Meet the partner – The Sixteen
To further the musical opportunities that we can offer in West Sussex we work in partnership with other organisations. We call them our Hub Partners.
This week we’re keen to shine the spotlight on our newest hub partner, The Sixteen.
The Sixteen is a performing arts charity which exists to take beautiful and inspiring choral music, from the Renaissance to today, to as wide and diverse an audience as possible.
As hub partners to West Sussex Music, The Sixteen is running two inspirational choir workshops for West Sussex secondary school choirs in October. These massed choir sessions for students and their teachers will take place at Hazelwick School in Crawley Monday 14 October at Hazelwick School, Crawley and Thursday 18 October at St Oscar Romero Catholic High School, Worthing.
The choir believes in the transformative power of music and their goal is to make the world a better place through performing the music of great choral heritage to the highest possible standard and making it accessible to all.
The organisation strives to enhance people’s lives with performances that exhilarate, soothe and provide moments of inner calm in a hectic and challenging world.
They strive both to preserve and grow our great choral heritage and to nurture a future generation of professional choral practitioners.
James Underwood, Chief Executive at West Sussex Music, said:
“To have The Sixteen as one of our hub partner’s is really exciting. We know they’ll bring incredible expertise to the upcoming workshops which will kickstart our Sings Live! series for schools in 2024-25. We hope there will be further opportunities down the line. We’re looking forward to working with them.”
The Sixteen’s commitment to the future of choral music is clearly reflected in its extensive outreach programme, using the power of music to engage and inspire new and existing audiences as well as transforming music education.
Harry Christophers, Conductor and Founder of The Sixteen, said,
“Offering workshops allows young people to discover the joy and discipline of music-making. It’s about inspiring the next generation, ensuring they have the opportunities to explore, learn, and excel in this timeless art form.”
Celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, The Sixteen arose from its founder and conductor Harry Christophers’ formative experience as cathedral chorister and choral scholar. His enterprise, launched in 1979, built on the best of the British choral tradition while setting new standards of virtuosity and musicianship.
The Sixteen’s professional female and male voices create a distinctive sound of great warmth and clarity. Although refined over four decades, that sound has remained remarkably consistent, always responsive to the emotional content of words and music, ever alert to subtle nuances of colour and shading.
For more information visit the website.
