Meet the founder of new community choir hoping to provide alternative offering at the heart of Northampton
Meet the founder of a new community choir, hoping to provide an alternative offering at the heart of Northampton.
Matthew Winkworth is launching Wyrd Voices on April 21 at The Black Diamond, with doors set to open at 6.45pm and attendees get their first session free.
Wyrd Voices is a new kind of community choir, with the motto ‘sing strange’. Wyrd means strange, fated and other, which reflects the vibe Matthew is aiming for, and there will be new arrangements of songs that attendees will not have sung anywhere else.
The choir will focus on particular themes, such as gothic, magic, esoteric and supernatural, and songs by marginalised composers. Attendees can expect them to be musically unusual, with odd harmonies, rhythms and structures.
There are no auditions or sight-reading for Wyrd Voices, which will be a welcoming space for people of all genders and voice types.
There will be weekly gatherings on Tuesday evenings during term time, with doors opening at 6.45pm for a 7pm until 8.45pm session at The Black Diamond on Lower Harding Street. Attendees can become founding members from £6.50 per session and a student rate is available.
Matthew, who is a professional composer and musical director with more than 15 years of experience in theatre and choral work, was asked why now was the right time to launch this new venture.
“I’m fairly new to the area and I’ve been here about three years,” he told the Chronicle & Echo. “I know the place better and now I’ve gone back to freelancing, I’ve got more time to do this on a personal level.
“I’ve led community choirs and groups for the last 15 years or so, and co-directed the Abingdon Community Choir ACCord for nine years before I moved here. I enjoy community music making.
“There’s lots of community choirs around Northampton and I’ve tried to do something a bit alternative in terms of the vibe and music. I hope it’ll lead to exciting gig opportunities and working with live musicians in the future.
“It’s nice to do something quirky and I suspect there’s probably an audience for it. I want to give another option for people who would like to sing in a community setting, but aren’t sure standard community choirs are for them.”
Matthew believes holding the rehearsal sessions at The Black Diamond is the perfect match, and he encourages anyone interested to come along and try – as there is no audition or commitment required.
The founder looks forward to arranging the music himself, with songs that are not normally sung by choirs and do not have existing arrangements. Matthew hopes the music will adapt to the group as it builds, and he believes this is the magic of joining from the beginning as you can be part of its evolution.
“There’s safety in numbers with singing so I’d like to grow the number of members to a big amount,” said Matthew. “I’d like us to do regular gigs with live musicians in cool venues and festivals, and collaborate with other groups.
“I hope Wyrd Voices will be a fun and enjoyable space that people will love coming to on a Tuesday night, and it’ll be the highlight of their week. It’s social and making music together is a beautiful thing for wellbeing.”