Interested in joining us?

We are always delighted to welcome enquiries from interested new membersWe typically sing in three of four part harmony (SSA/SSAA). Therefore to ensure a good balance between the voice parts in the choir, acceptance is subject to space being available in your chosen voice part, as well as passing a very basic audition. There is no upper limit to the number of people who can be in the choir, so long as the balance and blend of voices work.

Rehearsals

We rehearse on Wednesday evenings in Baslow St. Anne’s Church from 8.00pm to 9.30pm.

There are usually 40-42 rehearsals a year, with breaks over Christmas, Easter and end of July/all August.

We also have occasional weekend workshops as well as juggling diaries to fit in adhoc extra rehearsals in the daytime/weekends, running up to a performance.

Social

As you can probably tell, we are a very social choir and have a lot of fun together. After choir, many of us head off for a quick drink at one of the pubs in the village, and we often have parties at each other’s houses, or arrange outings to concerts etc. We are an extremely kind, supportive and creative group – rather like an extended family!

Joining Bel canto

We ask all interested new members to do a very simple voice check/audition with Claire. This is to check if your voice will blend with the choir, and to check which voice part is most suitable for you. Don’t worry if you’re not sure which voice part is best for you to sing in, as we can check this at the same time. If there are currently a higher number of voices in the voice part ideal for you, you may be asked to sing in another ‘close’ section (e.g. 2nd soprano instead of 1st soprano), until a place becomes available, to maintain the balance of the choir.

It is not essential to be able to read music fluently from the outset; quite a few of our members have learned to read music within the choir.

We treat the first 2-3 months as a trial period for new members, allowing time for you to decide if you like the choir and also to enable us to see how well you blend vocally with the choir and if you are comfortable with the learning pace and techniques.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are currently £18 per month (£216 per year), payable by standing order.