Our thanks as always go to Rick Buettner for his unstinting contributions in producing the wonderful images and recordings of the choir which are contained in this website.
Wells Cathedral
The choir was honoured to be able to sing at such an auspicious venue the acoustics of which did not disappoint.
Party in the City
Number 1 Royal Crescent, Bath
Forming part of the Bath Festival, Party in the City delivered a veritable cornucopia of music throughout Bath and we once again made our contribution to the evening with our performance in the auspicious surroundings of No.1 Royal Crescent.
This site being smaller than previous venues in which we have performed lent a more intimate less formal atmosphere to proceedings and was enjoyed by both the choir and the audience alike.
Trowbridge Weavers Market
Fore Street, Trowbridge
The choir entertained the market shoppers with a broad selection of musical styles sung under the watchful ear of our choirmaster Caroline at the Weavers Market held in the middle of Trowbridge.
Christmas Market 3rd December 2022
It was good to be back at the full Christmas Market again. There was a good buzz to proceedings and we drew a decent crowd. Everyone enjoyed the opportunity of singing in public again.
Festive Concert – St Nicholas Church, Winsley – 10th December 2022
Having thoroughly enjoyed our Festive Concert in 2021 we again held our Christmas fundraiser at St Nicholas Church, Winsley.
The wonderful accoustics of St Nicholas’ church didn’t disappoint. As usual we had a rich and varied range of old and new seasonal songs from around the globe including some written by Caroline our choirmaster.
Our chosen charity for the Christmas events was Storehouse Foodbank a project that aims to help those in short-term need of food and toiletries. Based in Trowbridge, this service began in 2006 in response to a growing need within our community. Since which good working relationships have developed with a range of local agencies and services to support the wider community. We were very pleased to raise £670 for them despite competing with the England World Cup game!
We also had a number of smaller groups from the choir singing their own festive choices.
Have a listen to this extract from our rendition of Moon River
The Big Sing – Rook Lane Chapel – Frome -25th July 2022
A change of venue this year for our end of year get together with all of Caroline’s choirs. We sang in the beautiful Rook Lane Chapel where we came together to sing together, listen to each other sing and generally celebrate the end of our singing year. Time for a break before gathering again in the autumn.
Lunchtime Concert – Bath Abbey -15th June 2022
The choir have sung in Bath Abbey a number of times and its always a moving, magical and uplifting experience for us. This year many of the choir were unable to sing at the event so just 17 singers made their way to Bath on the 15th June.
The acoustics in the abbey are fantastic. The music soared and filled the space and the reduced choir gave a wonderful performance! A lovely event for everyone!
Have a listen below
Thanks to Rick Buettner for the videos http://www.rickbuettnerphotography.com/
Wedding – Bath Botanical Gardens – 28th May 2022
It was a beautiful sunny day for choir member, Andrea’s, daughter’s wedding and the setting was stunning. Originally sung by Elvis Presley, the choir sang a beautiful arrangement by Caroline, of, The Wonder of You, while the couple signed their vows.
Party in the City – Bath Festival 15th May 2022
We were all very happy to be back at Party in the City after two years without a Bath Festival. Back in the United Reform church, we performed a selection of our recent repertoire of songs from around the world. Not only do we sing, we can clap and sing at the same time!
Have a look at the us performing two songs from the night.
Thanks to Rick Buettner for the videos http://www.rickbuettnerphotography.com/
HEI! UKRAYINA
A Big Sing For Ukraine
Fundraising Concert at the Cheese and Grain 29/4/2022
What a fantastic turn out at this fundraiser at the Cheese and Grain on the evening of 29th April – over 280 tickets sold!
All proceeds, which currently stand at over £3,500, were donated to Frome Town Council’s Polish twin town Ukrainian refugee appeal.
Caroline masterminded the event and her husband Nick was an excellent host/compere. A huge thank you also has to go to the Cheese and Grain for allowing us to use the venue free of charge and to all the staff who enabled it to go ahead!
The informal singing get together saw all Carolines’ choirs; Jackdaws Songbirds (Frome), Sounding it Out (Trowbridge), and Shreen Harmony (Mere) unite for an evening of acapella singing and solidarity with Ukraine.
The evening started with a rousing Ukrainian folk song arranged by Caroline and sung by all choirs. Hei Sokoly tells of mountains, forests, falcons and skylarks and the sadness of leaving your love and homeland. Despite that it is an uplifting song and that was definitely the overriding mood of the evening.
