Sound Escapes

Hello from Sound Escapes UK!

Sound Escapes organises tailor-made concert tours exclusively for adult choirs and music ensembles who wish to perform in beautiful and unique locations across the UK and Ireland. We provide a personal touch throughout and take every care to deliver a high-quality touring package to meet your performance aspirations whilst providing full financial protection. New for 2024: concert tours to Belgium, France and The Netherlands.

Contact Jo Porter on 0115 874 6396
E-mail: jo.porter@soundescapesuk.com
Web: www.soundescapesuk.com


Chris Hutchings

See Chris’s submissions in the Member Composers repertoire resource.

Chris Hutchings is a composer based in Edinburgh; his works have been performed around the world and won several prizes. In 2019, Where are my unnumbered days? won the first prize at Murau International Music Festival, Austria, and the Wicker Park Singers composition competition in Chicago, and other works have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. He has received commissions from several choirs in the USA and UK; new commission enquiries always welcome.

Many of Chris’s pieces are available through MusicSpoke.

Chris also runs #ChoirsForClimate, providing resources and music to choirs who are passionate about the environment, and #ChoirsAgainstRacism, sharing anti-racism and social justice music and more.

All Chris’s unpublished music is free for the duration of the pandemic for any choirs who want it. If a piece on his website is not available through MusicSpoke or other publishers, email him with the name of your choir to be sent a PDF of the piece. 

New repertoire to peruse

Be thou a bright flame

A prayer of St Columba for SATB choir, no divisi. Perfect for choirs returning to singing and perhaps reduced in numbers. View the score here (2 pages) and listen on SoundCloud. Thanks to friends Steph, Anne-Marie, Paul and Chris J for being the virtual choir for this! Email me to order copies (post-pandemic these will be £10 for a PDF, print as many copies as you like, or £1+P&P for printed copies).

Other unpublished pieces available for free during the pandemic include: Statue Songs (5 pieces for SABar and piano, based on Scots myths); “Loch Lomond” and “A Red Red Rose” for SA choir; “A Bicycle Wheel” for flexible 3-part choir; “Come Away Death” for SATB; “Answer The Question” for SATB (verrry difficult but fun); SABar arrangements of “A Highland Lad” and “Duncan Gray”“All My Friends Live In My Pocket”, a song about smartphones for children’s choir (1-2 parts) and piano; and “Drop Slow Tears” for SSA.

Keep watch, dear Lord

Send Lazarus

Let them not say


Hal Leonard Europe

Hal Leonard Europe companies are part of the Hal Leonard group of companies: the world’s largest source of music publications, representing many of the world’s best-known publishers, artists, songwriters and arrangers.

HLE companies publish and distribute an extensive catalogue of printed and digital publications, sheet music, music education resources, instruments, gifts, accessories and pro audio in Europe and worldwide.
Choral music is of particular significance in the HL catalogue, and the company is proud to represent some of the most important names in choral publishing, including Novello & Company, Chester Music, Walton Music, Durand, Salabert, Ricordi, G. Schirmer, Shawnee Press, E C Schirmer, MorningStar Music and Hinshaw Music and leading composers such as Ola Gjeilo, Paul Mealor, Owain Park, John Tavener, Judith Weir and Eric Whitacre.

Delegates will be able to purchase choral resources, educational, concert, church and arrangements from publishers Novello, Chester Music, Alphonse Leduc, Ricordi, Durand-Salabert-Eschig and more.

See Hal Leonard repertoire listed in our repertoire resources pages.