Not religious?
Enjoy singing?
We are a friendly, non-auditioned London-based choir. Our emphasis is on enjoying music in a welcoming, non-religious environment. Our wide-ranging repertoire consists of secular music that’s joyful and fun to sing. We rehearse on Tuesday evenings, 7-9pm at Doreen Bazell Hall, a short walk from Kings Cross station. New members welcome!
We are part of Humanists UK.
Latest News
Darwin Day Lecture, Feb 8th
The Darwin Day Lecture, held each February as part of the Humanists UK Annual Lecture Series, explores Humanism and humanist thought, especially that related to science and evolution, Charles Darwin, and his works. This year, the lecture is given by Dr Diana Fleischman, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Portsmouth. Diana’s work focuses on developing a better understanding of what it means to be human, including the biology and psychology of topics such as sexuality, disease, and disgust. Her talk on "The evolution of human morality" will be chaired by Professor Jim Al-Khalili OBE and preceded by music from The London Humanist Choir.
The Matthew Herbert Brexit Big Band
We're thrilled to be collaborating with producer and composer Matthew Herbert as part of The Matthew Herbert Brexit Big Band project at The Barbican.
A typically ambitious collaborative journey and an ‘extended farewell party’, Herbert is encouraging the public to participate in an evolving project which started when Article 50 was triggered and will culminate in an album release on the day the UK leaves the EU. The concert on October 23rd features a showcase of some of the music created so far as well as works from his previous big band incarnations, adding guest musicians from the UK and Europe, singers and choir - that'll be us then!
As a DJ and producer in the late-90s, Herbert sampled organic sounds generated by everyday objects into dance remixes and original tracks. He’s taken that spirit with him in his two big band projects, bringing together leading Jazz artists and creating music responsive to the political landscape.
You can book tickets via the Barbican online box office.
Voices Now @ The Roundhouse, 9th July
Singing together is becoming an increasingly important activity for more and more people in our rapidly changing world, but everyone’s journey is different and personal.
Here the Roundhouse Choir, Veda Slovena Bulgarian Choir, Côr Llunsain, London Humanist Choir and Soul of the City explore why we sing and why we sing together.
The choirs have been collaborating with 3 artist curators: American singer-songwriter Willy Mason, singer and arranger Mara Carlyle and choir leader and arranger Osnat Schmool (Filament Theatre) to create a unique evening of song and stories exploring music from all over the world.
It's a two-day event; the London Humanist Choir will be performing on the Sunday evening from 7:30pm. You can also catch us on Sunday morning (11:30am) in the Roundhouse bar - (singing, in case there was any doubt.)
One Life 2017 – with Mae Martin, Tim Renkow and Steve Cross
Don't miss our 5th Annual One Life concert celebrating World Humanist Day.
This year our special guests will be comedians Mae Martin & Tim Renkow. And once again we'll be expertly led by 'Science Showoff' Steve Cross.
(Tony Hawks has unfortunately had to withdraw for family reasons).
Tickets are £12 (£10 for Students/BHA & Conway Hall Members. ) available here.
Saturday June 24th, 7:30pm at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
Mae Martin
Mae Martin is a writer and stand-up comedian. Mae trained in improvisation and sketch comedy for four years at the Toronto outpost of the internationally acclaimed comedy institution, The Second City.
Performing comedy since she was aged 13, Mae received her first Canadian Comedy Award nomination at 15, and at 16 made her Canadian television debut on The Comedy Network’s Cream of Comedy. After moving to the UK in 2011, it was Mae’s appearance as the stand-up guest on Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC3) that first catapulted her into the consciousness of the UK’s online teen community. The clip now has half a million views on YouTube, and Mae has emerged as a bright new role model for nervous teens everywhere.
Mae has enjoyed many live appearances on radio, such as performing stand-up for The Phil and Alice Show’s Lolz Lounge for BBC Radio 1 and again for their Live at the Edinburgh Festival feature, as well as Series 2 of live comedy night Sabotage for BBC Radio 4 Extra and again for the third series of Life: An Idiots Guide where Stephen K Amos and some of the comedy circuit’s best stand-ups attempt to unravel the knotty problems of modern life.