Many of the songs referred to freedom, repression, strength, empathy and caring, hope and determination.
How lucky we are to enjoy the freedom to sing!
Bradford on Avon Big Green Week – 25/9/2021
Well we are back! How great to be performing again after so many months. After so long it was good sing at the Big Green Week in Bradford on Avon.
The choir seemed to have no problem picking up where we left off before lockdowns stopped choirs from meeting. It was a joy to be singing together again.
Bradford on Avon roots festival – 18/1/2020
Second act on the main stage on Saturday. We had a good sized, appreciative audience at this excellent festival and celebration of local music of all genres and styles. We sang well, our soloists did us proud and we even managed to wave our flower props without incident ( no mean feat). Not a hundred percent sure the audience will have understood what we were doing unless they were fluent in Italian though.
Festive Concert,Westbury – 7/12/2019
This year we sang in the lovely setting of All Saints Church. The choir sang a mixture of traditional carols, festive songs and popular songs from around the globe to a select and rather chilly audience.
The programme was interspersed with some excellent and haunting performances in latin and a beautiful traditional english folk song, The Apple Tree, all performed by smaller groups from the choir. We also had a jolly rendition of Let it Snow and We Wish you a Merry Christmas by barbershop group, The Bum Notes.
Profits from ticket sales, bucket collections on the door and the sale of refreshments available in the interval are going to our chosen charity, one 25, a charity which supports vulnerable women who are working on he streets in Bristol.
Bath Christmas Market – 29/11/2019
After weeks of rain Friday evening was crisp and cold. The choir were wrapped up in their festive colours and sang their varied range of Christmas and wintery songs to a large audience in Abbey Green.
We collected £62 for our charity of the year, One 25, a charity that helps vulnerable women working on the streets in Bristol
The chocolate factory, keynsham – 16/11/2019
This was also the day of the Christmas Fayre and the choir found themselves competing against a large crowd of shoppers, amongst whom our singing was at times lost.
However, we will always sing our hearts out whatever the situation and our songs and voices contributed to the atmosphere even though the potential audience had other things on their minds and weren’t actively listening.
RUH Lunctime – 28/9/2019
Singing to patients, staff and visitors in the Atrium of the RUH is always a challenge in the bustle and noise of a busy hospital. However we were well received with people stopping to listen on their way about their business.
Westbury festival – 26/9/2019
Heavy rain and some very wet children did nothing to dampen spirits. We sang our eclectic range of songs to a packed audience at this lunchtime concert in the beautiful All Saints Church.
Our Festive Christmas Concert will be in this great setting on the 7th December.
“I just want to say a big thank you to Sounding it Out for such a wonderful concert.”
“It was great how you moved around the church and interacted with both children and adults in the audience.”
The Courts – Holt – 15/9/2019
This was our third time singing in these beautiful National Trust gardens and once again we were blessed with a perfect day.
People enjoying the surroundings were treated to songs on the theme of “Protest”. You might think this could be dour and rather heavy. However, with a repertoire ranging from, O Mamabethu, a lively African song about gambling, drugs and escaping the police by taxi through to the jaunty English folk song, Dashing Away With The Smoothing Iron, It was anything but!
Lots of actions and dance moves too!
THE BIG SING – CHEESE AND GRAIN, FROME – 18/7/2019
A joyous celebration. All three choirs, Songbirds, Shreen Harmony and Sounding it Out,enjoyed a great evening singing together and listening to each other.
Thank you to Caroline for her energy and enthusiam and another wonderful year of singing.
PArty in the city 17/5/2019
The opening night of the Bath Festival is always one of the choirs’ favourite gigs.
Once again we sang in the United Reform Church just off Pultney Bridge and had a good audience to encourage us. We performed a number of new songs including a beautiful, plaintive musical arrangement of the poem, Anahorish by Seamus Heaney and ending with the rousing, Italian resistance song, Bella Ciao.
The Courts, Holt 13/3/2019
The beautiful National Trust Garden, the Courts made for an excellent setting for our lunchtime concert.
We were lucky enough to have a beautiful day once again and really enjoyed singing to everyone at various locations around this idyllic garden.
RUH lunchtime concert 9/2/2019
The RUH had requested a maximum of 25 singers at this gig and the worry of being heard above the bustle and noise of a busy hospital entrance hall could have been a challenge.
Not for Sounding it Out! The choir sang out above the noise and were really well received by visitors and staff who stopped to listen to some of our regular songs and a couple of new ones such as the rousing Italian song Bella Ciao.
