Bristol Old Vic's Artistic Director Nancy Medina Launches Community Event Inspired by CHOIR BOY

Bristol Old Vic's Artistic Director NANCY MEDINA is inviting people from across the city to gather together for a free day of workshops and song on Sun 1 October.

Inspired by Nancy's first production, Choir Boy, the theatre aims to pull together a 200-strong choir to blow the roof off the theatre, singing songs from the show at the end of the day-long event.  

For those with a passion for singing, and those who want to move on from singing in the shower, everyone is invited to join in with The Big Sing.

Led by Choir Boy's musical director, Femi Temowo, the day will include guest performances by local choirs, workshops led by local voice specialists, and presentations by national experts. The day will explore the powerful ways singing can bring people together, create joy and nourish the soul.

In Bristol there are over 100 choirs currently running - which is a huge number for a city of this size. Everything from Barbershop to Blues - and people join in for a variety of reasons; the extraordinary health benefits, the connection to others, a love of the music or the joy felt when you join your voice together with hundreds more. 

The Big Sing is completely free to attend for people of all ages who have some experience of choirs or individual singing. 

Find out more or reserve your spot: bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/the-big-sing

The Songs That Take You Home

Alongside The Big Sing, Bristol Old Vic is also asking people to share the one special song that takes them home. What is the track that connects you to the generation that went before? Is it the Calypso hymns of your grandparents, or the Beatles track your dad played on repeat?  What song transports you back to a special moment in your life, or a place that's special for you? What's the music that matters to you and gives you that sense of belonging to those who went before you?
We'd love to know and celebrate that with you.

Just send the song title and artist (if you have it) and we'll create a playlist from these musical memories to run at Bristol Old Vic throughout the run of Choir Boy.

To contribute a song, people just need to complete the online form found here. 

Nancy said: "Music and its power to move us is universal - it crosses communities, continents and generations - and the joy it creates is infectious. Choir Boy is full of music and shows how it can bring people together - no matter what their different outlooks. Collective singing helps us share our stories with each other, it helps us feel part of something powerful and larger than ourselves and it's in the DNA of Bristol.

When I announced my first season, I invited everyone to share in a joyful celebration of our differences and our similarities, and what better way to begin, than through a mass singing event which starts things off with a bang - I know we can blow the roof off this place!"