Singing is my passion. I grew up singing in church. Everyone in my family sings. My grandma, my dad’s mum, was a singer and a dancer in her village in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Even though she died before I was born, when I sing I feel connected with her. My dad gave me her name, so it’s a special bond.

I’m a french speaker, but I’ve learnt English. In the choir I’ve also sung in many other languages like Ukrainian, Yoruba and Zulu. It’s good to learn different languages.

Coming to the UK as an asylum seeker saved my life. I understand what it’s like to come from a difficult situation and start over again. It’s important to feel welcome when you are in a new place and are enduring uncertainty. I serve on the Welcome Team for the choir. I am always ready to greet new members and support them to settle into the community. I also help with the Swap Shop and encourage choir members to take what they need so they feel supported and loved.

It has been so wonderful to share songs from my Congolese heritage with the choir. I sang a Rhumba - ‘Mercie Mama’ - for our Open Mic night and we danced together. Even though I live quite far away, I never miss rehearsals. I’m always there.

My name is Aike and I'm a product of bravery.  My grandparents and Dad, who's just turned 90 years, were immigrants, bravely escaping Nazi Germany.  They found refuge in London.  Their story has impacted my story, inspiring and giving me courage to welcome people from around the world, into my home and family.

Singing with Citizens of the World Choir brings me much joy.  It's so much more than making music together - it's about building community with people from different nations, cultures and religions.  I love hearing their stories and learning songs in different languages.  Together we have a powerful voice of unity and love.

Although I live in a city, I love to walk my dog in the park every day.  Being out in nature fills my soul and brings me closer to Creator God.  Whether it's watching frost sparkle in the early morning sun, walking under the avenue of cherry blossom trees as the petals drift down like confetti, or kicking the Autumn leaves, you'll often find me singing choir songs as I stroll along.

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I was born in North East England, lived in Yorkshire and I’ve been in London for about 30 years.  The words “Ey up” remind me of home.

My happiest memory, oh gosh -  the year I spent travelling around Africa in the late 80’s. I should probably say getting married last year, actually.

I was in another choir but to be honest I’m getting a little bored of singing just opera. I came to a Citizens of the World choir concert and listened to it and thought “that’s wonderful” and now here I am.

I’m hoping it will be a way of broadening my contacts as it were. I don’t mean professional contacts but I mean the people that I meet.  I like meeting new people and different cultures and places. I love travelling but this is a way of meeting people from all over the world. I’m hoping that the choir is a way for refugees to come together and feel more at home here.

The biggest surprise I’ve had in the UK was moving to London, and I moved to London 30 years ago to be with Helen. I thought I’d try it for six months and thirty years later I’m still here and still enjoying it.

I run my own business, managing nature reserves and I want to continue that, take on new projects and learn new things and also to go travelling again later in the year.

I’m 58 now so in 10 years time I'll be in my late 60’s so I'll be thinking about retirement - but I’m not sure I ever will. I want to continue learning about wildlife, which is what I do.

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My name is Annie, and I am from Ukraine. Like many Ukrainians, I had to leave my home in 2022, and I moved to the UK.
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Music has always been an great part of my life. My mum is a professional musician, so I grew up surrounded by music. I studied opera in Ukraine and later continued my musical journey in the UK, focusing on contemporary vocal performance and exploring new styles.
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I joined Citizens of the World Choir in 2023 after quite a long break from singing. Becoming part of the choir gave me the confidence and motivation to return to music again. It offered me not only the opportunity to represent my culture by performing Ukrainian songs, but also a strong sense of community, understanding, and support. I met many kind and inspiring people and many of them have life experience similar to mine.
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I love being in nature and travelling to beautiful places such as the sea and the mountains. Wherever I go, I look for peaceful parks, beaches, and natural landscapes. Nature helps me feel calm, recharged, and connected to myself.
For me, music and nature are the two most beautiful and powerful things in the world.

Singing with the choir connects me with my diverse and vibrant local community. Among such a warm and non-judgemental group of people, I feel part of something bigger than my day-to-day life. Through choir, I have rediscovered how community, music, and nature keep me grounded, joyful, and fully myself.

