Ishtiaq Hussain will be one of three judges at this years National Signing Choir UK. He will also be providing the audience with thrilling Visual Vernacular performance at some point within the evening. So get involved, come along and bring your friends. more information is provided below at the bottom of the page there will be a link to where you can buy tickets. Hope to see you there!
In 2016 whilst undergoing treatment for Mantle Cell Lymphoma, Simon Astill dreamed up the idea of having a National Signing Choir Competition to showcase the talents of the Signing Choirs that exist in the UK.
At that time, there was only one competition that existed in Jersey as part of the Jersey Eisteddfod every November and not all the Signing Choirs were able to travel to Jersey to compete in this competition because of a number of reasons.
Simon decided to put the time he had on his hands in good use and spoke to a number of choirs he had contacts with and decided to organise the First National Signing Choir Competition in his home town of Nottingham.
The Albert Hall, Nottingham, was the host for the competition in 2017 and was hosted by Mr Stewart Hill, an armed forces veteran, who was a member of Gareth Malone’s Invictus Choir in 2016.
The competition consists of two categories at the moment, The Junior Category who compete for the John A Stephens Trophy and the Open Category (18 and over) who compete for the Morgan Astill Inspiration Trophy.
The aim of the competition is to give Signing Choirs chance to showcase their talents and compete on a national level with other choirs in the UK. It is held yearly and is given to Choirs in the North of the Country one year and the South the following to ensure that choirs unable to travel far have the opportunity to showcase their talents at least once every two years.
Buy your tickets here: