World Voice

In Autumn 2012, Richard was asked by the British Council to devise an international singing education programme. On the strength of this, he was invited to become the Artistic Director of World Voice and to lead a pilot project in India and Senegal. Over the following seven years, he personally led numerous workshop with children, young people, teachers and music education experts across the UK and in Russia, India, Nepal, Senegal, Ethiopia, Palestine, Jordan, Morocco, Argentina, Chile and Hong Kong. As the project expanded, he recruited a team of some of the finest singing leaders in the UK.

1.5 million children worldwide have benefited from World Voice and thousands of teachers have received training from the project. Many countries now have singing embedded in their curricula as a result of the programme.

In 2021, responsibility for World Voice was formally passed to the Sing Up Foundation, the UK’s national singing programme. World Voice materials are already on the Sing Up Foundation website and discussions are underway about the continuation of the project.

FURTHER READING: The Sing Up Foundation Continue British Council’s World Voice Programme