Who runs the choir?
The choir is run by music inclusion and education charity Love Music, which was co-founded by our choir leader, professional composer and educator Stephen Deazley and managing director Ruth Davie. It is managed by a small, dynamic team respected nationally and internationally for their work in music education as inspiring music leaders, creators and commissioners of innovative participatory music projects, and producers of international performance work. Love Music works for and with communities and schools and delivers projects to the highest professional standard. If you’d like to read more about the Love Music team and to find out who sits on our board of trustees, please visit the Love Music website.
How do I find out more?
Click on the links in the navigation menu to access: frequently asked questions, term dates, online choir info, accessibility info, and to hear us in action on our films page.
Read about the choir from its members
Get a feel for what it is like to be part of our choir with the stories below. Thanks to our choir members for sharing and celebrating their experiences with us. If you’d like to read about how singing in the choir can help your health and wellbeing, read the stories on the choir members stories page.
I joined choir after having been at a concert. I really didn’t know what to expect. I am not an accomplished singer so was a bit nervous of singing in public, but I didn’t need to worry. Everyone was so welcoming and I felt reassured by hearing Stephen saying: “there are no wrong notes”. I really value a sense of community and Love Music excels at this. Always welcoming and totally inclusive contributes to a great community spirit. I believe that during the pandemic the community feeling reached new heights. In such a strange world the whole team kept us singing and connected. We felt part of a familiar experience. I’m sure this kept many of us sane! It is a privilege and such fun to work with such a wonderful team and so many visiting artists. As for the concerts – pure joy to be part of them. I have made many new friends and love being part of this wonderful community.
Thanks for keeping online choir going! With my health issues, there was no way I could come to choir in person even though I only live 10 minutes’ walk away from the Usher Hall. My chronic ill health symptoms are impacted by stress and being part of choir definitely lowered my stress levels as Stephen never failed to make me smile, laugh and cheered me up, even if I’ve had a tough week. I’m fairly isolated, and at some points I have been housebound, so it’s been great to be able to look forward to Monday nights and choir. It made me feel really good to know that I’m still part of a big group of singers, even if I’m by myself. Even on days when I didn’t feel up to joining live, I knew I could go back and watch the rehearsal, or break it up into chunks so I could manage to focus on it. I feel like I’ve lost a lot to this chronic illness, but at least I didn’t have to lose choir, which I have been involved with, on and off, since the very start.
I feel very privileged to have been part of the choir from day one and have loved the opportunities to perform with professional musicians and at events such as Press Launch of the Commonwealth Games and performing with James in the Usher Hall. I love the variety of music we sing and the joy of performing on stage at the Usher Hall. LMCC has definitely broadened my musical repertoire with a range of songs in different languages, musical styles and genres. Being part of LMCC has improved my singing ability as well as helping me through stressful times when working front line during COVID and also helping cope with bereavement. LMCC makes me feel happy and uplifted.
I joined LMCC in 2018, after persuasion from friends who were members. I had recently lost my partner and hadn’t been living in Edinburgh for very long, so I finally accepted that some form of distraction could be helpful and signed up. I’d never had any positive music-making experiences growing up, and no musical experience, so it was a huge leap of faith, but I’m so glad I took it. All my “what ifs” melted away once I realised that, to my huge surprise, the repertoire did match my very eclectic music taste, it was challenging enough to keep me interested whilst it was okay to learn and grow at my own pace, and it provided a new and enjoyable way to structure my time whilst adjusting to my otherwise newly slightly chaotic life. Almost five years later, there are so many other things I’m grateful for in this community: the pinch-myself moments of being on stage with professional musicians and being able to learn more than I ever thought possible, feeling looked after and listened to individually and collectively, and the moments of connection, harmony, and shared happiness.
I am so pleased that LMCC came into my life. I have met so many lovely people and built friendships. From the very first day I felt so welcome. Stephen made us realise that we were there to enjoy the experience of singing together. Some of us might be able to read music whilst others picked up melodies and rhythms by listening. We could learn from each other by listening to the sounds around us and trying to blend as a choir.
Stephen conducted us as if we were a professional choir so we learnt to follow rhythms by clapping it out first or saying the words to the correct rhythm. In this way we began to learn our songs more easily and gained confidence. We all felt valued and there was a great sense of belonging. We were learning but it was fun.
One of my fellow choir members and I often reflect on all the amazing things we have enjoyed since becoming LMCC members. The many different experiences have given us the ability to know that we can perform in different genres and we are learning from it all. During the pandemic it was a real life line. I wanted to sing in a choir and this has been the greatest experience of all. There’s a sense of anticipation before each term and the joy of meeting up with everyone once more.
