TEES
VALLEY
VOICES

Tees Valley Voices was formed in October 2006 by Platform - for Classical Music in the Tees Valley to fill a gap in the infrastructure between school singing and 'fun' choirs and the high standards of Tees Valley Youth Choir. It was seed-funded by Stockton-on-Tees and Middlesbrough Councils for three years, and run from the Platform office by the Programme Manager. Classes were free, and run by young, enthusiastic tutors who were good musicians and singers. A pool of tutors was identified and a mentoring and development programme for them, led by Platform Programme Managers and John Forsyth, conductor of Tees Valley Youth Choir, was put in place.

Concerts were supported by a grant from The Sponsors Club for Arts and Business. The choir performed with other choirs and soloists at venues such as Kirkleatham Chapel, Wynyard Hall, The University of Durham (Queens Campus), Darlington's Dolphin Centre and Middlesbrough Town Hall.

In the spring of 2009, Tees Valley Voices took on the challenge of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music Choral Singing Examination. They were awarded an A - the highest possible grade!

Tees Valley Voices with school choirs and Tees Valley Youth Choir at Middlesbrough Town Hall in June 2007. Tees Valley Voices sang with all these young people in Howard Blake's All God's Creatures, then in Carmina Burana with Cleveland Philharmonic Choir, who organised the concert.

On 1st September 2009, local authority funding ended, but no-one wanted the choir to stop! A small group of parents and a member of Platform's board volunteered to help the choir to continue as an independent, self-sustaining organisation. Running costs would be met from subscriptions, and other expenses funded by a mixture of grants, sponsorship and fundraising efforts.
The summer term of 2009 was very busy as the new committee agreed a constitution, worked on a Child Protection Policy, opened a bank account and appointed two Music Directors. They were very grateful for all the help and advice from Kirsty McDowell of Making Music (TVV is now affiliated to this organisation) and John Forsyth. Two fundraising concerts were held, and the choir received a Development Grant from Platform which supported promotion, website and the Music Directors' ongoing training.

In the first year of independence, numbers rose from 18 to 28, and Tees Valley Voices took part in a children's opera and five concerts and participated in Hartlepool Festival of Music and Arts. In its second year, Tees Valley Voices sang in seven concerts, making new partnerships with other choirs and performing in some new venues. Singers took part in the composition of a new children's opera. Please see the Recent Events page for more details and pictures.

The committee meets monthly. CRB checks have taken place and a guidance sheet has been produced for parents who act as chaperones. Health and Safety and Equal Opportunities Policies have been agreed, putting on paper the good practice followed so far. Charitable status was achieved in December 2010.
Letters to local businesses have resulted in five sponsorships and a donation. Because two companies are first time arts sponsors, an application for matchfunding for their sponsorships from the Sponsors Club for Arts and Business was made, and this has been approved. Sir John Hall has generously funded the purchase of polo shirts embroidered with the choir's logo.
The committee has also successfully applied for two small grants for music. A recent application to the Arts Council for opera funding did not succeed, but in December 2010 we received the exciting news that our application for a grant of just over £11,000 from Youth Music for the project 'Making an Opera' was successful. The opera is now complete and will be performed in 2012.