By Ellen Muriel
Sounds Like Home is an international women’s choir meeting weekly in Hoxton. The group was started in January 2024 at the Museum of the Home as a legacy project of Kadir Karababa’s One Song, a video installation which was created and exhibited at the museum in 2022 that was co-commissioned by Counterpoints Arts. One Song centred migrant women living locally, inviting them to sing a song that reminded them of the first place they called home.
Interested in this framing of music and voice as an expression of culture and belonging, I set up the Sounds Like Home Choir, creating space for self-defining ‘international women’ of Hackney to exchange, teach and sing songs they connect and associate with places they’ve called home.
Over the first term a group of 20 women of varied ages, ethnicities and musical backgrounds came together to form the choir. The group explored where, when and why people sing; the social, personal, cultural and religious meaning song holds in our lives; and the genres and styles of music we connect with feelings of home and belonging.
We learned a repertoire of 6 songs, using a Natural Voice approach to teaching focused on disarming anxiety and removing barriers through a playful and non-judgemental call & response technique. 3 of these songs were suggested and co-taught by members of the group:
‘Wild Mountain Thyme’, a well known folk song with Scottish and Irish origins which a choir member sung to her grandchildren during lockdown walks in the park’.
‘Bu Son Olsun’, a Turkish song by activist and exiled singer Cem Karaca which a choir member fondly remembered from her childhood as her dad’s favourite song.
‘I’m every woman’ from Chaka Khan and Witney Houston, the lyrics of which were reframed to celebrate the diversity of the group, “we are all every woman, in our difference and acceptance of one another”.
The repertoire was shared at a relaxed performance at the museum before Easter. This was well attended by friends and family of choir members, as well as representatives of the museum, Counterpoints Arts, short term funders Old Street District, and local arts & migration organisations.
After an eventful first term establishing the group and trialling the project, April saw our move to a new home: Hoxton Hall. With support from Counterpoints and Cultural Hackney the choir was able to meet for a further 10 sessions, culminating in two summer term performances during Refugee Week: the first at Hoxton Hall on Wednesday 19th June, and the second at the Migration Museum in Lewisham on Friday 21st June.
Over this second term the choir grew in number and demographic, welcoming women of South American, South Asian and West African heritage. Our repertoire developed to include Zulu, Yoruba and Spanish, with translation and pronunciation lead by the songs’ cultural holders (the members of the group who contributed the songs as ones they connect to a place they call home).
Through this 6 month process of founding and growing the Sounds Like Home choir, unlikely friendships have formed and strengthened, and a distinctive group character has developed: loud, joyful, and fiercely supportive. Hugs are the only currency for hellos and goodbyes, break times are a cacophony of conversation, and song follows the group down the corridor at every session end. Over two terms, 28 women have attended a rehearsal with a core group of 17 returning every week. Key demographics include women of Turkish, Latin American, West African and South Asian heritage, women over 60, and individuals who identify as a part of the LGBTQ+ community. Musical ability is varied, participation is free of charge and without audition.
The project is currently looking for funding to continue into the autumn term and beyond. Hoxton Hall has kindly agreed to host our rehearsals for the foreseeable future, and several local venues and organisations have shown interest in hosting performances. The choir is free of charge for participants, provides refreshments and covers travel expenses for those on universal credit or NRPF. We are therefore entirely reliant on external funding to continue rehearsals. We are looking into small community pot funds, project grants, paid performances or potential fundraising opportunities, and would appreciate any advice or support.
If you would like to speak to us further about the Sounds Like Home Choir, discuss booking the choir to perform at an event, or have any ideas or information that would be helpful in securing future funding, you can get in touch with Ellen Muriel, choir leader, at: Ellen.muriel6@gmail.com
Or Asha Wilson, project assistant, at: Ashaesmewilson@yahoo.co.uk
