11-13 August 2026
Music for Stone Chambers vol. 1 is a short vocal fieldwork excursion nested inside our annual Hope Valley Choral Retreat. Members of the retreat will be automatically enrolled, but we accept singers who wish to attend as a standalone event.
What is it?
Providing unique spaces for amateur singers to sing in
Music for Stone Chambers is a project exploring the relationship between sound, memory, and place.
We are taking an amateur choir into unique reverberant spaces across the Peak District — caves, tunnels, industrial structures, valleys, churches, and stone chambers — creating performances shaped by the acoustic identity of each location. Alongside existing repertoire, our resident composer will write music bespoke to each site, allowing the structure itself to become part of the composition.
The project is rooted in the idea that spaces hold memory, and reverberation is the memory of sound. Materials, dimensions, and surfaces reflect voices in distinctive ways, as though the music is pulling personality from the architecture itself. Each place becomes an instrument.
These sonic qualities evoke something deeply human: wonder, spirituality, stillness, presence. We encounter this feeling in sacred buildings and natural landscapes alike — but also in warehouse raves, under bridges, or in forests where echoes seem to suspend time. The instinct to sing, shout, or listen carefully in such places feels almost universal.
In a world saturated with engines, construction, notifications, and constant noise, this project invites audiences and singers into an act of radical listening. Through music sculpted by local acoustics, witnesses are encouraged to reconnect with the power and identity of place.
For hosts, this is also an opportunity to tell the story of their structure or landscape. The history, purpose, geology, industry, folklore, and physical characteristics of each site are as vital as the music itself. After all, the music is composed specifically for the space.
Our first Vocal Fieldwork Excursion takes place 11–13 August, forming part of the wider FaceNoise retreat in the Hope Valley.
Hosts interested in offering a space for future fieldwork excursions are warmly invited to apply to get involved. Singers who are not already signed up to the retreat can use the contact form at the bottom of the page to express interest in participating.
