Join Us

JOINING CRYSTAL CHORDS

Time of rehearsals:
Crystal Chords rehearse every Thursday night from 7.30-10pm. We occasionally also rehearse on a Saturday or Sunday (approximately 5-6 times per year) in advance of a significant competition or concert. We meet all year around except for a few weeks over the Christmas period.

Venue: 
We meet at the Stockport Guildhall, 169-171 Wellington Road South, Stockport, SK1 3UA. The entrance is at the rear, from the carpark.

Car: The Guildhall have a carpark which you can use. They charge £1 for the evening.
Bus: The number 192 Stagecoach bus travels between Manchester City Centre and Hazel Grove and stops directly outside the Guildhall
Train: Stockport train station is approximately 10 minutes walk (0.4 miles) from the Guildhall. Leave the station heading towards the Sainsburys Local. Continue straight up to Wellington Road South. Turn right onto Wellington Road South and walk for 0.3 miles. The Guildhall will be on your left immediately after the petrol station.

Accessibility:
The guildhall has good accessibility and adaptability. The entrance around the rear of the building has a permenant ramp OR three stairs for entry. Once inside, we use only the ground floor of the building. There are two steps in the main entrance corridoor. There is a temporary ramp to cover these two steps which is always already in place. All our current members know how to operate this ramp on the odd occasion it has been folded away.  The corridoor itself is wide. The room we use is large with tables and chairs that are available for our use and can be moved around to suit us. There is an accessible toilet. 

We have created a video of how to find us which includes a tour of the space we use that you can watch on our YouTube channel here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm6XH5X2CQs

Cost: 
The first time you come to Crystal Chords is free. We want to encourage anyone to come and see us without concern of a financial commitment before you have tried it out.

Once you have decided that you would like to join, there is a monthly membership fee. Members currently pay £38 per month for membership. Whilst you are a trainee (the first 8 weeks), this membership is half price at 19 per month.

Youth members (those aged 26 or younger) pay 50% - £19 per month (and £9.50 per month whilst a trainee)

Minumum Age: 
We have a minimum age of 14 to join Crystal Chords. Those aged 14-18 require an adult chaperone to ensure their care.

Joining process:
We welcome any woman to join us on a Thursday for a free evening with Crystal Chords. Please contact us via the website to enquire about our next rehearsal. At your first visit we will do a quick voice assessment with you to establish which part you will be most suitable for. If you decided you would like to return, there are a couple of stages we ask you to pass to join.

Firstly, you will be given a short song to learn in 1-2 weeks. You will be asked to sing this in a small group, so we can establish you are able to hold your part against the other parts.

Following this, you will become a Crystal Chord trainee. This stage lasts for approximately 8 weeks. You will be issued with sheet music and given access to all learning materials for a small number of songs; taking part in all aspects of chorus life with the exception of formal performances,

Your audition for full membership will take place within 8 weeks. You will be expected to confidently perform to our Music & Presentation team (in a small group) a couple of the songs you have learnt.

Once you have passed this stage, you will be a fully-fledged Crystal Chord and will be given access to our full repertoire, and be able to join us on stage!

Membership Commitment Principles:
As we strive to be a competitive performing chorus of excellent quality we ask our members to commit to the principles of membership attendance which are listed below and reflect our commitment to balance our goals within a supportive friendly chorus environment:

1. Joining Crystal Chords means we align ourselves to support the goals of the chorus
2. We strive for high quality singing and performance as part of the fun and friendship that surrounds our group
3. We recognise that every member balances life pressures outside chorus, be that mental or physical health, financial and work pressures, family and caring commitments
4. We treat each other as adults and trust each member individually to find this balance to contribute to chorus goals as much as they can
5. We know that contribution to chorus life is not solely measured by attendance at rehearsals and we also make a commitment to learning outside rehearsals and singing at non-competitive events
6. We know that chorus life needs support and volunteers around it and where we are able, we offer time to hold roles that support smooth running of chorus life and share this responsibility equally
7. As individuals we look after our own contribution and take personal responsibility to meet what is asked of us. We focus on ourselves and do not get distracted by the contribution of others
8. We have expectations that we will all attend rehearsals or events that are considered by the MD to be critical for an event, and that if we can’t do this we will speak to the MD and our section leader to ensure we reach the required standards and pick up learning through other means.
9. We trust that our section leaders and MD will work with members where there are any capability or attendance concerns and this is not for individual members to worry about.
10. We welcome new members to our chorus and make no expectation of their performance at large events in their first year but leave this for them to work with section leaders and the MD to agree.