Songbirds Choir, Crawley

Some of our original members have been singing with Songbirds for over 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 Eames, 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 membership numbers increased from 8 to 48 in two years! There are currently around 40 singers 'on the books', with a core of around 30 members who attend the performances.

To date, the choir have performed at a number of venues in West Sussex, including The Hawth Theatre, Ifield Barn Theatre, The Assembly Hall in Worthing, 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. We have also performed in a large number of local nursing homes. 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.

Most of all, the choir likes to perform for a good cause. In the past, we have performed for The Disabilities Trust and St Catherine's Hospice, and every year we choose two or three charities to support with fundraising. We organise an annual charity concert, usually held at Hazelwick School in October, at which we raise over Ł500 every year. We also accept donations for our performances and often take our charity buckets when performing at public venues.