I’ve had unforgettable experiences, singing my heart out to huge live audiences - including on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival - and recording original songs in the studio with some of the loveliest people I’ve ever met.

Choir has been a powerful antidote to the social isolation I felt during and soon after the pandemic. I love how music can transport my mind to a happy place, sometimes with just a few notes. Having access to music and nature recharges my batteries when I feel depleted by the many competing demands of daily life.

Nothing relaxes me more than being surrounded by nature and feeling connected to the precious Earth we all share. I grew up in a densely populated, bustling city in East Asia, and longed for the peace and quiet of nature. In my twenties, I moved to one of its tiny islands, where there were no cars or skyscrapers, just calmness and fresh air. I was sad to leave when I moved back to the city for a shorter commute, but I realised that even big cities can have many hidden gems of nature to discover. I look forward to exploring them in the near future.

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My name is Ena. I’m from Croatia and I have considered the UK my home for 10 years. Ever since I joined the choir, I’ve found my chosen family. I love the sense of community that the choir provides.

If there is something I have taken from my experience of Yugoslav war in my early years, it is seeing what the power of community can do once we are united by a common goal: Peace. Music is an element of that power we hold. The way that music can transform, inspire, create and bring people together is nothing short of magic. And performing music for others? It feels like we are synchronising hearts and emotions with others through the language everybody understands. It taps directly into our nature, moving the pieces of life.

This is something we often forget in daily life; we rush to complete tasks, to get places, forcing our bodies and our nature to work for us, unconditionally. We ignore the tiredness and unprocessed emotional movement, mandatory cycles that are nature itself. This is why it is important to have reminders of what we are. Having access to nature does this in the gentlest ways.

To see the trees that do not ask to grow, they just do, with arms of the Sun, the ground that just moves with elements and other living beings, the flowers that bloom and rot and grow again without hesitation. They show us how to live in harmony with each other and still thrive, as nature is us and we are nature.

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My name is Esther and I grew up moving around. I lived in the UK and Sardegna, Italy, as a child and later lived in Tanzania and Peru in my early adulthood. Singing with the Citizens of the World Choir helps me feel more connected to the places and people who I miss from my many ‘homes’ around the world.

Everywhere I’ve lived, nature and music have been my solace, my inspiration, my happy places. These are the things that keep my sense of wonder alive. I love songs that settle my soul and open my eyes to possibilities I hadn’t imagined before. I love trying to sing in new languages as it always gives me a new perspective and introduces names for feelings and emotions that my own language might not have a word for.

Being able to walk out into nature with a song in my heart is a privilege I don’t take for granted. I love walking on the beach, in the woods or up in the mountains, hearing the birds and watching wildlife. I’d be lost without nature and music in my life!

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I’ve always sung and enjoyed performing, but it was only when I joined Citizens of the World Choir that I started to sing in harmony with others. Harmony singing is such an escape because you can’t think of anything else while you are concentrating on blending your voice with others. I never used to consider myself to be a singer, so I feel really proud of singing on stage with the choir.
I joined because I wanted to make an ongoing and personal commitment to stand alongside refugees and people seeking sanctuary in the UK.  I’ve found that it has become so much more than that. Choir has become a place of friendship, safety and support.

It feels incredibly joyful and powerful when we all sing together. I love how singing my line in the music is contributing a small part to a beautiful, new sound and experience. I also love how we sing such meaningful songs.

In my professional life I’m deeply invested in helping communities to thrive, in a social, environmental and business sense. I’m a campaigner at heart, so when we sing songs like ‘I can’t keep quiet’ it really resonates with my values and my desire to stand up against intolerance, hostility, injustice and persecution.

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The choir celebrates each and every one of us. Some of us have been rejected all of our lives and can often feel misunderstood. So, when a group of people come together and celebrate you it’s really special, very personal.

The choir sang Happy Birthday to me at one of our workshops and it was the first time I’ve experienced that because of my background. I felt so welcomed.

Singing takes away the pain, anxiety and stress. It’s the most beautiful feeling: like when you are tired and you rest. Or if you have a headache and you take a painkiller. I have better energy to face my problems and am reminded ‘not to suffer alone’.

