Welcome to Choir of the Earth
Join us and sing wonderful pieces of choral music with singers around the world
LATEST NEWS
EVENTS: ONGOING AND COMING SOON
MUSIC PROGRAMME 2024/25
We recently announced our exciting Music Programme for 2024/25 at our Bach Magnificat course launch and the details will be published on the website in the coming days. In the meantime, here is a first look at what’s in store over the year ahead, including exciting opportunities to take part in international choral projects from your own home! We do hope you will join us!
The full details of Choir of the Earth’s upcoming courses will follow very soon!
To take part in all this and more, simply join us! We offer the first month FREE to new members with discount code WELCOME1 so you can discover for yourself why so many global singers have made Choir of the Earth part of their lives.
We can’t wait to welcome you to our choral family!
HOW CHOIR OF THE EARTH WORKS
Our talented and charismatic Musical Director Ben England BEM teaches the music line-by-line in full choir and sectional rehearsals via YouTube. We then ask you to record your own voice at home - don't worry, you don't need any special equipment and it's easy to do. Our team of sound engineers combine everyone's voices in the recording studio and then we play back YOUR performance in a live online concert performance.
Our performances have made headlines around the world. In 2023 we earned second place in the prestigious Britain's Top Choirs™ competition with our rendition of Eric Whitacre’s Seal Lullaby!
“Wonderful! An experience of a lifetime for me here at home! Thanks so much for everyone and all of the performers. Such a thrill. I will remember this forever”
Absolutely everybody is welcome
We teach each piece note by note, voice part by voice part, and provide professional learning resources so that singers of any level of experience can join in.
We have members who have never been in a choir before singing alongside music teachers and professional performers, and everything in between. Absolutely everybody is welcome to join our choral family and everyone has equal status here.
We believe a musical journey is never complete and that there is always something new to learn. Choir of the Earth provides a safe environment for those just setting out on their musical adventure to learn whilst also challenging experienced choristers.
For those interested in improving their choral skills or exploring music theory or music history in more detail, we also offer our supplementary Around Sound series.
“I absolutely loved it - singing this moved me to tears. I've sung it many times but never like this. Thank you.”
About our courses
At Choir of the Earth we learn the entire work, not just a few movements, and we take pride in giving you opportunities to sing great choral works that smaller local choirs often cannot offer.
You will receive top quality resources and all the support you need to learn and record the music at home.
You are welcome to learn and record as much or as little as you like: some members record multiple times for multiple voice parts, while others simply enjoy the rehearsals and choose not to record at all. It is your course to enjoy however you like.
All of our courses are led by our charismatic and insightful Musical Director, Ben England. His inspiring and enthusiastic teaching encourages even the least confident singers to exceed their own expectations, while still challenging the most experienced choristers.
Ben’s teaching goes beyond the notes, taking you inside the music and helping you appreciate what makes it special, whether you are singing a piece for the first or fifteenth time.
“The most moving performance to listen to and take part in of my entire 7 decades”
Our online choir rehearsals
With traditional choirs, your director usually has to deal with all of the voice parts in one weekly session. We think it’s easier to learn the music at separate rehearsals focused on each voice part, plus this means you can learn more than one part if you wish!
We hold a full choir rehearsal on Monday at 17:00 UK time and then separate voice part rehearsals, usually on Tuesdays through Thursdays between 17:00 - 20:00 UK time. Each rehearsal lasts around 60 minutes and we carefully schedule them so that each voice part has rehearsals on a variety of days/times, making sure as many members can attend live as often as possible. Of course if you can’t make it live, it’s not a problem - our rehearsals are recorded and stay available so you can take part at a time that suits you best.
The resources you need to take part in our courses are available on our exclusive Members Area, which you will have access to as soon as you sign up. We provide free vocal scores where possible, or the information you need to buy scores for any pieces still in copyright. Our learning tracks are recorded by talented professional singers and musicians, giving you the best possible resources to learn from.
