BBC Performing Arts Fund’s choral events continue... next stop Bristol

This weekend, the BBC Performing Arts Fund will be giving budding singers the chance to exercise their vocal chords during another choral event as part of BrisFest 2010.

After the success of a similar event in Liverpool last week, the fund will continue its series of choral workshops and performances in Bristol.

The two-part event, which is open to the public and being held in association with Making Music, includes a flash choir performance and a community singing workshop. Both events will be facilitated by Lisa Thorner, an experienced West End vocal coach and performer. She will be on hand offering great tips and advice and hopes to get people singing regardless of whether they have ever sung before! People do not need to be experienced or able to read music.

There will be a short rehearsal for the flash choir held at BBC Bristol on Saturday before the performance on Sunday when the newly-formed BBC Bristol Flash Choir will be ready to perform!

The flash choir will then perform for 20 minutes on Sunday at 11.45 as part of the Bristol Festival programme on the main stage at Millennium Square in Bristol. The flash choir will be followed by a performance for 30 minutes by the Great Western Chorus.

The Fund has just 60 places available for members of the public who must book in advance for the flash choir rehearsal and performance. Involvement is open to the over 18s, and interested participants should email sara.khan@bbc.co.uk to book a place.

After the performance, the events will continue with a community singing workshop at 1pm where members of the public with a broad range of singing abilities will be given the chance to interact with a top West End vocal coach. It will be an open doors workshop, accessible to all including beginners, in the rock, folk or gospel tradition. There is no need to book for this part of the event, just come along!

In Sept 2009 the Choral Ambition scheme enabled the BBC Performing Arts Fund to award £208,000 in financial aid to 98 choirs made up of over 6000 individuals. The fund was blown away by the level of raw talent from the hundreds of diverse choirs that applied for financial aid from around the country. The scheme provided funding to allow choirs to progress with developmental projects and to commission new music, as well as offering mentoring sessions and workshops.

Established in 2003, the BBC Performing Arts Fund is the only BBC charity devoted to supporting the creative dreams of struggling artists across the nation through distributing revenue from the voting lines of BBC One entertainment programmes such as Over The Rainbow.

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The BBC Performing Arts Fund helps aspiring music-makers and performers looking for a way to get ahead.

The BBC Performing Arts Fund is a registered charity, number 1101276. The charity (formerly Fame Academy Bursary Trust) was set up in 2003 within the BBC.

The fund receives revenue from the voting lines of BBC One entertainment programmes that seek to find new performing talent (including Fame Academy, How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? and I’d Do Anything).

To date the fund has allocated over £3 million to fund young musicians, from a range of genres, to help them pursue their careers in music.

The fund’s mission is to seek out and support excellent aspiring performers and those directly supporting performing artists who, for reasons of lack of existing opportunity, personal background or circumstance, would not have been able to achieve their most ambitious goals, or their talent’s greatest potential without the fund’s support or intervention.

Making Music represents and supports over 2,900 voluntary and amateur music groups throughout the UK, including choirs, orchestras, music promoters, samba bands, jazz groups, festivals, handbell ringers, barbershop choruses, brass bands, folk groups and many others.

They provide voluntary and amateur music groups with public liability insurance, a simple scheme for royalty payments, audience development opportunities and advice and much more.