Description
Welcome to the University of Bristol Church Choir Society page!
The University of Bristol Church Choir Society is the society for the student members of the Parish Church Choir of St Paul's Church, Clifton. The choir is friendly, busy, and committed to singing a range of choral music to a high standard.
Watch our welcome video here - Turn your sound on!
Summer Tour to Wells Cathedral, 11-17 August 2025
Winners of the Bristol Students' Union 'Culture and Faith Society of the Year' award for 2022!
About us:
The Society provides members forming a choir to sing each Sunday in term at St. Paul's Church in Clifton, performing varied music to a high standard. The choir rehearses at St. Paul's Church on Friday evenings from 5:30, and then sings at Sunday morning Eucharist or Choral Evensong in the evening. The choir has frequent singing (and social) trips further afield, an annual concert, and a summer cathedral singing tour. We also release CDs containing recordings from concerts and special services throughout the year. Our latest CD, 'Veni Emmanuel', was released in May 2021.
The choir is open to all, students and staff, and there are no auditions.
Want to try out the choir?
Do you love singing choral music? Can you read sheet music? Do you want to be part of a friendly and busy choir, singing beautiful music in an equally beautiful church? UoBCC may be for you!
- Contact the choir at: uobchurchchoir@gmail.com
- Follow the choir on Instagram: @uobchurchchoir
- Follow the choir on Facebook: @uobchurchchoir
- Or just come to one of our rehearsals!
Give it a Go 2025
If you love singing choral music, come along to St Paul's Clifton on Wednesday, 1st October for our 'Give it a Go' session. You can book your place free of charge here.
Here are some questions frequently asked about the choir:
What sort of music do you sing? - Choral music, with quite some variety! Some with piano or organ accompaniment, and some unaccompanied. If you know the names Howells, Stanford, Ireland, or Tallis (amongst others!), you'll get the idea.
Do I need to be religious? - No! Definitely not. Some choir members are Christian, some belong to other religions, the majority aren't religious at all. What brings us all together is our love of choral music. The choir is based at St Paul's Church in Clifton, an "Open, Inclusive, Enquiring, Thoughtful and Creative Christian Community within the Church of England" which deeply values high-quality Anglican Choral Music.
Do you audition, and will I be 'good' enough? - There is no audition, though we ask that new members are able to read sheet music. The choir sings to a high standard and will always work and rehearse to produce the best sound possible. The best way to find out if the choir is for you is to come to a rehearsal and try it out - we are super friendly!
Do I have to be able to commit to every week - No - we've all got busy lives and other commitments. We just ask that you come whenever you can - for lots of members, this is nearly every week because choir is just that brilliant! We are a church choir, so members must sing at both rehearsals and Sunday church services.
Here is an outline of an average choir week:
Friday, 17:30 - 19:00: Weekly rehearsal at St Paul's. Rehearsing music for upcoming Sunday Eucharists, Evensongs, and sometimes concerts, special services, weddings, and more. (Rehearsals are usually followed by an optional trip to the pub!) The first rehearsal of the 2025-2026 academic year will be on Friday, 19th September, 2025.
There is usually no choir on Saturdays, but we do have some concerts, extra rehearsals, and social events on Saturdays throughout the year.
Sunday, 9:45 - 11:30 OR 16:00 - 19:00: Rehearsing and singing at St Paul's for Eucharist in the morning OR Choral Evensong in the evening (never both).
Choral Scholarships
St Paul's Church offers four Choral Scholarships, one per voice part, through its music outreach project, One Equal Music.
In addition to singing weekly with UoBCC, Choral Scholars rehearse separately and work on additional repertoire. They also perform Great Sacred Music concerts and support music outreach in East Bristol schools. A financial bursary of £1,200 p.a. is provided for each Scholar, subject to satisfactory completion of duties.
To find out more about Choral Scholarships, click here.
The University of Bristol Church Choir committee for 2025/26:
President: Holly de Salis (4th Year, Chemistry)
Secretary: Gabriel Wong (3rd Year, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering)
Treasurer: Alice Tyack (2nd Year, History and Spanish)
Equalities Officer: Rosie Purvis (3rd Year, Physics)
Summer Tour to Coventry Cathedral, 5-11 August 2024
Summer Cathedral Tour to Peterborough Cathedral - August 2023
Student Carol Service at St. Paul's, Clifton - December 2021
Terms and conditions
Click here to view terms and conditions
Membership Fee Inclusions
Prior to signing up to a Club or Society speak to the Committee to find out what your membership includes and if there are any further expenses throughout the year.
Service Standards
All Club or Society members can expect to receive:
- The opportunity to attend regular meetings, events, activities, trips and socials as arranged.
- The opportunity to stand for a committee position or vote in their elections (Bristol students only).
- For Sports Club – to attend regular training sessions and have the opportunity to be selected for the teams.
Code of Conduct
When joining a club or society you are agreeing to abide by the constitution, general rules, regulations and policies of University of Bristol Students’ Union and also the Club or Society Code of Conduct which sets out the level of behaviour & discipline expected of all Club & Society members.
Refund Policy
Any customer who pays for a membership subscription to a Bristol SU Society, Sports Club, Student Media and initiatives has a 14 day cooling off period from the time and date of purchase during which they have the right to cancel the subscription and receive a full refund. If you do decide to cancel within the 14 days, Bristol SU will refund your payment within a further 30 days of the cancellation. To request a refund please email: bristolsu@bristol.ac.uk
Data sharing (Sports Club members only)
Please be aware that Bristol SU may share data relating to the members of its sports clubs with the Centre for Sport, Exercise and Health (a department of the University). This information may be used for the purposes of communicating direct with these members and/or to cross-reference against SEH's Sports Pass membership records.
As part of Bristol SU's membership of British Universities & Colleges Sports (BUCS) Bristol SU may have to share data on to its sports clubs members so BUCS can, from time to time, communicate with these members.
Data sharing (Societies members only)
If you're joining one of the societies listed below please be aware that your name and email address will be shared with Bristol Hub for the purpose of keeping you up to date with their activities through their email “The Week”:
AIESEC Bristol, AMICUS Bristol, Anti-Slavery Society, Bristol Feminists, Bristol Friends of MSF, Bristol Marrow, Bristol Social Enterprise Society, Bristol Student Action for Refugees, Bristol University Amnesty International, Conservation Group, Bristol University Oxfam Group, Bristol University Sustainability Team, Bristol Volunteers for Development Abroad, Engineers Without Borders, Howard League for Penal Reform Student Society, International Affairs Society, Medsin Bristol, Model United Nations, and Vegetarian and Vegan Society.
For more information on Bristol Hub visit: http://www.bristolhub.org.
If you do not want your details shared with the Hub please email: bristolsu@bristol.ac.uk.
These terms shall be governed by English law and are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts. Nothing in these terms shall exclude liability for fraudulent misrepresentation.
