Hello singers,

You are invited to participate in the community chorus of Seeds of Hope: A Feminist Requiem which will be coming to Sheffield on 13^th September 2025.

The requiem was written by Penny Stone in memory of her amazing feminist mum, Sue Stone, and brings together the words of women from all over the world, spanning from 575 CE until the present day. The requiem is sung in 18 languages (you won’t have to sing all of them!) and combines a variety of community choir, semi-chorus and soloist acapella singing with cello, violin, percussion and French horn. There are also some singing-together choruses for the audience to join in with that will be taught at the beginning of the concert. There is space in this piece for singing and listening, for sadness and joy, and for connection as well as time spent with our own individual feelings.

Please note that whilst we are honouring the women who have come before us, this is not a women-only event – all genders are welcome at both the workshops and the concerts. Feminism is for everyone! Singing is for everyone. Grief and Joy are for everyone. 

If you’d like to read more about this piece and what to expect, here are some FAQs: https://singlouderthanguns.com/seeds-of-hope-a-feminist-requiem/#FAQ

And you can hear a few wee snippets here: https://youtu.be/8EGTKjLgjbc?si=4iB2SIlwvABPuQ2u

You will find a concise breakdown of timings for workshops/concert further below.

Full workshop info:

For those living in or near Sheffield, there will be a full day workshop on Saturday 6^th September.

For those living further away, and/or those who prefer more time with the songs before the weekend itself, there will be a zoom session on Tuesday 22^nd July from 6-8pm. This will also be recorded.

There will then be a rehearsal in Sheffield on the evening of Friday 12^th September from 7-9, and a full day of rehearsing on Saturday 13^th September from 10am-5pm, finishing with the concert itself from 7-8.30pm.

If you want to sing in the concert, it is strongly recommended that you attend all three workshops as there is quite a lot of music to sing, and the more we have all sung it together, the more enjoyable everyone will find the performance.

If you can’t attend all three, you must be able to either attend 6^th and 13^th September, or attend the Zoom session (which will be recorded) as well as 12^th and 13^th September.

There are limited places in the community chorus, due to limitations of the performance space.

Additional tickets are available for people who want to just come to the singing workshop on 6^th September. You can, of course, also come to the concert on the 13^th and join in with the singing-audience elements.

Concise info:

Saturday 6^th September (Wesley Hall, Crookes, Sheffield S10 1UD)

All day singing workshop, 10am-4pm.  

Friday 12^th September (Wesley Hall)

Singing workshop, 7-9pm.

Saturday 13^th September (St. Mark’s Church, Broomfield Rd, Sheffield S10 2SE)

Singing workshop: 10am-1pm

Lunch break: 1-2 pm

Full rehearsal: 2-5pm

Break: 5-7pm

Concert: 7-8.30pm

Accessibility info:

Wesley Hall: We will be singing in the Sanctuary which is on the first floor. There is lift access and there is an accessible toilet on the same level.

St. Mark’s: We will be singing on the ground floor, which is accessible to wheelchairs, and there are accessible toilets on the ground floor.

These workshops and concert are charged on a pay-what-you-can scale, and if the lower end of this is still too much for you, please just drop me a line and I’ll put you aside a free ticket, no questions asked. If you are in a position to pay the standard or slightly higher ‘supporters’ rate, please do so to help me enable everyone who would like to participate.

Children:

 The Requiem is primarily aimed at adults, but if you think your youngster would benefit from singing with us, or you need to bring them so that you can participate, you’re all welcome and I’ll make the space as welcoming as I can for everyone.

Patchwork:

We have made three patchwork panels remembering amazing women, and we are collecting for a fourth panel, and if you would like to make a patch remembering someone you will find all the details here: https://singlouderthanguns.com/seeds-of-hope-a-feminist-requiem-patchwork/