A Handful of Singers | BBC Award

In 2010, A Handful of Singers was been awarded a grant by the BBC Performing Arts Fund under their "Choral Ambition" programme.

The key criterion of the BBC grant is that it should enable the development of the choir, either in its performing standards, or in its knowledge and understanding, or in its work with the community. Audience development activities are a fundamental way of developing the choir as well.

The Handful achieved these objectives by a number of routes:

Choirs from local secondary school participated in the performance, and leading up to the concert there were workshops held at the schools to introduce the pupils to music and concert giving.

Instrumentalists from local schools and colleges also participated and had the opportunity to work alongside highly experienced musicians.

And the concert, on the 3rd July 2010, culminated in the premier, in the South West, of a newly written Requiem by the internationally renown choral composer, Bob Chilcott.

All the feedback was that the concert and the workshops were an outstanding success. Children and their parents were amazed by the opportunity to work alongside professional musicians. And for the established choir it was very rewarding to see how the less experienced children rose to the occasion.

This emphasis on effective outreach is a key element of the Handful of Singers' intention and similar occasions will form part of the future activities of the choir.