SPOTLIGHT ON … Our four regular choirs
We’ve been running our weekly community folk choirs across Devon for over three decades, and hundreds of people have enjoyed being part of them during that time.
The choirs in Exeter, North Devon, Torbay and West Devon are open access – anyone can join, there are no auditions or waiting lists, and no experience is necessary. The choirs learn by ear, so you don’t need to be able to read music.
The weekly rehearsals are during school term times. The first session is free, so people can give it a go without any commitment. People can then register for a full term or half term or on a ‘drop in’ basis – more here.
As with all our groups, the choirs are run on the firm belief that everyone can sing, if they’re given the opportunity.
Our Creative Director, Marilyn Tucker, explains how the choirs have evolved over the years: “When we started our first choir in Exeter, it was at a time when there were very few community choirs – it was around about 1990, and Gareth Malone hadn’t even started doing stuff! So it was like a breath of fresh air to have a choir that wasn’t either a barber shop type of singing group or a philharmonic choir. And of course, since then, community choirs have blossomed and there are all sorts of different ways in which people can be singing. But what set us apart is that our choirs would sing folk songs.
“What we’re trying to do at Wren now is to look at what makes a folk choir. We’re refining even more that our choirs are folk choirs, not just community choirs that sing folk songs. So we’re looking at ways in which we can interpret English folk songs in a way that preserves the melodic structure of them, but it makes them enjoyable for people to sing in ensemble. And the programme is now predicated so that the choirs join up for big performances together.”
The choir leaders are our professional Wren Music singers, and experienced singers from the choirs who’ve been trained for the roles. Each of the choirs has opportunities for public performances, which members can be part of if they wish – if they don’t want to, that’s fine. All four choirs come together to sing as one big choir on occasions during the year. Group members have access to our online community to download musical scores, lyrics and audio guides for the songs they’re learning.
Our four choir leaders at the time of writing tell us more about their groups and their own singing ‘journeys’ …
Exeter Folk Choir
Choir leader, Laura Marshall: I was lucky enough to grow up in a musical family, so I had a lot of opportunities to sing and play instruments when I was growing up. And then, much later, I went along to a choir led by Helen Yeomans, who’s quite a prominent choir leader in the Natural Voice Network, which I’m part of. I was watching her and thinking, ‘I’ll probably never be quite as amazingly good as her, because she’s a composer and arranger. But I reckon I could do that harmony thing’. I’ve got a good memory for words, and I’ve got a good ear for retaining harmony, so I can easily retain them and teach them to other people. She let me have a go and then I eventually was
able to take on a choir that somebody wanted to hand over – I’ve still got that choir. Then I bumped into Paul Wilson from Wren, which is how I took on the Exeter Folk Choir.
This choir is a great place to meet others, and singing together in a group is just naturally uplifting, you get endorphins from it. It takes you out of yourself because for that hour, two hours, you’re focused on something else entirely. Sometimes people say, ‘oh, I didn’t want to come out tonight, it was dark or it’s rainy or whatever, but I’m glad I did, I always feel so much better afterwards’.
If you’re unsure if singing in a choir is for you, come along and see – you’ve got nothing to lose! We sing traditional and contemporary folk songs in a friendly, supportive space, and absolutely everyone is welcome.
What our Exeter Folk Choir singers say …
What I love about singing in the choir is that the connection with other people – fellow singers, the audience, passers-by – is immediate and joyful
To people considering joining, I would say that everyone feels nervous the first time they arrive at a choir rehearsal, I know I did. That feeling rapidly melts away with the first ‘hello’. The genuine warm welcome I received when I first went along to the Exeter Folk Choir left me feeling,’ yes, this is the place’
I love singing because it brings feelings of transcendence and connection
Wren does what it says on the tin, and the choir is a place for everyone to enjoy singing without any judgment or the need to have a particular kind of voice or musical background
Exeter Folk Choir meets 7pm-9pm on Wednesday evenings during school term time at Exeter Community Centre, 17 St Davids Hill, Exeter EX4 3RG.
North Devon Folk Choir
Choir leader, Rebecca Luton: I’ve always been musical ever since I was a child, but I was one of those people who was told that I’m not a very good singer and I should focus on other things. When I reached my early 30s, I thought, ‘do you know what? I love singing anyway, I’m just going to do it’. So I joined a community choir in Brighton and within about a year, I was co-leading it. I could read music and I had those basic musical skills needed as a co-leader. After that, I led community choirs in Brighton. I moved to Devon in 2025 and I joined the choir straight away and I’m now in a leadership role. My own music is playing and singing in a duo and writing a little bit of my own music.
The North Devon Folk Choir is just a fantastic community. Connection is a key part of any choir, but particularly this choir and definitely this type of music. I think there are two elements about this connection. The first is the simple act of singing together. This choir – and I think the whole of the Wren choirs – are just a really strong community. People do things together outside of the choir, so there’s a whole kind of a social network that happens. If there’s anyone in crisis, this network of people just absolutely wraps them up and holds them through it. And then there’s a second layer of connection, and that’s about connecting with this music. Folk songs tend to be about the time of the year, the seasons, the world around us, and we connect with that. And then we’re also singing about everyday working class stories, which is a long tradition of folk music. So we get to connect with that deep history of people’s lives and of storytelling through this music.