I came to the UK for safety. I have been through a lot. Being together, playing musically with my choir friends, connects me back to the very best of my earliest memories in Angola. I didn’t have my parents because of the war. I just had my childhood friendships around me in the orphanage. I thought it was normal then, but we were pretty much on our own, just playing. I value the love that being in the choir brings.

You don’t have to speak the same language, but you can get together through music.

I have found a safe space of sanctuary in the choir. It has given me a sense of purpose to keep living and hoping. Through choir we come together, cheer each other up and share a big hug. I always look forward to rehearsals, coming together to laugh and sing our hearts out!

Sometimes people don’t really hear what you are saying when we just speak with words, but people understand your real feeling and meaning through songs. Our music communicates love, togetherness and most importantly peace. It’s about people feeling seen and loved.

Peace for me is a world where we dream dreams and achieve those dreams. Where there’s no war and everybody is safe. When people can come together without needing to compete over resources or religions, or power.

For me, the UK has provided a safer place to be a woman. Here, when there is abuse, people fight for justice. That isn’t the case everywhere in the world. In the choir, I’m the smiley face that makes people feel welcome and says ‘Yes, you have reached a nurturing family’. I want to reassure people that they are accepted here.

All of us, at some point, need to move from one place to another. We might have different accents, different languages, but we can all bring something. We are all one.

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Being creative helps me communicate, express myself and feel closer to God, especially if I’m down. My favourite choir songs are Siyahamba and Ase. Siyahamba is not in my language, but it’s so joyful! Àṣẹ is a song that brings me closer to nature and strengthens my belief that when I hope for something, I will find it. I never expected that people would sing with me in Yoruba - my mother tongue - here in the UK!

When a journey starts, you can never say for sure where it will end. It has not been easy. So many people that I started the journey with have passed away. This is not where I thought I’d be, but I’m still here and it’s getting better by the day. I’m grateful for where I am today and all those who have journeyed with me.

Being a Citizens of the World singer reminds me that I am not here like a snake passing on the rock without trace. I have a trace now and I’ve done some remarkable things, together with my choir.
I like to watch the sun rise and set. When the weather is good and I have someone beside me, I like to move freely together chatting and sharing thoughts and feelings. But I don’t like walking alone in the wet grass early in the morning! The choir gives me space to meet new people and share my culture and ideas.

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Being in the choir, and in the orbit of the incredibly talented and creative people that we work with, is inspiring. When everyone works together to get the sound right, it feels amazing. You’re listening, you’re feeding off each other and collaborating to do the best that you can. There are lots of technical aspects to singing so you can always improve. When we get a song really tight, with the harmonies sounding really beautiful, we feel like we have brought something new into being.

Music, and a choir especially, is a collective effort. Our choir shows how people from diverse backgrounds and cultures can come together to contribute something positive to society.

I love it when we go as a choir to perform at music festivals. When we went to Glastonbury, some people hadn’t camped before and I was happy to organise tents and bedding and share my love of camping with them. I like being outdoorsy and would happily go around smelling of woodsmoke! I like the peacefulness that comes with being away from screens, devices, the city and the traffic. Like the choir, camping can create a space for people to take the time to appreciate and understand each other, and have compassion towards one another.

I’ve lived in England for most of my life, with a short time in Wales. I love how the Citizens of the World choir celebrates the diversity of the many people, cultures and lifestyles here in London and the UK.

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The choir has taken me to lots of places and given me so much exposure. It makes me feel accepted. When you first arrive as an asylum seeker, it can be really hard to find the UK’s beautiful places and to be able to reach them. I have been to some beautiful places with the choir that I wouldn’t have been able to reach otherwise. It has helped me to feel accepted, to accept myself, and to have confidence and pride in who I am.

When we go to sing in beautiful natural places I feel so connected with myself. I loved climbing Glastonbury Tor and learning the names of the plants and watching the long grasses.

