Eclipse Choir

Want to join our Kingston choir?

We're about to start our Winter-Spring term on 13th January 2025 with the next 13 weeks of music, culminating in a professional recording session! It is a good time for new members to join. We welcome you warmly to get in touch so we can organise an informal audition and a taster session so you can try singing with us!

What makes Eclipse Choir different

Led by director, Jim Hawkins, Eclipse is a friendly, aspirational choir, with a safe, welcoming atmosphere.

We are a choir focused on singing well and being attentive to what Jim's teaching us. He invites us to delve deeply into each piece of music we learn, so that we can make our best possible sound and be more freely expressive.

Jim selects a broad-ranging repertoire, from traditional choral works through to new arrangements of contemporary songs, all keeping us on our toes! At Eclipse you'll receive high quality teaching, direction and musical insight, with the goal of building singing skills and delivering moving performances. Therefore, Jim does expect a positive, open-minded attitude towards learning, and a level of commitment to attend weekly rehearsals and put in some rehearsal time at home - of an hour or two per week.

Who should join Eclipse?

We have two groups presently, which are designed to cater for slightly different levels.

Our Thursday group is ideal for female singers who are ready to move on from a community choir. You'll be looking for more of a challenge, but at a gentler pace. You'll be up for singing with musical scores (you don't need to be a sight-reader, as you'll be given lots of support, but you're ready to have a go!) And, importantly, you would welcome warm female fellowship and lots of laughs.

Our Monday group is for both male and female singers who aspire to be part of a committed small choir. You make a good sound, you know your voice, know how to blend with others and are ready to receive instruction from our director. You'll be confident reading music (you might be rusty, but you'll pick it up fast enough with practice). You've also had some good experience singing in choirs or vocal groups (again you might be out of practice if you haven't sang for a while, but know it'll come back with practice).

What people say about us

"The choirs just get better and better. The performance on Saturday evening was very impressive with a wide range of genres and some very special performances."

"The concert was excellent. Very polished indeed"

(After our Summer Concert in 2023)

From our members:

"Never have I worked so hard on my music and enjoyed it so much!"

"I don't know if you could tell from my face, but God I loved every bit of the singing 🙂 I am definitely a little better at singing now than I was before Eclipse. I thoroughly enjoyed learning a number of pieces, especially Hallelujah and Disney Fly! But for me, the best parts were the warm-up exercises. They were so challenging yet so supremely fulfilling at the end of it."

About our director

Jim Hawkins isn't just a choir director. He is an accomplished arranger and producer who works with a network of world class singers, recording and producing choirs for high profile artists, such as Andrea Bocelli and the Royal Chapel Choir at Hampton Court in 2023, or for pianist Chloe Flower and select ENO singers this past Christmas. His portfolio of projects over the last 10 years includes launching the Missing People Choir which reached the finals of Britain's Got Talent in 2017, producing welsh male chorus Johns' Boys debut EP, Simply Biblical, through to recording our very own Eclipse Choir on Ball & Boe's chart-topping album in 2024.

About the audition

Our Monday choir (Total choir) is an SATB choir and has space for 1x soprano 1 x alto, 1 x tenor, and 1 x bass. Singers should be able to read music to at least a basic level and have some experience of choral singing.

Our Thursday choir (Focus choir) is an SSAA choir and has spaces for 1 x soprano and more altos. Whilst it is not an absolute requirement to read music for this group, it is something that you should want to learn.

The first step is coming along to meet Jim at his home studio for an information audition, followed by a free taster session to see if you enjoy the choir and teaching. There's no need to prepare a performance of any kind. Jim will take you through some exercises to hear your tone, range, pitching, listening, rhythm etc. And you can ask any questions about his approach to teaching and directing. Above all, this audition will ascertain if you're a strong enough singer to enjoy our choir.

If you are not certain of your voice part, or if it's been a long time since you last sang in a choir, please contact us - Jim will listen to your tone and range in order to suggest the right section for you. The audition is a blank slate and doesn't rely on your history of singing in other choirs. Your voice is what we want to hear! 😃