The Story of Our Choir

The journey so far…

The story of Love Soul Choir

The idea to launch Love Soul Choir was formed back in 2008. The journey started in Southampton where we wanted to launch a new, fresh and unique choir experience for singers in the city.

Since launching the choir, we have had a positive impact on a huge number of individuals from all across the Southampton and Bournemouth areas.

We love all singers

Over the years, we have met all sorts of singers. We’ve worked with professionals, amateurs and individuals who have never sung a note in public before. This is why Love Soul Choir is so special. All of our members have one thing in common and that is a strong love for singing, performing and being part of one big choir family.

We love to watch our members grow in to confident and competent singers. We’ve even seen some take the leap in to the world of performing in public, alone.

Love Soul Choir is a team. One team with one goal. To perform together and to love it along the way.

Our Green Plan

Since 2021, for every Love Soul Choir membership, we donate £2 each month to the Trillion Trees initiative. On top of this, we’re continuing to explore ways that we, as a choir, can do good for the planet. We organise beach & city cleans which are a chance to come together and spend time in nature whilst looking after our local beaches and wildlife. We have also been pro-actively encouraging members to car share. Not only is it better for the planet, but it can be a great way to meet other members and connect with them too. Looking forward, we’re inspired to do more.

Love Soul Choir is a choir. A family. A team. A group of people with a common goal. We come together to enrich lives, put on top quality performances and form solid friendships, for life. For that reason, it’s the perfect place to collectively work to improve and protect the planet that we live on.

The IAA Programme

At a top level, it’s pretty clear that Love Soul Choir is a welcoming, friendly and inclusive choir but, we need to do more.

In 2023, we launched our internal ‘I’m An Ally (IAA) Programme’ as a way for members to self reflect on issues such as race, gender, sexual identity, mental health and neurodivergence.

The IAA Programme is designed to help us as a choir (and as a society on a whole) be more genuinely accepting of those who may have different lived experiences to us. It’s a small step but we feel that it’s a step in the right direction…

From Humble Beginnings

October 2008

The idea was born. We noticed a gap in the Southampton choir scene and had a burning desire to pull talented singers across the south coast, together. This is where the Love Soul Choir journey started. Who knew what was to come!

March 2009

Our first rehearsal in Southampton was at a restaurant called ‘NV’ and the first song learnt was ‘Higher & Higher’, originally by Jackie Wilson.

In between our rehearsals, we worked hard on learning songs, performing regularly and growing our choir to become the biggest pop & soul choir in Southampton. We became the choir of choice for Black History Month in Southampton, performing every year in different locations across the city.

August 2010

Our TV appearances were starting to grow. We qualified for the live shows on Channel 5’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’. We were also asked by Gareth Malone to feature in his BBC documentary, ‘The Big Sing’.

August 2011

We opened a choir in Bournemouth. We held our initial auditions and got to meet some amazing singers. The Love Soul Choir story was starting to evolved. We then started our work towards public, live performances in the Dorset and surrounding areas.

March 2013

We were asked to be Susan Boyle’s backing choir for the Bournemouth leg of her UK tour. This was a great opportunity as our members got to perform a number of songs with Susan Boyle including her rendition of ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ at the Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre.

December 2014

We worked on a rebrand and had strong goals for 2015. We performed more than before and had a record number of wedding performances across 2015. It was a very busy year for us and we can tell you now that there is something super special about performing at somebody’s wedding. We love it!

April 2016

We performed at the first ever ‘One Sound‘ choir collaboration show along with our friends at ‘Sing Now Choir‘ and ‘SingForce’ to a sell out audience at the Turner Sims Concert Hall in Southampton. It was a very special event and something that was to become a yearly event in our performance diary.

March 2017

We were part of a flashmob in Westquay shopping centre which went viral. Along with Sing Now Choir and SingForce, the video has reached over 700,000 views! We performed ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay and our very own Jayne Glynn started the first couple of lines of the song, alone!

October 2017

We were asked to perform at the Rock Recruitment’s yearly ‘Rock Awards’ event. We started the evening with a surprise performance of one of our songs, ‘Incredible’ – originally by the Shapeshifters. Our leader Dan was actually nominated for an award at this event so it was really special to be able to be part of the occasion.

