A love letter to our Starling Family

This Valentine’s Day comes in the middle of our 10th anniversary celebrations, and a time when we’re feeling more grateful than ever for our singing communities and the love that continues to be generated through singing.

This love letter is a little unconventional but is for everyone who has been part of our singing journey over the last ten years. Join us to celebrate at Starling 10, Saturday April 4th at Cadogan Hall. 

To the Starling Arts Community,
From our adult choir members past and present, to our workplace singers, community workshop participants, summer school alumni, and all of our supporters and fans. 

Thank you for being part of our very special singing family. 

Love comes in many different forms, and we regularly see them at play when singing with groups. From the gentle affection of a colleague helping with a harmony line, the kind guidance of a fellow voice part member, the soft smile of a friend sharing a musical experience, or the joy that singing allows our participants to escape the reality of everyday life and sing into better times. 

We are grateful to you all for showing up (however hard that may sometimes have seemed), taking part, giving your voice to a greater goal and showing your vulnerabilities. We’re thankful for sharing our voices with you, and building something greater than the sum of our parts. 

People assume that the primary function of a choir is to sing. And whilst the music is undeniably important, singing is merely the thread that binds us all together.  It’s the reason we have all met, but the roots have spread into a far greater place in our hearts. We have become a family. 

There’s no single definition of love, but we have felt facets of it flow into our choir adventures. The loyalty of coming back to a group of people week-in, week-out and building a mutual trust and support network, the magic of feeling surrounded by joy, and the passion to want to work hard at a shared goal. 

We also see the love for yourselves blossoming. We love witnessing the change in people with time, the realisation that you can achieve, push yourself out if your comfort zone and accomplish the seemingly impossible. Being in a choir allows you to create and collaborate which supports you to take risks. We are continually in awe of the way that our singers submit to the music and walk out of a rehearsal taller, stronger, and more resilient. 

So to everyone who has sung with us over these past ten years, thank you for being part of the fabric of each others’ everyday lives. We have a saying that “singing can make bad days better and good days even more awesome”. And it’s true; the music lifts us up. We have sung through the very best and very worst that life has given, and come out stronger together. Whatever life throws at us all, we all have a musical family to support each other and to love. Nothing matters more. 

Happy Valentine's Day.

Anna & Emily x