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RISING VOICES

Oxford's Community Folk Choir

Rising Voices is a friendly community choir, the only Oxford choir specialising in folk music. We sing traditional and modern folk songs unaccompanied, usually in four-part harmony. Songs are taught by ear, so there is no need to be able to read music; our songs are arranged to create beautiful harmonies and include parts suitable for singers of all abilities. While we take our singing seriously and strive for high standards, it is very important to us that everyone is included and having fun.
Our Musical Director is inspirational choir leader Rose Martin, who also directs the Cecil Sharp House choir in London. Rose took over from wonderful choir founder and leader Cat McGill in 2021.

Rehearsals, Fees and New Members

Rehearsals – When and Where                     

We sing together on Thursday evenings in term time, 7.15 – 8.45 pm (doors open from c. 7.00pm),

at St Clement's Centre (Main Hall), Cross St, Oxford OX4 1DA.

Parking is available at the hall, which is accessible for wheelchair users.

Bus routes are close by.

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Fees

The fee is £8.00 per session. Fees are usually paid termly or half-termly in advance (pro rata if joining mid term), but we are pleased to offer a free taster session to anyone who might be interested in joining the choir.

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Join Us!

We give a warm welcome to anyone interested in joining us - do come along and see if you like what we do. Lower voices particularly welcome!

Contact us on inforisingvoicesoxford@gmail.com to arrange your free taster session.

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Performances

We like to perform locally several times a year: we have been invited to sing in many venues including the Ashmolean, Oxford Town Hall, the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford Castle, Exeter College, the Story Museum, the Westgate Centre, Great Coxwell Barn (Great Barn Festival), Cogges Manor Farm, Waterperry Gardens, Florence Park (FloFest) and at a variety of Oxford venues as part of Folk Weekend Oxford.
We are well known locally for our enthusiastic performances and strong sense of community and fun!

Next Gig  - tbc

Recent Gigs 
S
aturday 20 April 2024
 in the Norrington Room in Blackwell's Bookshop as part of the new Oxford Folk Festival. We sang sea-related songs in support of the RNLI 'Sing to Save Lives' initiative to celebrate their bicentenary year in 2024. Details: Sing To Save Lives for the RNLI Bicentenary - ChoirCommunity
RV Fundraising page for RNLI : https://www.justgiving.com/page/risingvoicessingtosavelives

We performed at  the lovely Cowley Festival of Christmas Trees on 14 Dec 2023 and in many previous years - at  St James Church, Cowley. We are always delighted to support the festival and its chosen charities: ROSY and SeeSaw. Details from 2022 are on: Festival of Christmas Trees (cowleyteamministry.co.uk) 


RV sang at the opening ceremony of Folk Weekend Oxford 2023 in the Norrington Room in Blackwell's Bookshop (15 April 2023).
Folk Weekend: Oxford – Opening Ceremony – Folk Weekend: Oxford (folkweekendoxford.co.uk)


Folk Weekend Oxford
Rising Voices is proud to be the official community choir for Folk Weekend Oxford. We originally made our debut at Oxford Folk Festival in 2008, and since then we have sung regularly at the annual Folk Weekend Oxford held each April (Covid years excepted), usually at the festival's opening ceremony Folk Weekend: Oxford (folkweekendoxford.co.uk)     

Past Performances

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The Snow HareRising Voices Dec 2022
00:00 / 01:58
I Wonder as I Wander Dec 2022Katharine in RV
00:00 / 01:56
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RV from Holly IMG-0323 Barn Fest 18.9_ed
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Dec2013 Inside Ashmolean 1526778_10152103304739759_626201432_n.jpg
2013 Folk Wkend 2_edited.jpg
All Videos

All Videos

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