Quinton Community Choir performs a variety of pop, film, gospel and classical music as well as traditional songs from around the world. Founded in 2006 to celebrate and encourage local talent and strengthen community spirit, the choir now performs regularly at concerts and community events in Quinton and in Birmingham city centre. The choir has been a regular participant in events such as Artsfest
and in the Town Hall Symphony Hall Education and Community Project “Sing for All – Community Spirit” for a number of years. Quinton Community Choir fosters good links with local schools and hosts an annual musical event with Quinton schools each July. The choir rehearses every Monday evening during term time from 7.00-8.30pm. There is no need to audition for the choir…. you just need to enjoy singing and be willing to commit to weekly rehearsals. If you are interested in joining the choir and would like to try out a rehearsal, just get in contact with us! We have a strong core of male singers but, in common with most choirs, are always keen to recruit tenors and basses! Children should be in school Year 4 or above to join the choir and should attend a Quinton school or live in Quinton. We normally have children’s places available in the choir but occasionally have a waiting list. We are keen that anybody in our community who would like to join the choir should be able to do so regardless of their financial means. We aim to keep costs low and currently have a basic annual membership subscription of £72 for adults, payable annually, biannually or monthly. Members experiencing genuine financial hardship can request to be exempt from payment or to pay a lower rate whilst some other members choose to donate more than the basic membership rate. Children's membership is free, although we encourage parents to "sponsor" their child's place in the choir by paying the basic membership subscription where possible. About our musicians:
Quinton Community Choir is led by Founder and Musical Director, Nicola Starkie who has lived in Quinton for over 20 years. Originally from Kent, Nicola studied Music at Downing College, Cambridge where she was Organ Scholar and responsible for co-running the chapel choir. After a few years as a secondary music teacher Nicola took time out of teaching in order to raise her three children, during which time she founded Quinton Community Choir as part of her involvement in the local community. Nicola then studied Choral Conducting at Birmingham Conservatoire where she was the recipient of the MMus Course Prize and the Michael Beech Conducting Award. At the Conservatoire Nicola conducted Camerata - an SATB chamber choir - and founded Polaris, an upper voices vocal ensemble specialising in music from the Baltics, Eastern Europe & Scandinavia. In addition to conducting Quinton Community Choir and Polaris, Nicola is now involved with a number of choirs in the West Midlands; she sings with Ex Cathedra, and is Musical Director of Quinborne Choir, Ludlow Choral Society and the 150-strong boys' choir at King Edward's School. We currently have a vacancy for an accompanist. Please see our website for further details.