Mae is the regular host of cult London hit Popcorn Comedy, currently residing at The Hackney Picturehouse. She has also toured with The New Wave, a compilation of the brightest, most exciting, dynamic and ground breaking comedy performers in the country, produced by The Invisible Dot – producers of highly inventive, often left-field comedy shows. Mae now hosts The Sunday Showwith The Invisible Dot, as well as curating her own monthly stand-up night, For Once in our Terrible Lives, in venues across London.
Mae has written for series 10 of Newsjack on BBC Radio 4 Extra and for Endemol and Beyond’s new all female sketch series Sketch My Life for YouTube.
Tim Renkow
American-born comedian Tim Renkow has been making quite a name for himself over here in recent years. He’s won the title of Leicester Square New Comedian Of The Year, been nominated for Best Newcomer at the Chortle Awards and won the Amused Moose Laugh Off Award. And, as his publicity notes, he has also been awarded severe cerebral palsy, by God.
Cerebral palsy is a neurological condition that affects the part of the brain responsible for controlling muscles. As Tim explains, “I did comedy because it’s the only thing physically I can do, all I can do is talk”.
Tim is currently working on his semi-autobiographical BBC TV comedy series ‘A Brief History of Tim’.
Steve Cross
If you were thinking that Science-geek Steve Cross would added much needed gravitas to our One Life show, think again. Steve is the founder of Science Showoff – ‘a chaotic open mic night for scientists, science communicators, science teachers, historians and philosophers of science, students, science popularisers and anyone else with something to show off about science.’
We’re delighted Steve has agreed to compere for us once again – and he’s also promised to spend time sharing snippets of his scientific knowledge with us – so be prepared to come away with your brain expanded in unexpected directions. You have been warned!
The London Humanist Choir
We are a non-auditioned choir for anyone who wants to sing non-religious music. We’re part of the British Humanist Association, the national humanist charity. We get involved in many types of events; from the Edinburgh Free Fringe Festival to humanist weddings, music festivals, stage shows, conferences and conventions.
For the show we’ll be performing a wide-ranging selection of music from our current repertoire.
Celebrating Darwin Day with the London Humanist Choir
The London Humanist Choir were lucky enough to help the British Humanist Association celebrate Darwin Day this year at not one event but at two!
Darwin Day is held each year on Charles Darwin's birthday, and is commemorated with the Darwin Day Lecture, now in its 15th year. 
This year's lecture took place on February the 10th and featured Professor Lawrence Krauss, with a lecture titled ‘Cosmic natural selection’. The speaker was introduced by BHA patron Professor Richard Dawkins. The London Humanist Choir opened up the evening with a rendition of "Do you Realise", by the Flaming Lips - check out a previous recording here.
The next night t
he choir took part in "Stand up for Darwin", brilliantly organised by the Central London Humanists. The choir helped mix up an evening which featured Professor Krauss ruminating on how Star Trek's teleports would work, Kate Smurthwaite mixing the audience up into members of the ape family and sets from Jay Foreman, Iszi Lawrence and Scott Capurro.
A huge thank you to everyone who came along. Want to check out the choir perform? Make sure to keep an eye on our calendar!
What’s Up with the London Humanist Choir?
A quick glance at our webpage the other day and we realised that we haven't posted in several months! To remedy this - we thought we'd tell you about some of the gigs we have in the works for 2017. It's going to be another exciting year.
Darwin Day Lecture
We're very happy to have been a
sked back to kick off the British Humanist Association's annual Darwin Day Lecture celebrating the life and contributions of Charles Darwin. The lecture is the 10th of February at The Light at Euston. The choir will start off the evening with a song and then the featured Speaker Lawrence Krauss will take the stage. Unfortunately tickets are sold out for this event, but you can still sign up to get on the waiting list through the BHA's website.
Stand Up For Darwin
Keeping with the Darwinian theme, the next night on the 11th of February we'll be performing at the Central London Humanist's event Stand Up For Darwin at Conway Hall. Tickets are still available, so you should definitely come along! We performed at this event last year - and it's such fun. A great evening of comedy & we'll be joined by Lawrence Krauss (the featured speaker at the BHA's sold out lecture) as well as comedians Kate Smurthwaite, Jay Foreman, Scott Capurro & Iszi Lawrence.
