About Us — Forres Youth Choir

Our Story

Why Forres. Why now.

If you grow up in Moray and want to sing in a youth choir, your nearest option is Inverness. That's a long way to go every week — especially if you're eight.

We're starting Forres Youth Choir because we believe young people here deserve the same opportunities as anyone else in Scotland. Not in five years. Not when someone else gets around to it. Now.

St Laurence Forres is our home. It's a brand-new community-owned arts and events space — a beautiful building, and the right place to begin something new. We hope it will become known for choral music in time, but for now, we're just glad to have somewhere this good to sing. A proper youth choir — rooted in this community, open to everyone, and serious about the music.

We're not starting with ten different groups and a five-year plan pinned to the wall. We're starting with one choir, one rehearsal, and everyone who signs up. As the choir grows, we'll develop age and ability groups so that every singer gets the right challenge at the right time. The eight-year-old and the seventeen-year-old will both find their place here.

The nearest youth choir provision is in Inverness. Moray needs something of its own. Something local, something accessible, something that doesn't require a 90-minute round trip before you've even sung a note.

That's what this will be. Our first rehearsal is Thursday 16 April — register now and come sing with us.

Meet the Directors

The people behind the music

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Shaun Brown

Musical Director & Co-founder

With over 25 years of experience as a professional musician, Shaun offers a wide range of musical services across the north of Scotland and beyond.

He studied music at the Universities of Exeter, East Anglia and Huddersfield, holding Organ and Choral Scholarships at Derby Cathedral, Crediton Parish Church, Exeter University, St Peter Mancroft in Norwich, and Wakefield Cathedral.

During five years in Machynlleth, he promoted community music-making at Y Tabernacle, organised concerts, worked with Aberystwyth Opera and soprano Khyrstina Makar, and maintained a busy teaching schedule.

Family eventually brought him north to Scotland, where he settled in the beautiful town of Forres in Moray. He currently serves as accompanist for Sing Moray, and works with churches, schools, choirs, individual students, and event organisers across the region.

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Adam Csenki

Musical Director & Co-founder

Adam's biography is on its way. In the meantime, know this: he co-founded Forres Youth Choir because he believes the best choirs are built on openness, hard work, and joy in equal measure. More about Adam coming soon.

Our Approach

How we do things

No auditions. Seriously.

Forres Youth Choir will be open to every young person aged 8 to 17. You don't need to read music. You don't need experience. You don't need to prove anything. You just need to want to sing. Register before our first rehearsal on Thursday 16 April — we need emergency contacts and a few other details before you join us, but there's no audition and no minimum standard.

What rehearsals will look like

We'll rehearse weekly at St Laurence Forres. Rehearsals will be focused, energetic, and designed to get the best out of every voice in the room. We'll warm up properly, learn new music, and work on the detail. There'll also be plenty of laughter. Good rehearsals have both.

Growing together

We'll start as one group — everyone together. As membership grows, we'll develop separate groups by age and ability so that younger singers get a foundation and older singers get stretched. Nobody gets left behind, and nobody gets held back. The choir will grow with its singers.

Ready to sing?

There's no audition and no minimum standard — just register and join us from Thursday 16 April.

Find Out How to Join