Union Chapel Community Singers

Union Chapel Community Singers is a community choir based in Islington, North London. Everyone is welcome – you do not need to audition, to be able to read music or to have any singing experience.

Led by our talented choir leader Andra East, we sing a wide-ranging repertoire, including folk, gospel, pop, choral, canons and Christmas carols. We are a friendly and supportive group who all appreciate how wonderful singing is for well-being, physical and mental health and meeting new people.

Here’s what some of our singers say they love about UCCS:

‘The great energy and fun of singing with others. It’s the best way to start the week.’

‘Singing and breathing exercises are really good for mental health. Meeting up with old friends and making new ones. I always feel better afterwards.’

‘Knowing that I’ll feel so much better at the end of the evening than I did when I set out.’

‘The joy I get when we’ve nailed a piece and all the harmonies come together.’

‘Singing and breathing exercise are really good for mental health. Meeting up with old friends and making new ones. I always feel better afterwards.’

‘The people! Seeing every cheerful face even when you don’t know each other very well. The joy of the collective sound once we get going. It is so energising and even if I arrive tired, I leave buzzing and often sing all the way home.’

Union Chapel Community Singers have raised money for the Chapel’s Margins Project singing in Islington Farmers’ Market, Angel Centre, local pubs and Canonbury Square, and have joined in large events, such as Sing for Water, Common and Kind and Islington Sings. We welcome singers from all faiths and none. We sing in morning service in the glorious Union Chapel several times a year, and at Christmas in the candlelit carol service.

Andra East is a choral conductor, singer, and music administrator, with a particular passion for music learning and community programmes. Andra has conducted the London Latvian Choir for 15 years, a mixed-ability adult choir for people connected with Latvia and its choral music, and has worked extensively in the Latvian musical community in the UK as a vocal leader, with adults and young people. One of Andra’s conducting highlights was leading a performance of nearly 1,000 Latvian singers in a concert in Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, as part of the Latvian Song Festival in Canada.

Having studied Music at Royal Holloway, University of London, where she was a Choral Scholar in the college Chapel Choir, Andra has sung extensively with various church and chamber choirs, including the Colla Voce Singers. Andra is now the choir leader for Sing Streatham Community Choir, the Cabrini Youth Choir in Honor Oak Park and Union Chapel Community Singers, and directs Aura, a Latvian chamber choir with members drawn from across the UK.

Union Chapel Community Singers meet every Monday evening at 7.30 at the Union Chapel, Compton Avenue ( back entrance). First session free. For more information: [email protected]

For inquiries: [email protected]

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Twitter: @UCsingers

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