Before I started in the choir I had relocated to a new borough and I didn’t know anybody. Through the workshops I’ve met so many new people and I’ve learnt how to write a song and compose music! I love the vocal warm ups. I am taking what I’m learning in the choir and sharing with my church choir.

Even my English is improving! My accent is getting clearer. Before when I spoke, people couldn’t understand me. Vocal warm up helped me learn how to speak from the front of my mouth and how to use my tummy to support my breathing.

Citizens of the World Choir is where strangers meet and connect and create a family. We have become a family despite our differences. We listen to and support each other. We feel connected and loved and so it has become another home far from home. It’s a refuge.

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My name is Josh and I grew up in England… although my mind was often in the clouds or in the imaginary worlds of books - which resulted in my becoming an actor.

I find great joy in being a part of the community and music at Citizens of the World. Music is ancient, unlimited.

My personal faith in God is interwoven with my experience of singing, so being able to sing with this wonderful community is a very powerful experience.

Singing in one another’s languages adds a great depth of unity in the choir, crossing boundaries and sharing in something essential together.

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My name is Karen. I was born in Jamaica. Growing up there was a lot of development going on, but nature was on my doorstep. I sit on the doorstep looking out over the sugarcane fields. My Dad would go out into the middle of the field to get the very best, juiciest sugarcane for me. I had mango trees and coconuts, fresh fruit easily within reach.

Here in the UK, I can look out of my door and see the lake that feeds the Thames estuary. I watch the swans and the ducks, just doing they own little wildlife ting. It makes me feel motivated. It’s cold, so having nature right there really helps. I don’t need to walk too far.

Leaving the house is a challenge with my disability, but when I came to the choir I felt very welcomed. The choir is like a warm family. People help me find my chair so that I am comfortable. When we went to perform at Glastonbury we had to camp. My choir friends helped me to feel comfortable, going the extra mile and making sure I had a suitable bed to sleep on! I felt loved and appreciated. Singing on Azizam was a dream come true! My family was so surprised and delighted. This gave me so much joy. Being part of the choir helps me to push through my pain and come outside of the house. The more I come out and meet people, the more I feel loved and the better my wellbeing is.

I love singing and being involved with other people, sharing community and being with friends. We learn new skills and languages through singing together.
English is not my first language, but singing songs helps me to memorise new words. I have enjoyed learning a little Ukrainian as well!
Sometimes, if I feel stressed, I just remember words of the songs and they help me feel calm. For example, I think about the lyrics ‘Peace and love, singing for peace and love’ and I start to feel joyful again.

I have lived in the UK for a long time now, but the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Africa, is the country of my ancestors. I put a lot of time and effort into learning English and getting to know people. Before, I struggled to understand, but now I can express myself better and have more independence and confidence.

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I have enjoyed learning the names of different flowers, like ‘daffodils’. I like learning English songs as well and gradually understanding their meanings. We sing a song called ‘Lullabies’ and for me it expresses that feeling of waiting and longing. Or when we sing ‘I’ve got love in my heart’ and ‘It’s a brand new day’ it fills me with positivity.

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I really value being with other people. When I am in the house alone, I look at things around me, but none of them can relate to me or speak to me. We can only really speak with other human beings.

When I come together with others in the choir, I know I don’t need to walk alone. Although I would probably describe myself as more of an introvert, I really enjoy company, especially when I feel safe with the people around me. Being together gives me peace of mind.

Singing is like therapy for me. This country can feel so lonely. People are busy and don’t have much time. When you’re feeling down you can get even more sad. So, coming to choir rehearsals and going to perform at gigs is important. It’s lovely to be acknowledged by other people and share their company.

There are healing words in the lyrics of the songs that we sing. They help us to feel free in this world of so much struggle. Whether we are singing in Igbo or in Yoruba, we are all human together. It’s good to sing together.

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My name is Mhairi, and I was born in Glasgow, Scotland. I then spent some of my early life in Bangkok, Thailand before moving to Oxford and eventually settling here in London.  
I grew up loving singing and music and now work in the industry professionally alongside other freelance work.
For me, Citizens of the World choir reminds me exactly why I love singing – it brings people together and is a form of communication that transcends the barriers that borders, and language create.
One of my favourite things to do is to listen to bird song. This represents the connection between music and nature for me. It really grounds me in the present moment when I hear it and I find it so beautiful. I also love that the blackbird’s call sounds like “Barbie Girl” by Aqua! It makes me laugh every time.

