Kirsty Martin

Location

Brighton and London mainly and all over the UK regularly!

Specialisms

choralcomposer, choral theatre animateur, polyrhythmic funkster, group improv & songwriting wrangler

Additional information

I am a choral activist based in Brighton and Musical Director for several regular choirs including Hullabaloo Quire (the longest established Natural Voice choir in Brighton!) and Raise the Roof Community Choir in South London.

I also run UpRoar People’s Ceilidh, a bi-monthly collaborative community ‘festival in an afternoon’ and Bards and Ballads Choral Theatre courses.

More recently I have been writing and delivering for bespoke projects for organisations including Lewisham Borough of Culture and The National Trust.

My work harnesses professional and grassroots community elements in participatory and performance settings, nurturing collaboration between community and professional musicians. I trained at Goldsmiths in 1997 and founded Hullabaloo Community Quire in Brighton in 1998. I’ve been the Musical Director for Raise the Roof Choir, Herne Hill for 10 yrs.

During my career I’ve established a reputation in the alternative choral world as a composer of syncopated, polyphonic, engaging and accessible songs of solidarity, reflection and celebration for mixed ability singers. Hullabaloo specialises in collaborative work with high-calibre pro musicians in folk and jazz, including Rory McCleod & Liane Carroll.

Past work and commissions:

As Commissioned Composer:

Cycle of Song; The Listening Lions with Michael Rosen: Creating My Cambridge, HistoryWorks

The Big Song: Brighton Festival, Brainfruit

The Four Directions: Brighton Sacred World Music Fest

As Choral Director:

Depart by Circa: Brighton Festival

Sun & Sea: The Albany

The Arms of Sleep -The Voice Project: Rehearsal Director, Brighton Festival

Chalk Circle Collective tour: Composer and Company Director

My choirs

Raise the Roof
Description

Raise the Roof is a fun and inclusive Natural Voice Community Choir, located at the Carnegie Community Hub in Herne Hill.

We sing foot-stomping, spine-tingling, genre-defying, endorphin-raising songs in glorious a cappella vocal harmony – songs of passion, reflection, celebration and community from all over the world and across time – from folk to funk and doo-wop to hip-hop!

Raise the Roof is a Natural Voice Choir and all are welcome. There are no auditions, we learn by ear and sing from the soles of our feet! We are led by choral composer Kirsty Martin.

Find out more and book your place by visiting https://www.raisetheroofchoir.org or email us at info@raisetheroofchoir.org

Spring/Summer 2023 Term Dates:

Thursday 27 April
Thursday 4 May
Thursday 11 May
Thursday 18 May
Thursday 25 May
Thursday 1 June – HALF-TERM! NO CHOIR!
Thursday 8 June
Thursday 15 June
Thursday 22 June
Thursday 29 June

Thursday, 13 July END OF TERM GIG!

Session times

Thursday evenings in Term Time 7-9pm

Contact details