April 2018

We perform as part of the One Sound choir collaboration show each year. The 2018 show was a step up. We sang alongside 400 other singers (from Sing Now Choir, SingForce and Total Voice Contemporary Choir) to a sold out audience of 700+. It was absolutely incredible and we received lots of positive feedback about our performance and our new dance moves.

September 2018

We were honoured to be invited to perform at the re-opening Gala Night for Mayflower Theatre. They had just undertaken a £7.5 million renovation. We sang alongside Joe McElderry, Bobby Davro, Welsh National Opera, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Jaqueline Hughes who has played Elphaba in Wicked. It was epic!

January 2019

2019 marked the start of our 10th anniversary year! It’s crazy to think that Love Soul Choir was started in 2009 and that 10 years later we’re stronger than we’ve ever been. It was a very special year for us.

May 2019

We performed in One Sound: Space! at O2 Guildhall Southampton. With a sold-out audience of 1000, we sang alongside 470 other singers and put on a show like no other. Being part of One Sound is such a highlight.

 

 

May 2019

We performed with Take That! We were at St. Mary’s Stadium in Southampton on 25th & 26th May with the band as part of their Odyssey tour. We sang ‘Never Forget’ and Lulu joined us for ‘Relight My Fire’ too. It’s our biggest performance to date. With 32,000 people in the audience each night, it’s something that we’ll never forget.

June 2019

We set out on a charity event with a difference. In collaboration with South Western Railway, we performed at train stations from Bournemouth to London Waterloo, raising money for the charity Mind. We raised over £1100 and had a great time along the way. It was the hottest day of the year too.

 

September 2019

We were involved in Bournemouth’s Arts by the Sea festival and opened the performances on the bandstand in the lower gardens. It was an incredible turnout, the sun shone and hundreds of people can to watch. They audience loved our set and ended up singing and dancing with us too.

December 2019

BBC Radio Solent invited us to be part of their 2019 Christmas Carol concert. We performed a couple of songs and the whole event was recorded to then be played on air on the radio station over the Christmas period. It was an honour to be involved.

March 2020

One Sound: Magic took place at Mayflower Theatre in 2020. A sold out theatre and the opportunity to perform alongside Sing Now Choir & SingForce (once again) and new addition, Sound Pop Academy. What isn’t there to love?

December 2020

Despite the pandemic, we still managed to put on a Winter Show like no other. We filmed the event at Sir Harold Hiller Gardens and shared the performance for the world to see.

July 2021

Finally, after a very long time (16 months to be precise) we all came together for our first ‘normal’ (albeit outside) session since the pandemic began.

August 2021

We were invited to perform at the Tower of London as part of a choir festival. It was an amazing event to be part of and a great way to celebrate the fact that choirs are back and performing again. This was our first performance since March 2020.

December 2021

Despite all things COVID, we managed to put on our yearly Winter Show. It was a huge success and felt incredible to be back on stage.

April 2022

We recorded a version of ‘Keep Climbing’ by Delta Goodrem to spread a bit of hope with the world. Delta Goodrem herself saw our video and said that it was beautiful!

April 2022

We performed at the ABP Southampton Marathon. It was great to be able to support and encourage the runners in our home city! Those that finished their run definitely appreciated our entertainment.

July 2022

Each year, we host a Solo Performance Night for our members. It’s a chance for members to have the opportunity to perform as a soloist, in a duo or as part of a small group to the rest of the choir and invited family and friends. It’s an incredibly fun and supportive evening and a highlight of our year!

August 2022

We always love performing in Westquay but it was particularly special to come together with Sing Now Choir to support pride at this event. It was a massive celebration of the LGBTQ+ community!

December 2022

It was a busy year of performances that ended with our yearly Winter Show. Our 2022 show took place at the Regent in Christchurch and was a huge success followed with incredible comments!

WHAT'S NEXT?

We can’t wait for another exciting year. We have lots of amazing songs and performances lined up for 2023 and are really looking forward to showing the world what we’re all about.

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward.

~ Soren Kierkegaard
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