“I am absolutely overawed at how happy I was for signing up! In the 15 years I’ve spent behind bars this is one project that I would do again and again. I found it helped my self belief, self worth, self confidence, it eased my PTSD and it stopped my craving for illicit drugs."
The Prison Choir Project is a Koestler Gold Award winning Charity whose objectives are to rehabilitate prisoners, ex-offenders and people experiencing mental disorder or conditions of emotional or mental distress by the advance of the arts and culture, in particular through the performance of opera, song, and choral music.
We hope, through music and in particular singing, to provide a pathway towards establishing a reduction in reoffending, building self-esteem, improving self-confidence and employability skills for all those involved.
Arts with offenders – the benefits
Arts projects in prison are of value on a number of levels and benefit prisoners in many ways. We provide workshops and performance opportunities in Prisons giving inmates the opportunity to join forces alongside professional singers and musicians.
The Prison Choir Project has rapidly built a track record of deeply enhancing the well-being of the vulnerable adults we work with. We achieve this through:
Vocal training workshops—inmates come together to sing, to follow professional singers as they guide them through demonstration and exercises, develop their technique, work as a team and towards a performance goal.
Teamwork on-stage and off--Inmates are part of a group activity. They connect with us, with each other, with prison staff. They support and encourage each other to improve as they rise to the challenge of working with professional artists.
Acting/performance skills--All music is learned from memory and we work with professional stage directors and choreographers.
Professional standard performance opportunities --whole operatic performances, and choral concerts attended by prisoner families, friends, fellow inmates and the general public.
We hope, through music and in particular singing, to provide a pathway towards establishing a reduction in reoffending, building self-esteem, improving self-confidence and employability skills for all those involved.
Arts with offenders – the benefits
Arts projects in prison are of value on a number of levels and benefit prisoners in many ways. We provide workshops and performance opportunities in Prisons giving inmates the opportunity to join forces alongside professional singers and musicians.
The Prison Choir Project has rapidly built a track record of deeply enhancing the well-being of the vulnerable adults we work with. We achieve this through:
Vocal training workshops—inmates come together to sing, to follow professional singers as they guide them through demonstration and exercises, develop their technique, work as a team and towards a performance goal.
Teamwork on-stage and off--Inmates are part of a group activity. They connect with us, with each other, with prison staff. They support and encourage each other to improve as they rise to the challenge of working with professional artists.
Acting/performance skills--All music is learned from memory and we work with professional stage directors and choreographers.
Professional standard performance opportunities --whole operatic performances, and choral concerts attended by prisoner families, friends, fellow inmates and the general public.
