Background

Some of our original members have been singing with Songbirds for 10 years! The choir performed under many different names in the beginning, so you might have seen us perform "way back when". Here's a short piece of history for you...

Songbirds originated at an Adult Education Class in Singing in 2000. When the class finished, the conductor and ladies involved decided to form a choir to continue to enjoy themselves through singing. The choir continued under the name of Voices, run by James Lelean. In 2003, the choir split, but was soon reformed as Songbirds, rehearsing at Greenfields Church in Tilgate (Crawley, West Sussex).

In October 2005, the choir was handed over to a new conductor, Jo Tyas, and in 2008, Songbirds changed rehearsals to Mondays and so moved to St Mary's church in Southgate (Crawley, West Sussex).

Since September 2008, Songbirds has had an influx of new members, and we are proud to announce that our membership numbers have increased from 8 to 48 in two years; we must be doing something right!

To date, the choir have performed at a number of venues in West Sussex, including The Hawth Theatre, Ifield Barn Theatre, Gatwick Airport, County Mall, Horsham Bandstand, Pizza Express, and Crawley churches St Barnabas in Pound Hill, St Margaret's in Ifield and Greenfields in Tilgate. Our greatest achievement to date has been hosting an exchange with a French choir and travelling to France to sing with them - a fantastic experience.

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