PROFESSIONAL singers are encouraging musicians from south Cornwall to not only to hear their work but also join them in voice this week.

Founded in 2024, the Omnium Ensemble comprises the finest emerging professional singers from various backgrounds, including Oxford, Royal Holloway, and the Genesis Sixteen programme. The choir’s mantra is to support the work of living composers and spread awareness of the health, wellbeing and social benefits of singing with others.

It presents three opportunities to hear a programme ranging from Byrd and Harris to Dearden and Ticheli, via a mini-tour beginning on Thursday May 21 with an open workshop at All Saints Highertown, Truro. The following day, the choir will perform at St Gerrans Church, Gerrans, and at Tremayne Hall in Mylor Bridge on Saturday, May 23. All events will begin at 7.30pm.

Open to singers of all ages, genders and voices, the workshop will form part of the City of Truro Male Choir’s Thursday rehearsal. The choir will also join the Omnium Ensemble for its Mylor concert.

The performance comes fresh off the back of the 13th biennial Cornwall International Male Voice Choral Festival (CIMVCF). Around 45 choirs from the UK and beyond performed in venues across Cornwall from St Just to Saltash, which were live-streamed to over 15,000 people worldwide. The festival brought an estimated £1.6-million to the local economy.

As well as performing a varied repertoire including crowd-pleasers such as Mambo Italiano, The Frogs’ Chorus and Wellerman, choir members acted as stewards and marshals for the many visiting singers and supporters who had travelled from far and wide to attend the event.

Choir chairman John Larke, who is also CIMVCF vice chairman, said: “It was another great festival, which only works because the male choirs of Cornwall give their time and expertise in running the many concerts and events.”