Rhythm & Roots Big Sing

Rhythm & Roots Big Sing comes to Salisbury Arts Centre on Saturday 6 February 2027, starting at 1:00pm. It's a workshop rather than a performance, so you're part of the music rather than just watching it. The session is run by the Take Part team at Wiltshire Creative, who work with local artists and creative practitioners to bring the Arts Centre's season to life with sessions across performing arts, visual arts, writing and meditation.

What you'll be doing is a mix of improvised rhythms and circle songs, combined with original arrangements drawn from the Blues, Folk and Americana repertoires. If you're not familiar with circle singing, it's a way of making music where the group forms a circle and people take turns leading short, improvised melodic fragments that the rest of the room picks up and repeats. It's less about reading a score and more about listening and responding in the moment, so it's as much about the social side as the singing. The arrangements they'll be working with pull from the Blues, Folk and Americana traditions, so the sound leans more towards those roots than towards the pop or classical songs you'll find in a typical choir.

The Take Part team describes their programme as building confidence, encouraging self-expression and supporting wellbeing, learning and social connection for people of any age or experience. They frame the whole thing around the idea of getting involved and making something together, rather than hitting a specific standard. The workshop is aimed at those drawn to something other than pop songs or classical music, and it's open to anyone regardless of their singing background, so you don't need to be a seasoned vocalist to join in.

It all takes place at Salisbury Arts Centre on Saturday 6 February 2027, with the session kicking off at 1:00pm.