Two daytime choirs start on Wednesday 9 September with a free taster: Knaresborough 10.15am, Harrogate 1.15pm. No auditions, and no need to read music.

Two new daytime community choirs start next Wednesday, 9 September, one in Knaresborough in the morning and one in Harrogate after lunch. The first session at each is a free taster.

They are being set up by Singing Communities, which has run a choir at Poppleton, near York, since 2019. Its director is Liz Sawyer, a primary and secondary school music teacher who has conducted choirs for more than 25 years (Singing Communities).

Where and when

Knaresborough Harrogate
Day Wednesdays Wednesdays
Time 10.15am to 11.45am 1.15pm to 2.45pm
Venue Calcutt and Forest Moor Village Hall Westcliffe Hall, Kairos Church
Address Bland’s Hill, Calcutt, HG5 8JF 2 Harlow Terrace, HG2 0PN

Both are on the organiser’s own choirs page, which is where the addresses above come from.

What a session is like

The organiser sets out four things on its own site. They answer most of what people ask before walking into a choir for the first time:

  • there are no auditions, and you do not need to have sung in a choir before
  • sheet music is used, but you do not have to be able to read music
  • every song is taught by call and response
  • the repertoire is pop, musicals, folk, sacred and world music, sung in two and three parts

Sawyer also conducts The Stray Notes community choir in Harrogate, and founded the Harrogate Community Choir Festival in 2024.

The autumn dates

Autumn Term 1 for both the Knaresborough and Harrogate choirs runs on these Wednesdays:

  • September: 9 (the taster), 16, 23, 30
  • October: 7, 14, 21, 28

Autumn Term 2 then runs on 4, 11, 18 and 25 November and on 2, 9 and 16 December.

What it costs, and one figure to check

The organiser’s pricing page gives two numbers that do not obviously agree, so it is worth asking before you pay.

  • The weekly rate is given as £7.50 per week, “paid half-termly”.
  • Autumn Term 1 is priced at £37.50, and eight Wednesday dates are listed under it.

Eight sessions at £7.50 would be £60, not £37.50. The same gap appears on the Poppleton listing. We have not been able to establish which figure a new member would actually be charged, so treat the term price as the one to confirm directly with the organiser (pricing and dates).

The 9 September session is free. The contact page puts it plainly: “Once you have enjoyed your free taster session, Liz will give you details of how to join up to the choir.”

What it means for you

You can just turn up. The organiser’s contact page says you can book a taster session or “also just come along”. Contact details are info@singingcommunities.com and 07793 818 396.

Check the time before you set off. The two sessions are on the same day at different ends of the district, and the Knaresborough one finishes at 11.45am while the Harrogate one does not start until 1.15pm. The two postcodes are about three and a half miles apart in a straight line, so doing both in one day is possible, but tight.

Ask what the term actually costs. Get the half-term figure in writing before handing over money, given the £37.50 and £7.50 gap above.

Both sessions are daytime, which rules them out for anyone working standard hours. Singing Communities runs an evening session, Fabulous Fridays, but that one is at Poppleton near York, about 16 miles away, not in this district.

Other things happening across the district are in our what’s on guide.

Sources