Edington Priory Festive Concert 8/12/2018
Our annual festive concert was held, once again, in the magnificent setting of Edington Priory.
The concert was well attended and the varied set list seemd to go down well with all.
There were four interludes interspersed amongst the whole choir repertoire where small groups from the choir performed brilliantly, various festive songs of their choice.
We made £582.62 forthe charity Papyrus, which aims to help prevent teenage suicide.
Bath Abbey Lunchtime Concert 6/12/2018
Bath Christmas Market 30/11/2018
Alzheimer’s Support Concert 6/10/2018
What a great night! Such fun was had!
This fundraising concert took place in the newly opened Dementia Day Centre at the Old Silk Works in Warminster. and at the end of the night everyone was over the moon to find out that we had raised £840 for Alzheimer’s Support!
We shared this event and the rather small stage area with the wonderful, Frome based ukulele orchestra, The Frukes.
Sounding it Out took the stage for the first half, singing from their very diverse repertoire. This included many superb and often crunchy arrangements by Caroline of traditional English and Norwegian folk songs, gospel and African songs and pop songs, such as David Bowie’s Where are We Now and La Bamba.
This was followed by a break for wine, delicious snacks and a raffle, (of course), before the Frukes were welcomed on to the stage to provide the entertainment for the second half. The infectious bounce of the orchestra got everyone smiling and joining in, as they sang, played and danced to, a range of well known pop songs from the eighties and nineties.
The finale was a joint rendition of Jolene and Rudi/The Tide is High, with the audience joining in too!
Westbury Festival lunchtime Concert 27/9/2018
The All Saint’s Church provided excellent acoustics for our lunchtime concert and first time as part of the Westbury Festival. We were warmly welcomed by the organisers and sang our repertoire to a good sized audience. It was great to have a class of children from a nearby primary school in the audience too. They sat and listened attentively to our eclectic choice of songs and it was lovely to see their faces light up when we sang the theme tune from the film, Frozen, for the first time in public.
Iford manor – afternoon concert 16/9/2018
The beautiful Peto gardens at Iford Manor were the setting for another sunny September afternoon afternoon of singing.
The Courts – Heritage Open day 9/9/2018
A sunny, early autumn day at the beautiful National Trust property, The Courts, in Holt, was the venue for our lunchtime concert for visitors to the gardens on this Heritage Open day. We sang a good mix of songs from our repertoire at various locations around the garden, finishing with a rousing applewassail in the orchard, in praise of the apple harvest.
Apple Wassail
Lovely Joan
The big sing- cheese and grain 19/7/2018
Once again a lovely evening of singing together, as one choir and also as individual choirs. It is good fun to all join together but a real treat to have the chance to listen to Caroline’s other choirs sing too. A very hot evening led to a choir member being taken ill and the whole choir and audience de-camping to the carpark to sing, returning inside to complete the event after the interval.
Roll on September and the start of a new singing year!
Party in the city – Bath 19/5/2018
As always this was an excellent night out and one that we always enjoy being part of. Once again our venue was the United Reform Church and we sang a wide range of songs from disco classic, Boogie Nights, to the ever popular La Bamba, and a couple of gospel tunes through to gentle folk song, Love Call Me Home.
As usual a drink in the pub around the corner and then off to The Parade Gardens for a dance and sing along with The Blues Others. Great fun!
Mallorca – Choir Trip 9-13 May 2018
Twelve years ago Candy Verney took members of our choir on an exchange visit with a choir from the small village of Campanet in Mallorca and this was a lovely opportunity for Anne and Celia to revisit the village and meet up once again with the choir and the people they had stayed with in their previous visit.
Caroline, her husband Nick, who held his own as our only bass, (thank you Nick) and sixteen choir members made the trip this time around. We were welcomed once again by the lovely, Campanet choir , to make the most of singing together and spending time with good friends, new and old, on a beautiful, sunny island.
Singing, chatting, eating, singing, drinking, cycling, singing, swimming, walking, sight seeing and yes more singing.
What fun we had!
Here are a couple of recordings from the weekend and a few photos.
photos above by rickbuettnerphotography.com
Trowbridge Twinning Event – Trowbridge Town Hall 4/5/2018
Singing on the stairs of the Town Hall with all parts standing one behind each other was new for us all and took a bit of getting used to. We had an appreciative audience from Germany and Trowbridge and the event tied in with the start of the Cloth Road Arts Trail which was also using the venue for local artists’ work.Caroline and Sarah may well have managed to secure a choir exchange for net year with, Leer in Germany.