And this is just February!! We've got loads more lined up for 2017, including a benefit with the Stuart Low Trust in March, The Voices Now Festival in July and of course our own One Life concert in June. And we'll post more details about how you can see us at these events as they draw nearer (we promise!).
If you want to do more than just see us perform, we rehearse every Tuesday night from 7 to 9 at Doreen Bazell Hall between Euston & St Pancras. We'll be open to new members until the end of March, so don't miss your chance to join in on the exciting 2017 we have planned. More information can be found on our JOIN US page or by emailing members@london.humanistchoir.org.
London Humanist Choir is heading back to Fringe!
The London Humanist Choir is heading back up north to take part in PBHs Free Fringe festival again for 2016. We've learned some new music and will be bringing back some favourites from our One Life concert. Did you miss our rendition of Toto's Africa or our song about Bertrand Russell's Teapot (written by one of our own)? We'll be bringing both of those with us to Edinburgh, along with songs by Frank Turner, Monty Python & Adele.
And once again our friend Stu Richards will be with us, so don't miss your chance. If you're in Edinburgh, or up enjoying the Festival, be sure t
o check out the choir for one of our performances!
Here are the details for our show #573:
Saturday 13th August
1:00 pm - The Cowshed Bar (Venue #423)
3:00 pm - Malone's Irish Bar (Venue #280)
5:00 pm - Stramash (Venue #342)
Sunday 14th August
1:00 pm - The Cowshed Bar (Venue #423)
5:00 pm - Stramash (Venue #342)
And you probably also find us busking on the streets of Edinburgh, so keep an eye (and an ear) out for us! We're really looking forward to being part of the Festival again, and hope to so see you there!
Tickets Onsale Now for One Life 2016
We're excited to announce
that tickets are ONSALE NOW for the 4th Annual One Life concert. One Life 2016 will be at the beautiful Conway Hall and is presented in a joint venture by the Conway Hall Ethical Society and the London Humanist Choir. It's going to be a great evening packed with music, comedy and science. All our favourite things!
On Saturday June 18th the choir will be joined on stage by our compère Steve Cross (Science Show-Off), Naked Scientist Kat Arney and Comedian Jay Foreman.
To purchase tickets, follow the link and click "Register Now". You'll then be taken to the page where you can request the number of standard or concession tickets you'd like. Concessions are available to students, over 65, unwaged, BHA Members, Local Groups Members and Conway Hall Members.
And here's a hint: get your tickets in advance because prices will be slightly higher on the door.
Here's all the info again for your diary - Conway Hall 18th June 2018. Doors will open at 18:30 and the show will start at 19:30. As usual there will be refreshments available for purchase, so get your tickets, grab a drink, and sit back for a night of laughs & song.
Come hear us sing!
Want to hear some great secular music? Come and hear us sing at our upcoming gigs this May. Tickets are free for all three events.
We'll be making a return to the Sangerstevne Choral Festival on
Friday 13 May at 7.30pm at St Matthew's Church, Ealing Common, London W5 2QA and
Saturday 14 May at 5pm at St Sepulchre Without Newgate, Holborn, London EC1A 2DQ
http://www.londonsangerstevne.org.uk/
We'll also be providing the 'no faith' option at the interfaith festival, Faiths In Tune, at the British Museum on Sunday 22 May at 3.50pm.
The festival will feature our classic all-day stage music and dance programme at the British Museum's BP Lecture Theatre, as well as twelve interactive singing, chanting and meditation sessions in the Stevenson Lecture Theatre. An Interfaith Fair & Exhibition will offer festival attendees the opportunity to learn more about and get in touch with numerous faith and interfaith organisations from London and the UK.
Book free tickets here.
More Than Just Blah Blah Blah
Think you know the perfect formula for a Christmas Song? Ian Assersohn does. He wrote Blah Blah Bethlehem and we recorded it with Brit-nominated producer Jon Cohen at Conway Hall.
Happy Christmas, Saturnalia, Holidays, Festivus, New Year's, blah blah blah... to you & yours from all of us in the London Humanist Choir.