About Us

Scunthorpe Co-operative Junior Choir has been established for more than eighty years and is an upper-voice choir.  It has been supported by the Co-operative movement until recently when changes within the Group meant sponsorship was no longer an option.  The Choir has been a registered Charity since 1991 (1005938).  It consists of up to 200 children divided into two training choirs and the main choir.  Children are recruited into the first training choir as young as three years of age.  They gradually move through the training choirs for which no audition is necessary.  The training choirs are taught using Kodaly principles. The main choir, which is 100 strong, has choristers aged from ten to twenty years of age.  New choristers wishing to join the main choir will be asked to undergo a short audition aimed at ensuring they are placed in the correct part to support the choir.

In 1994, 1196, 1998, 200 and 2002 the choir was a semi-finalists or finalist in the Sainsbury's 'Choir of the Year Competition' broadcast on the BBC.  In 2001 the choir won the BBC Look North Community Choir Competition.The choir sang at the opening of the Millennium Dome, at the Torch Processions of the Sydney Olympics, at Voices 500 in Canada during 2001 and at the first Holocaust Memorial Service at Westminster.

The training choir were featured on the CBBC's 'Take a Bow' programme recorded at the end of last year.  This programme is still being broadcast and has been seen by viewers abroad as well as at home.The choir offers inclusive and equal opportunities to all children.  The object and remit of the choir is to advance the education of the public in the Arts and in particular the Art of Music in all its branches through the presentation of concerts and other activities.

There is a simple uniform that all choristers are expected to adhere to and wear at all official concerts and functions.  All music and folders are provided free of charge. If you would like more information about when the choir meets, costs and rehearsal times please visit our Membership Details page.

Musical Director of the Choir is Susan Hollingworth.

Sue is a graduate of the RNCM where she studied singing. In 1990 she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship for her work with young choirs. For 20 years, she has been Musical Director of the Scunthorpe Co-operative Junior Choir and has seen them grow from 22 members to their current membership of 200 children singing in three choirs. Formerly Director of Music at John Leggott College, Sue is now Music Adviser to North Lincolnshire LEA, conductor of an adult chamber choir called Sine Nomine, Project Director for the Voices Foundation and runs workshops and courses for singers, choirs, LEAs and other music agencies. For four years, she was co-leader of the 'Singing Schools Project' in Soweto and she is an A level music practical examiner for Edexcel. She is a senior founding partner of Hummingbird Music Education Services.

Choral adjudicating has taken Sue to the Coleraine International Choral Festival and the Elgin Festival and she was short-listed for Sainsbury's "Choral Director of the Year" in 2002.

With Dr Cathy Drew, she has developed Melody Monkey's Marvellous Music Box. This is a portable box of musical activities for under fives to experience music and develop their own musical skills.  It can be borrowed from libraries in the Humber region or purchased by Early Year's workers.