"for the joy of singing..."
Local and Vocal...
New members are always welcome. Contact us at raiseyourvoiceswirksworth@gmail.com or go to our How to Join page
News and Events 2025
Next concert "To Drive the Cold Winter Away"
Friday 19 December 7.30pm St Mary's Church, Wirksworth
Tickets are now on sale for our winter concert 2025 which will be performed in the lovely old church of St Mary's in the heart of Wirksworth with its wonderful acoustics which add great atmosphere for us all to enjoy. Simply visit TicketSource and buy!
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The programme has a great mix of lovely music with not only a few familiar seasonal songs but also unusual, sometimes poignant songs, plus narration, all with the themed thread of Peace and Light running through the evening, and as always we welcome audience participation for the more traditional numbers when our little band will pave the way...
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The bar will be open from 7 pm before the concert starts at 7.30pm and also again during the half time interval when wine, mulled or not, soft drinks and stollen will be on sale..
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We always hope to generate enough proceeds from our concerts to be able to make donations to support our chosen local charities.​
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Singing Skills Workshop Saturday October 25th, 2025
Raise Your Voices Choir was thrilled to host a sellout Singing Skills workshop on Saturday 25thOctober for guest choir leader Sandra Kerr, an internationally revered musician, writer, performer and teacher. Her tips were invaluable. She shared her favourite, most effective warm ups of gentle yoga and voice exercises, entertained everyone with splendid anecdotes, and taught such exquisite rounds and wonderful haunting songs, some co-written and arranged with her talented daughter Nancy Kerr, fiddlesinger and songwriter. Both are respected interpreters of traditional material and styles, so Wellspring Church was filled with fabulous harmonies and much joy from a cappella singing all day long.
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​You can read more about
Sandra Kerr on her website.
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Free 'drop in' performance, 13 September 2025
What a lovely time we had singing in the wonderful acoustics of St Mary's again, as part of the Wirksworth Festival 2025 Arts Trail weekend. Such a kind audience too, with many staying all through although it wasn't even raining!
Photographs courtesy of Mathias Graf
RYV in St Mary's Wirksworth with friends
May 2025
26th May event "This Town" ...
This is a quote from Carol Fieldhouse about the event:
"Huge thanks to all who contributed to this shortest of performances! To BM&W Brass band, to their leader Chorkiu and Billy Rowlatt for Billy's brass arrangement of This Town and (Video (video link below) Chorkiu's interpretation of it. To Raise Your Voices, Soul Voices and to the Nightingales of Waltham House and their supporters The performance was the first time we were all together! Thanks to Neil and Janet at St Mary's and to Sue at our wonderful Wirksworth Town Council. In due course, there will be a video by videographer Gavin Repton, in the meantime here is short clip made by Paul. Final thanks to Graham Sellors for his play Wusser for asking me to write This Town. And for my part, if the writing of this song was a book I'd dedicate it to the memory my friend and man of music, Julian Badcock
Heading 6
Our Gig in the Garden last weekend was at the wonderful old Barley Mow in Kirk Ireton. Such a super setting and lovely to be part of the their Open Gardens activities… with thanks to Rachel and her team at the pub, who kindly hosted us and generously served lovely refreshments too! xxx
Thank you for visiting the Raise Your Voices website. We are always honing the programme for the months ahead, posting items once they are confirmed, but you can be sure that our sessions will be full of great music with the usual fun and camaraderie as we learn new songs and enjoy revisiting old favourites, and we shall continue to sing and fundraise for local charities and good causes whenever we can.
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As well as the events planned we shall also carry on learning new songs with glorious harmonies and arrangements to enjoy and share at all our regular sessions throughout the year, and we may even go on the occasional outing, whether it be Ride Your Velocipedes, cycling and singing at stops along the way, (some of us don't cycle but just meet up for the singing bits and the at the pub afterwards!) or singing up at The Stardisc on a summers evening, competing with the birdsong and enjoying the rays of the setting sun... we might even go to a concert or a movie... let's wait and see....
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RYV performed at the Civic Service
We were delighted to have been invited to perform during the Civic Service for The Mayor Derbyshire Dales Cllr Peter Slack on 6th April. Lovely to have a compliment from the newly appointed High Sheriff of Derbyshire, Sir Richard FitzHerbert Bt, published on his diary page in Derbyshire Life, April/ May 2025.
And also a kind mention from the Lord-Lieutenant of Derbyshire, Mrs Elizabeth Fothergill CBE:
"Derbyshire Dales Civic Service was held in St Mary’s church Wirksworth to commend the work and commitment of Councillor Peter Slack. A beautiful service with marvellous musical reflections from "Raise your Voices” Choir. Delighted to be accompanied by Theresa Peltier DL and the new High Sheriff of Derbyshire, Sir Richard Fitzherbert."