Welcome to Brighton Folk Choir! 

Brighton Folk choir is a Natural Voice community choir specialising in the songs of the rituals and customs of the turning year. We sing bespoke arrangements in full four-part harmony and love performing at seasonal gatherings such as orchard wassails, May Day festivities, summer fairs and harvest festivals.

Do get in touch if you’d like us to sing at your event!

Come join our choir

We are a super friendly choir and we welcome new members at our open sessions on a regular basis! Joining our choir is a great opportunity to sing, socialise and meet new people. Singing in a group has also been proven to increase happiness! Open sessions are only £5 to new members so why not give it a try? 

Everyone is welcome – no experience is necessary, no audition and no need to be able to read music. We all learn everything by ear, both lyrics and music, just the way people learnt these songs in the past. And as a choir member you will get access to recordings of all your parts to help you remember them between practices!

Just get in touch to find out the date of the next open session.  Please note that open session are not necessary at the beginning of the term as we may be practicing for a performance. A lot of our regular seasonal events coincide with the start of term so we do things a little differently to other choirs!

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Upcoming Gigs

March 1, 2025
4:30 pm
7:00 pm
Lovebrook Farm
The Street, Kingston, Lewes, BN7 3NT

When and where

We sing every Monday evening from 7 – 9 during term time at:

The Rose Hill Tavern
70 Rose Hill Terrace,
Brighton,
BN1 4JL

See term dates below

Get in touch to join us!

What they are saying

“I’ve so enjoyed your sessions and I’ve learned a lot both in starting to develop my ear for harmonies and the wonderful traditional and deeper rooted words, phrasings and melodies. “
Chris K – choir member

Read more testimonials to see what people are saying about Brighton Folk Choir!

Term times:                                        AUTUMN:

Songs of Autumn: from Harvest Home to Halloween

Monday 9th September – Monday 21st October 2024 (7 sessions)

 

Songs of Midwinter, Mummers and Misrule: from Bonfire Night to Wren Day

Monday 4th November – Monday 16th December 2024 (7 sessions)

Autumn Term Fees: Advance block booking £7 a session (£98 for full 14 sessions) or£8 drop in 

                                                   SPRING:

Songs of the Year’s beginning: from Twelfth Night to St Valentine’s

Monday 6th January – Monday 10th February 2025 (5 sessions) NO SESSION MONDAY 3rd FEBRUARY

OPEN SESSION: Monday 13th January

Half Term fees: Advance block booking £35 (£7 per session) 

 

Shrovetide Shenanigans and Easter Eggs: from Pancake Day to Pace-egg Plays

Monday 24th February – Monday 7th April 2025 (7 sessions)

OPEN SESSION: Monday 3rd March

Half Term Fees: Advance block booking £49 (£7 per session)                                             

                                                 SUMMER:

Summer is a coming in: from Hocktide to Whitsun

Monday 28th April – Monday 19th May 2025 (3 sessions)*

Half Term Fees: Advance block booking £21 (£7 per session)

* Please note there will be no session on Monday 5th May as it is a bank holiday, however, we will be celebrating the arrival of Summer at Jack in the Green in Hastings so come join us!

Midsummer Revels: Sheep shearing, Rush bearing and Lammas

Monday 2nd June – Monday 21st July 2025 (8 sessions)

OPEN SESSION: Monday 2nd June

Half Term Fees: Advance block booking £56 (£7 a session)

Meet our choir leader Jo Burke

Our choir is lead with warmth, enthusiasm and good humour by Jo Burke, a qualified community musician and natural voice practitioner with 20 years of music teaching experience. Jo also arranges all the songs especially for Brighton Folk Choir.

The inspiration to start the choir came after Jo was asked to organise a Wassail for Ditchling Community Orchard in early 2022 which got her thinking – could we not celebrate the whole year long together in song?

Jo is also an internationally touring singer and multi-instrumentalist and a composer for both theatre and film. She is a former member of the Swiss band, Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, Mary Hampton Cotillion and the London Bulgarian Choir as well as being a highly regarded performer in her own right specialising in traditional music and song. To find out more about Jo and her music you can visit www.joburkemusic.com.

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