we can all make music

step by step

Setting up a singing circle - how CMV can help

We have an initial conversation with the person(s) who wants a group to be set up. During this, we'll:

Listen to your ideas;
Outline our services;
Outline the various types of singing groups that are possible (eg, performance-oriented choir, singalong group, etc). We'll advocate the Vocal Nosh approach.

Do you know what is already going on in your locality? Do we? We can:

Let you know what we know and/or suggest ways of finding out what's happening.

You may decide to connect with an existing activity or group and make plans together as a community. We can:

Offer facilitation, encouragement, advice and support.

Do you have a collection of people around you that are already interested?

If not, or not enough, we can advise on seeking out and gathering participants.

If you decide to go ahead with setting up a new group and it makes sense to us, we can:

Advocate again for Vocal Nosh type singing activity that we can practically demonstrate (called a 'taster' session).

Is there a leadership group that includes all the skills needed to make a go of it? We can:

Outline the range of skills needed and the regular tasks that need to done;
Advise on leadership, group establishment and sustainability issues;
Advise on opportunities for leadership training including from CMV and other appropriate sources.

You may have the necessary skills and personnel to undertake group leadership OR there may be some of you that want to develop these skills OR you may want to find an external leader. If the latter:

We can advise on how to find and contract such a person or find a suitable volunteer.

We can then assist you through the process of identifying and giving birth to the leadership group, through which you develop a group plan and philosophy. The amount of involvement we'll have will depend entirely on your skills. We can facilitate the process but we don't control the outcome. The decisions, and the work, are the job of the group and its leaders.

If the leadership comes from within the group (the result we most strongly favour) but you'd like some 'start-up' assistance, we may be able to lead the first couple of sessions, always keeping in mind that your independence is uppermost in our thoughts.

We can then assist with ongoing leadership training - mentoring, shadowing, one-to-one training, further taster sessions, etc (see Services). And help you with organisational and repertoire issues as they emerge.

Once you're up and running, we'll still be there: more training, song swapping, networking opportunities and a place to turn to if you need advice, counsel or a sounding board. And we promise to check in regularly to see how you're going.

we can all make music

step by step

Setting up a singing circle - how CMV can help

making a sound world together