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Purpose
Most PD patients develop vocal weakness and a choir provides a regular guided opportunity for patients to exercise their voice : think of a singing session as 'physio' for the vocal cords.
More generally it promotes the physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing of participants through the fringe benefits of social interaction, entertainment and humour.
Who can join?
We have an open door policy on membership but you do need to be 16. It's not essential to have PD or attend the clinic at King's to come to one of our sessions; many of our members are carers or friends and we also see a lot of students in various medical disciplines. Carers don't have to participate and are welcome to sit in the chapel and read a book and enjoy the music.
Do I need to be musical?
You don't need to read music or be musical, although some of our members have been professionally involved in music in one form or another. There are no auditions or interviews and you are welcome to come along and try us out for a session and you don't need to join at the beginning of a course of sessions.
When do we meet?
We hope to have two meetings a month on Tuesdays 11.30-12.30 throughout most of the year, excepting school holidays. As soon as dates are confirmed we'll publish details on the Home page as well as by our email notification.
How much does it cost?
We are now a member of 'Sing to beat Parkinson's ' which is part of the charity 'Canterbury Cantata trust' and we receive some generous funding from them and other charitie. We also welcome donations from members.
What happens in a session?
Firstly check out our videos, which give a good idea of what goes on.
The sessions usually begin with vocal exercises, often incorporating some physical movement, coordination and basic percussion, but they're always tailored to members' mobility levels – you do what you're comfortable with.
We are an a Cappella group and learn the tunes by ear from Nicola and word sheets are provided. Improvising harmony is encouraged and sometimes simple harmonies are taught as well. We also look at the song text in order to better express its meaning and emotion.
Our repertoire comes from the popular end of the musical spectrum and ranges from Bizet's 'Toreador song', through sixties pop, folk song, sea shanties, to spirituals.
Venue
We are fortunate to be allowed to use the resonant St Luke's Chapel at KCH for our sessions but we have no religious agenda and are open to people of any or no faith. We share the facility so we need to show sensitivity to others using the chapel during our sessions.
From time to time we do participate in various extra curricula activities such as local singing and performance events . For details see the home page
Click on the link above for full details of our Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults: Policy and Procedures.
The designated person for Camberwell skylarks is Adam Chevin.
The Camberwell Skylarks is a singing group, comprised mainly of people with Parkinson's Disease (PD), which meets in St Luke's Chapel, Kings College Hospital, South London. We are led by a specialist tutor and opera singer, Nicola Wydenbach and started up in the Spring of 2017, largely at the instigation of Julia Johnson, a senior speech therapist at the hospital. We are now part of an international research movement called 'Sing to Beat Parkinson's', which is part of the charity 'the Canterbury Cantata trust'.
Please note that we are a volunteer-organised singing group, and are not able to take responsibility for the care of participants during our sessions, including our extra curricula events. However, carers of members with Parkinson’s are very welcome to join and participate in our sessions
Purpose
Who can join?
Do I need to be musical?
When do we meet?
How much does it cost?
What happens in a session?
Venue
Extra curricula activities
Safeguarding
The current committee officers are:
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Chair: Brian Lowe
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Secretary/Treasurer : Nigel Purdey
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Membership Secretary: Susan Addo