About WBSS
West Bridgford Social Singers started in 1992 at Jesse Gray Primary School in West Bridgford.
In the past 32 years it has developed into a thriving community mixed voice choir with around 85 members.
We sing a huge variety of music, see our repertoire pages for a list of what we're working on this year.
Our music is usually arranged for soprano (highest pitch), alto, tenor and bass (lowest pitch), but we also sing in different combinations of voices.
Aims
To enable members to enjoy the social and emotional benefits of singing in a group.
To perform music from a wide repertoire to our local community and beyond.
To encourage people from a range of ages to join with us in performing the music.
To support our local community by performing at local events and charities.
To organise regular and varied social events to enable choir members to get to know each other.
We do not hold auditions as we wish to draw in and support as many people as possible from our local community to join with us and enjoy singing. An ability to read music is not essential but will obviously help.
We raise funds for charities, selecting two each year.
In 2023-24 we donated over £3,500 to each of the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance and Jessie’s Fund.
At our Annual General Meeting on 24 September 2024 the choir voted on 8 charities nominated by members and the winners were Hayward House, a specialist palliative care unit run by Nottingham University Hospitals, and the Nottingham branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association MNDA.
For the last three years we have organised joint fundraising marathon events with Everyone Can Sing, with options to walk, cycle, run, swim and even scoot and row! Check out photos and more from our 2024 event.
We will be organising another marathon event in May 2025.
Our collaborations, concerts and trips help us to share our music with wider audiences.
We usually have at least one visit a year to another city to collaborate and socialise with other choirs. We have been to (among others) Trondheim in Norway , Gateshead and Whitley Bay, Liverpool, Kings Lynn, Blackpool and York. You can see what we got up to in the photo gallery.
Rehearsals
Where: West Bridgford Methodist Church, Musters Road, West Bridgford
When: Tuesdays during school term time. Arrive by 7:40 pm to rehearse 7:45-9:30 pm
What to bring: Music is provided via a Google Drive link and some pieces can also be purchased. An email is sent out the weekend before the rehearsal with a link to the Google Drive so that members can collate and print any music they need.
How to prepare: Practising at home is encouraged by using the music, lyrics warm-ups and recorded vocal tracks on the Google Drive. We also record most of the rehearsals for those who can't attend and for any members wishing to brush up on their songs. These videos are on a private YouTube Channel and the link is emailed to members after each rehearsal.
How rehearsals run: We stand in our soprano, alto, tenor and bass (SATB) groups in a horseshoe shape to allow easy interaction and listening.
New members are ‘buddied up’ with an experienced choir member to help them settle in and we start off with some fun physical and vocal exercises, migrating to a song ‘in the round’ or a simple song in the SATB parts.
In the second part of rehearsals, we sing a well-known song before working in more detail on new songs or those requiring a bit more practice.
Rehearsals include a short break, usually around 9 pm, and this allows us to share important news and messages from the Chair and the Committee.
We then finish off with a ‘banger’ (a well-known song) to send us all home with a smile. Some of our members continue the social aspect of choir with a visit to a local pub – The Stratford Haven.