Universal Voices
Universal Voices is a choir is for children aged 7 -11 from the Reading area and is free for local families thanks to funding provided by generous donations from alumni and local supporters. We offer an excellent choral education to children in the Reading area, with musicianship training embedded into rehearsals. Universal Voices performs regularly in Reading and beyond, and recent highlights include marching as a samba dragon in the University of Reading centenary RAG Parade, and singing at the Department for Education in London.
The Universal Voices team work with nearly 30 local primary schools. The team regularly visits local schools to give singing workshops to recruit children to join the choir and support local teachers by offering training in choral education. Universal Voices has worked with nearly 2000 children and 60 teachers through this outreach programme.
The choir forms an integral part of music education provision for undergraduate and postgraduate students at the Institute of Education. Students learn how to run a choir, by running a choir. Trainee teachers from the Institute of Education volunteer to work with the choir on event management, administration, teaching musicianship and conducting performances. Students learn important professional education knowledge and leadership skills which improves their employability as music teachers. Many Universal Voices student alumni now work in our local partnership schools and run their own choirs as a result of the work they did at the University.
Hear Universal Voices at Convention on Saturday lunchtime in the Great Hall.
Taplow Youth Choir
Taplow Choirs was set up in September 2004 by Gillian Dibden and Philip Viveash to establish a centre for local singers and bring together children and adults interested in building their singing skills. Taplow Choirs offers four regular groups: Taplow Children’s Choir, for children in school Year 3 and upwards, Taplow Boys’ Choir, for boys in school Year 5 and upwards, Taplow Girls’ Choir, for girls in school Year 5 – Year 10, and Taplow Youth Choir, for girls in school Year 11 upwards and boys with changing voices (Year 9 upwards).
There are approximately 70 members of Taplow Youth Choir. It rates amongst the top youth choirs in the country and were Choir of the Year (Youth category) winners in 2008. Taplow Youth Choir was awarded the title of BBC Radio 3 ‘Youth Choir of the Year’ in 2008 and won the ‘Outstanding’ award at Music for Youth in the same year.
In April 2009, during a tour of Tallinn, Estonia, Taplow Youth Choir competed in the International Choral Competition and won second prize in the Youth category. Other tours have included Amsterdam in 2007; Catalonia in 2011; and Venice in 2013.
Regular performers at the Windsor Festival, the choir also enjoys singing Choral Evensong annually at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. The choir is delighted to be a part of the Young Singers Scheme with the Gabrieli Consort, and performed Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Gabrieli Consort and players in the 2011 Proms season at the Royal Albert Hall.
In March 2015 they performed in St Alban’s Abbey, sharing a concert with three other Youth choirs, where a specially commissioned work by Ben Parry received its world premiere. One month later, they travelled to the Czech Republic, giving five concerts during a week-long tour. More recent tours have included Croatia and Slovenia in 2017, Tuscany in 2019, and, most recently, Hungary and Slovakia.
