payable by direct debit. You can choose a monthly plan at £37.50 per month or an annual plan at £370 per year. The annual plan represents a £80 saving over the monthly plan. You can start these at any time. You can also cancel them at any time.