At our rehearsals, we will give you all the latest news and warm up together before the singing begins. We invite members to use YouTube’s Live Chat function at our rehearsals to connect and share the experience with your choral colleagues around the world. We are very proud of the friendly, supportive and fun choral community that thrives at our rehearsals. That said, if you prefer not to chat and would rather switch it off and just focus on the music, that’s great too - it’s your experience to be enjoyed however you wish!
Between rehearsals, we keep in touch by email, including a weekly round-up each Friday to keep you up to date with all things COTE.
“This choir is one of the best things I have been part of ever. I can find no words to express my feelings of thanks joy and emotion every time I participate. What we all have done together is incredible.”
Become a Member today
Becoming a Member gives you access to our:
Current Choir of the Earth choral courses.
Ever-growing library of past courses, taught note-by-note by top conductors.
Supporting resources, such as in-depth interviews with leading musicians, composers and key figures in the classical music world.
Exclusive Community Forum - make friends with global like-minded music-lovers.
Members-only events… and much more!
OUR MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Ben England BEM - Musical Director
Ben England BEM is the Musical Director of Choir of the Earth and gamechoir.
In 2020 Ben was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours and was commended by the Royal Philharmonic Society Inspiration Awards. In 2022 he received the University of Bristol's Alumni Award for Community Engagement and Impact; was awarded the ‘Kantele of the Year’ by the Finnish Kantele Association; and was a Finalist for the Music and Drama Education Awards' Francesca Hanley Inspiration Award. In 2023 Ben led Choir of the Earth into the finals of the prestigious Britain’s Top Choirs™ competition - the only digital choir to do so - and placed second.
He has featured in local, national and even international media, appearing as a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, BBC Points West, BBC Radio Somerset, BBC Radio Bristol, and various podcasts.
-
A former Advanced Skills Music Teacher and Director of Music in an OFSTED Outstanding school, Ben has extensive experience in education and has led music at a county level across Bristol and South Gloucestershire. Today he teaches music theory, music history, composing and conducting both in person and online, including lectures for Choir of the Earth's popular Around Sound series.
A graduate of Bristol University, Ben trained as a conductor with Dr Alan Rump and Dr Adrian Beaumont, before going on to study conducting with Denise Ham of the London Conducting Academy.
During his undergraduate years, he led countless concerts and services, was Conductor of the University Chamber Choir and Musical Director of the University Opera.
After graduation, Ben sang with groups including the New English Orchestra, Bristol Chamber Choir, Bristol Opera, the Exultate Singers and the Choirs of both Clifton and Bristol Cathedral. A bass baritone, he has performed widely as an oratorio and operatic singer, including lead roles in The Cunning Little Vixen and Der Mond (for Bristol Opera), The Magic Flute and the Pirates of Penzance.
In 2002, Ben was appointed conductor of the Bristol Cabot Choir and over eight years transformed the choir into a major musical force in Bristol. The success of his work with the Cabot Choir led to his subsequent appointment as Musical Director of Bristol Opera, where he led the company in successful performances of Handel’s Samson and Lakmé by Delibes.
He has led numerous choirs in and around Bristol for the past 20 years, including the New Harmony Ladies Choir (now Sound of Song), a number of afternoon choirs, the Bristol Gilbert and Sullivan Operatic Society, and has led rehearsals for the City of Bristol Choir, Bristol Chamber Choir and St Paul’s Church choir. He is the current Musical Director for the University of West England’s UWE Singers.
Ben has also led several orchestras, including his current role as Conductor of Nailsea Concert Orchestra, with whom he has conducted performances of Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Elgar Enigma Variations, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Peter and the Wolf, narrated by Radio 4s John Telfer. In November 2018 he conducted the revival of Eric Wetherell’s WWI opera A Foreign Field in Bristol, which won the NODA Best Dramatic Production award. He is an experienced leader of large-scale concerts and has conducted performances of thousands at venues including Bristol Cathedral, the former Colston Hall in Bristol, St George’s Brandon Hill and St David’s Hall Cardiff.
