Basic information

Join one of London's most sociable choirs! The Primrose Hill Choir meets on Mondays during term-time (see What’s On for dates), 7.30-9.30pm, upstairs at the Primrose Hill Community Centre, 29 Hopkinsons Place, London, NW1 8TN. Directions: go up Fitzroy Road towards Primrose Hill and the community centre is through a gate on the right-hand side about 100m before the park. The nearest tubes are Chalk Farm (10 minutes) or Swiss Cottage (20 minutes). The cost is £10 per rehearsal (cash preferred, full-time students and low-waged £8. However, if you pay for the remaining rehearsals of term in one go then the cost is only £8 per rehearsal (full-time students and low-waged £6), payable by bank transfer only - contact us in advance. New members are welcome at any time, but contact Matthew before attending so that he can send you pdfs of the music.

Singing with the choir

Singing with us is a fun and healthy way to spend an evening and gives you something to look forward to at the start of the week! We have about 40 singers, of all ages and abilities, and no auditions. The conductor will teach you how to sing the songs, help you improve your singing technique and explain the basics of reading music. You can get to know people better during the break in rehearsals and afterwards in the pub. For more advanced singers there are regular solo opportunities. There have been many lasting friendships formed in the choir. "A choir that continues to improve…a coming together of a really nice bunch of people" (Sylvia, choir member).

The music

We sing all styles of music: catchy gospel numbers, tuneful classical songs, pop, Christmas favourites, songs from musicals and from around the world (see Hear Us in the menu). For example, Pastime With Good Company, Amazing Grace, O Fortuna from Carmina Burana and Siyahamba; Carol of the Bells, The Night Is Still by Cecilia McDowall and Last Christmas by George Michael; Stand By Me, When I’m 64, the James Bond Theme and Singing in the Rain; medleys from Guys & Dolls, Les Mis and West Side Story. Concerts have included Music from the Americas, Music from the Movies and Sing Africa. If you want some extra help learning the songs we post rehearsal tracks online at www.soundcloud.com (click here).

Choir history

The choir was formed by Matthew Watts in 2012 (see Press), and has always been in demand. During the first year alone we sang in ten different venues in Primrose Hill! Performances since then have included the switching on of the Christmas lights in Regents Park Road with David Miliband, the Roundhouse, the inauguration of the new Mayor of Camden at the Town Hall, Trafalgar Square, the South Bank Centre, the Victoria & Albert Museum, ARD German radio and singing live on BBC Radio London. The choir has performed with musicians including the international violin soloist Tamás Fejes and the singers Kai Hoffman from Ronnie Scott’s jazz club and Ngawang Lodup from Tibet (O2 Centre, Womad, BBC radio). During the 2020-21 Coronavirus outbreak the choir managed to stage one of the only Christmas concerts in the whole capital (with a long list of precautions) and took part in a charity carol event with Alan Bennett that was livestreamed across the world.

Social events & social media

We are proud to be one of London’s most sociable choirs! New people are always warmly welcomed, and many lasting friendships have been formed. After rehearsals and performances we like to support the excellent local pubs, and at Christmas we enjoy a tasty three-course dinner. Other events have included picnics on Primrose Hill, pub sing-a-longs and barbecues.

We have a busy Whatsapp group (contact us to join) and you can find us on Facebook here and Instagram here.