Youth Music Charity Event, Bristol Temple meads – 24/3/2018
On a busy Saturday in March we braved the freezing cold to sing at this nationwide charity event on to raise awareness and funds for Youth Music. Platform 3, Bristol Temple Meads was probably one of our more challenging venues. Being heard over the trains, announcements and general bustle of the station at some points was impossible but we sang as loud as we could and during the times when there was quiet people stopped to appreciate the singing by all choirs involved.
Appetito Christmas lunch Concert for over 65s – 17/12/2017
Apetito offer regular free Sunday lunches to those over 65 and this year we enjoyed singing a half hour set of festive songs for those who had enjoyed the Christmas lunch, kindly provided by the company. A really enjoyable end to our singing year!
Edington Festive Concert – 9/12/2017
Photography by Rick Buettner photography.
On the coldest night of the year we made our way to the magical setting of Edington Priory for our Festive Concert.. The audience included three appreciative Guide dogs, with Nimmo joining in with some of the harmonies! Profits from the wine, food and bucket collections went to our chosen charity, The Guide Dogs and when amalgamated with the money made at Bath and Bratton, the total raised was £311.
Singing in bratton village and The duke pub – 11/12/2017
A really cold night again but warmed with mulled wine, mince pies and mulled wine we enjoyed some less formal singing of our festive repertoire for villagers at a private party. This was then followed by more mince pies, sausage rolls, (kindly provided by the landlord and lady) and alcohol, as we continued with some rousing singing in The Duke Pub.
BATH Christmas Market CONCERT – 1/12/2017
A cold snap marked thestart of Christmas singing for Sounding It Out in the Bath Christmas Market.
We sang to a good sized crowd of appreciative listeners many of whom joined in with the traditional favourites. We collected for our chosen charity, The Guide Dogs and raised £96.12.
Photos by rickbuettnerphotography.com
Bath abbey lunchtime concert – 28/9/2017
A beautiful day in Bath and Abbey Green was the perfect place to have our warm up and what turned out to be an impromptu concert as people strolling through Bath stopped to listen.
It is a privilege and an amazing experience to sing in the Abbey. The acoustics are fantastic! A number of people rose to the challenge of singing superb solos in this beautiful but slightly intimidating situation and the whole concert seemed to go down well with the audience.
4 Choirs Big sing – 20/7/2017
A celebration of the end of another singing year for Sounding it Out, Songbirds, Shreen Harmony and Skylarks. This was our opportunity for all singers, from Caroline’s four choirs, to come together to sing, share songs and to listen to each others repertoires.
This year we performed at the Cheese and Grain in Frome, a slightly more spacious venue than last year which made for a more comfortable event for friends, family and singers. It was great night and a really uplifting end to the year!
ALZHEIMERS SUPPORT FUNDAY – 8/7/2017
A lovely sunny day – just as Caroline had promised. As well as ourselves there were a number of musical performances from the band stand, including Caroline singing with Terry Hill’s Big Band and Claras’, (one of our previous choir members), Bath and Trowbridge choirs. We sang a jolly,half hour set on the band stand to lots of people enjoying the activities and stalls in Trowbridge town park. busy town park.
Alzheimer’s support Sponsored walk – 17/06/2017
What a day for a 13 mile sponsored walk along canal towpath with no shade. On one of the hottest days of the year about 15 members of Sounding it out and some members from Caroline’s other choir, Songbirds, together with another 300 people and many dogs, enthusiastically set off to help raise money for this Wiltshire based charity.
We had a welcome break for lunch at The Barge, Seend, where the pub landlord kindly offered all walkers a much needed free soft drink! Walkers were joined by other members of both, Sounding it Out and Songbirds, to sing a few songs from our repertoires to the large gathering making the most of the sunshine in the lovely pub garden.
Another 5 miles and the walkers finally arrived at Devizes Wharf to be greeted by music from Dr Zebo’s Wheezy Club and a barbecue, followed by another session of singing by both choirs.
We haven’t heard yet how much has been raised overall by the walk but walkers and singers were really pleased to have been able to contribute to the day!!
PARTY IN THE CITY – BATH 19/05/2017
The opening night of the Bath Festival is always one of the highlights of our singing year. It was our chance to perform two new song, which we have been working hard on for months – Caroline’s lovely arrangements of David Bowie’s, Where are we Now and Dolly Parton’s, Jolene.
We sang our best to a good sized audience before retiring to the pub for some more slightly rowdier singing!