Everyone is extremely supportive and kind. One of the beauties of singing collectively in a choir is that it doesn’t really matter what your voice is like, because you’re not trying to be a soloist; you’re just trying to come and learn and sing alongside other people. So yes, absolutely it’s for everyone who wants to sing folk music. And it doesn’t matter if you think you can sing or not, because you can! If it’s about your confidence, that will come if you join a choir like this.
What our North Devon Folk Choir singers say …
I like the type of music we sing – singing the older folk songs is rare these days
I enjoy the community side of it. This is a brilliant and very connected and strong community. And I also like the county network of the choir – it’s not just North Devon, but across the whole county
North Devon Folk Choir rehearsals are 11am-1pm on Wednesdays during school term times at The Hub at Sellick Court, Lamaton Park, South Molton, EX36 4BE.
Torbay Folk Choir
Choir leader, Jon Dyer, Deputy Creative Director at Wren Music: I studied music at Falmouth and did a degree in music performance that was mainly focused on the flute and instrumental work, but I’ve always had a love for singing and folk song, which ran parallel with that. I’ve always loved playing for dance, but I think the telling of the stories has always been super exciting for me as a folk musician.
I’m currently ‘babysitting’ the Torbay Folk Choir, while we’re training up new leaders, but it’s one of the best babysitting jobs I’ve had! It’s such a lovely, fun group, and they’re always very warm and welcoming. I know that for a lot of the choir in Torbay, it’s the friendships in the group that are so important. This group has been running for years and years and years now and some people have been here from the very beginning. So those long-term friendships in the group are really important, and singing together just strengthens that friendship.
Some of the group come along because they really love the folk part of it – there aren’t many choirs in community choirs that focus on folk song and the history of it. Wren is really good at understanding what folk is and what should be sung and how it should be sung, and I think the beauty with our folk choirs is our arrangements of the songs. They’re not off the peg. They are specially picked and are all arranged for our groups. And our knowledge of folk music and local folk tunes is what really makes our choirs stand out from the others. Traditional English folk song is a solo voice, so having a folk choir wouldn’t seem to make sense in the folk tradition. But we keep the folk tune really prominent in the middle, and then we always have two other parts as well – a higher voice and a lower voice. We make sure the songs are really enjoyable to sing, it’s not just a one note wonder! Every part you sing is a gorgeous tune. And then when you put it all together, it makes incredible harmonies. We try to always have a broad mix of traditional songs, mainly local, but we also look across the whole of the UK and then further afield as well.
The choir is for anyone who wants to have a lovely evening, singing music – so come and join us, the more the merrier! It’s for adults, although under 18s can join on a case-by-case basis.
What our Torbay Folk Choir members say …
I love everything about our choir! We get on with the singing, but we laugh a lot too. I have learned a lot about breathing, and it has really helped my confidence. We are like a family!
Everyone is friendly and helpful, so come along and join us. You never know, you might still be singing with us 17 years later – like my daughter and me!
I have made friends with new people by joining the choir. I enjoy learning new songs and singing old favourites
I would say to someone wanting to join a choir, give it more than one session. No one judges how we are sounding, which helps our confidence
Torbay Folk Choir weekly rehearsals are 7pm – 9pm on Tuesdays during school term times at The Windmill Centre, Pendennis Rd, Torquay, TQ2 7QR.
West Devon Folk Choir
Choir leader Paul Wilson, who heads up the community choirs team: I co-founded Wren Music over 40 years ago, and our community folk choirs have been a long-term part of our story. But the difference these days is that although each choir sings their own songs, we’re now following roughly the same repertoire so that we can bring them together from across Devon to sing together. It makes a lot of sense to go forward on this basis. People not only get a chance to learn from each other and sing alongside each other, but they get to socialise a bit as well. And people are really enjoying that.
I think that what our choirs like is the Wren way of teaching, in the sense that we always give people options of where they sing. Some people sing the high voice in one song and the low voice in another. We welcome that flexibility, because people are exploring their voices and there are very, very few choirs that do that. We always teach something by ear and then give the music out, so people who don’t read music get a handle on what they’re going to sing and they’re not daunted by the music.
And the groundedness of the repertoire is important, too, the fact that we’re singing songs from where the choirs live – here, these will be songs that were collected in Mary Tavy or Okehampton or elsewhere in the locality. People love those local references to the material. That’s certainly the case with the West Devon Folk Choir.
I’d say to people, come along and try us. It’s a really supportive, welcoming group, you can meet everybody, and if you like the kind of thing we do, then you can sign up and join us.
What our West Devon Folk Choir singers say …
Without exception, however I might be feeling before a choir session, I feel lighter and more cheerful at the end. There is clearly some magic ingredient in singing with others!
Almost everyone joining a choir for the first time feels nervous or thinks that they can’t sing so choir members understand and will welcome and support you and in no time, you’ll be enjoying yourself. We all make mistakes, but we all help each other. Give it a try, you won’t regret it
I love the connection with other singers. It’s totally uplifting. When the songs come together it is truly a wonderful feeling
Just come along, you’ll be welcomed and everything will be at a pace anyone can manage. You won’t find a more supportive gathering in which to try any activity
West Devon Folk Choir meets 7pm – 9pm on Tuesdays during school term times at Charter Hall, Market Street, Okehampton EX20 1AA.