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I joined the choir in 2017, right at the very beginning of our story. I’m one of the original members! Many people have sung in the choir and gone on to continue their journey feeling uplifted by their time with us.

At Citizens of the World choir, we like to sing Happy Birthday to each other. This isn’t something that is familiar in everyone’s culture, but it’s something we’ve adopted.

Another thing that I adjusted to in the UK is the changing seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter and the way that different trees and plants flower at different times. Each one has its special moment and meaning, like the snowdrops signalling spring is on the way. I also love the way that people in the UK celebrate Christmas. Through the choir I’ve learnt about family and community celebrations and how they can bring us all together.  

When you experience displacement of whatever kind, you feel isolation. Joining the choir is like a soothing therapy. When we sing we feel more relaxed. It feels like a family. It’s beautiful being together with everybody from other countries, learning their culture, their way of life and mixing with everybody.

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I’m originally from Hiroshima, Japan, but was born into my family’s story of migration from Manchuria to Brazil. I have been privileged to travel and live in different parts of the world and so, the choir’s name is fitting for me as someone who aspires to be a Citizen of the World. My nomadic nature is rooted in my family history, but I also believe that in a previous life I might have been a migrating bird…
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Just like a bird, I hum and sing all the time. It makes me feel alive and safe. I’ve heard it said that our ancestors knew that birdsong meant you were safe. Our bodies remember this too, even in modern times. As a solo female traveller, the strong associations between singing and safety feel instinctive and necessary.  
I come from a country where nature frequently brings danger: earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding. So creating safe spaces is a way of life for me. We can never take nature for granted. We take care of it to show our respect. There is a bittersweet feeling that co-existence with nature invokes. We call it ‘mono no aware’. It expresses an appreciation for the transience of life and the fleeting beauty of nature.
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In the UK, the choir has become my ‘safety nest’. Just like in nature, my voice becomes part of the symphony made through us all coming together sharing our mother tongues and musicality from all over the world. We create harmony from the chaos, like a ‘dawn chorus of migrating birds’ singing together and free!

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Being a performer means taking risks. On the stage you are sharing your skills, but you also open your heart. I am giving energy to the audience and they are giving energy back to me. You feel like a wave, full of water!

Music is everything to me. I was a professional musician in Ukraine. I taught my students to harness their emotion and connect with the audience. When you feel these good vibrations everyone is renewed.

Arriving in the UK as a refugee was hard. You have to find your place in society and learn a new language. Music doesn’t need an interpreter. It is powerful and can unite every nation.

When I performed with Citizens of the World Choir at the Barbican in London, I fully immersed myself in my true identity as a musician. I played Brahms Waltzes as part of the programme. It’s emotive and open music and the audience response was vibrant and beautiful. This combination of bringing a good composer to a great crowd of people took me to the heavens as a pianist! I realised I can fulfil my potential here.

I love how multi-cultural our choir is. I’ve found my place in a community where I can share my feelings and make music together with others. Don’t stop dreaming - that’s my motto!

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My name’s Sarah and I am a performer and singer.

When I first heard the choir I was captivated by the singing. I was with my dear mummy, who was unwell at the time and has since passed away. The music was the healing that we needed at that time and continues to bring me comfort and feel close to my mum. I’ve been singing with the choir for over three years now and it’s become like my home. Everyone envelopes me in so much love and it’s just so joyful to sing together.  

Within our repertoire, we have a beautiful original arrangement called ‘Snowdrops’. It’s an adaptation of the song ‘Snowflakes’ that we developed drawing inspiration from a poem by Robert Frost. I rewrote the lyrics for the choir when the snowdrops were appearing in my garden, the year after I lost my mum.

‘Snowdrops growing, spring is glowing, softly in the light,
See the sun up in the sky, it shines so bright.’

I just wish that our choir could heal the whole world with its music.

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