BRISTOL CHOIR CONVENTION 26/3/2017
On a beautiful sunny day twenty choir members and Caroline set off for the choir convention in Bristol. We were all a little reluctant to sit inside for 8 hours on such a glorious day but in the hope of learning some interesting new songs we all sat down and gave it a go. In the end the lure of the sun proved too much for many and mooching around the Waterfront seemed far more appealing.
The evening concert started at 6.30 and there were numerous choirs from the South West to perform two songs each. It was a great evening and we all really enjoyed watching and listening to the different choirs and the diverse range of songs. Our own performance was pretty good and Evo Banke went down a storm!
MAYOR’S CIVIC DINNER – TROWBRIDGE 18/3/2017
We hadn’t realised that we would be singing in the foyer as people arrived, got their pre dinner drinks and mingled, which meant that we were battling to make ourselves heard above the general chatter and the interuptions from the town crier! We took it all in our stride, rose to the challenge and gave a great welcome to the guests.
Here we are after the event with the current Mayoress of Trowbridge.
Helen porter workshop 27/2/2017
During our regular singing session on Monday 27th February the choir were put through their paces under the expert eyes and ears of, well known vocal coach, choir leader and singer, Helen Porter. What an exhausting night! We worked really hard to improve on our weak points and improve and she did wonders for our, pitching, posture and delivery. Now all we have to do is remember it all!
Bradford Roots Festival 14/1/2017
Photograph of our rehearsal prior to going on the main stage at The Bradford Roots Festival. Sounding it Out had a 30 minute slot to wow the audience with our varied repertoire at this excellent weekend music festival of local talent at the Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon.
Sounding It Out Christmas concert 10/12/2016
Our annual Christmas Concert was held at St John’s Church, Studley, Trowbridge. Many thanks to our fellow singer and rector of St John’s, Liz Gifford for arranging for us to use her lovely church. This was the culmination of our first year under the fantastic and inspiring leadership of Caroline Radcliffe. We were very pleased to sing to a packed church including our previous choir leader and founder, our good friend, Candy Verney. The repertoire included several beautiful and interesting solo and small group pieces as part of a varied seasonal repertoire of festive songs from around the world.
Listen to God Rest You Merry Gentlemen and Green Growth The Holly on the See and Hear us page
CArol Singing in Bath ChristMas Market 2/12/2016
Another Christmas and a great evening, singing carols and festive songs under the arch at Abbey Green, Bath. As has become a bit of a tradition this was followed by slightly more rowdy carol singing in The Raven afterwards! It is always a magical night but this year there was one particularly lovely moment when a young Polish lady stopped to join in the singing of a Polish Christmas Lullaby, Lulajze Jezuniu.
During the singing we made a collection for the choir’s chosen charity for this year, Bloodwise.
Carol singing At Care Homes 13/12/2016
Several singers from the choir, with sore throats and coughs of varying degrees, who were available on a weekday afternoon, visited Ashwood and Henford House care homes in Warminster to sing traditional carols and festive songs to their residents. We have done this for a number of years in Bath but decided to try somewhere different this Christmas.
It was a really lovely afternoon and the staff and residents seemed to enjoy our singing and joining in with the carols. We have already been asked to come back again this year… to both homes!
Bath Lunchtime concert 22/10/2016
What magnificent surroundings to sing in. Fantastic accoustics and a big audience .. no pressure! but we all enjoyed the challenge of singing in such an amazing place and in particular our soloists did us proud. Marc recorded the whole concert and you can listen to them here.
IFORD MANOR 11/09/2016
Singing in the September sun in the beautiful gardens at Iford Manor. Followed by a cream tea!
Bushes and Briars . (Soloist :Shelagh, outside recording)
The Big Sing in Frome Assembly Rooms 21/07/2016
At the end of our singing year all three of Caroline’s choirs came together for an evening of shared singing. It was great to meet members from Shreen Harmony and Songbirds, and have a chance to enjoy listening to each others repertoires. See the video on our See and Hear Us page.
A really uplifting finish to the year. Hopefully this will become a regular event!
Weekend in Donegal, Ireland, June 2016
In June twenty members of the choir travelled to Donegal to spend a weekend of singing and walking in the breathtaking scenery. We stayed at The Song House, an exciting new venture for our ex choir leader Candy Verney. http://candyverney.co.uk/song-house
Party in the City 20/05/2016
Singing in th e United Reformed Church, on the opening night of the Bath Festival.