Hi there and welcome to the Queen’s Choral and Singing Society (QCaSS) webpage! We are a platform for students to start and run singing groups within the student’s union and we currently host a number of singing groups ranging from choral to contemporary.

Choirs and ensembles

At the heart of QCaSS is the Queen’s Quarter Choir, a dynamic and welcoming SATB a cappella ensemble open to singers of all levels – no auditions required! Join us for rehearsals every Monday evening from 7pm to 9pm in the upstairs Lecture Hall of the QUB Music Building. Throughout the year, we build a repertoire for our performances and collaborations, all in the spirit of raising money for charity.

For those seeking a more challenging and intimate experience, we also have an audition-only chamber choir. This close harmony ensemble focuses on more intricate and demanding pieces, tailored to elevate the skills of experienced choristers. Auditions for this group take place in October, and rehearsals are typically held on Sunday evenings.

Both Queen’s Quarter Choir and our chamber choir are conducted by QUB Music alumnus and successful music teacher, Katie Hill.

This year, we have a brand new ensemble, Treble Choir, lead by Masters student Emma Eckes. Treble Choir is a choral ensemble made up of those who sing in treble voices; sopranos and altos. Rehearsals are held every Wednesday from 4-6pm in the Big Block Room in the Students' Union and focus on contemporary works by living composers, with the occasional arrangements from classical choral literature.

If you have your own idea for singing group, like an all-female barbershop quartet, an operatic ensemble or a contemporary group focused on your favourite band/artist, we can help you make it happen! However formal or informal your idea may be, QCaSS can provide you with support and guidance to help you form your own singing group, providing rehearsal rooms, borrowing equipment, helping you advertise and giving you the chance to showcase your talents in our recitals. We’d love to hear more people bringing forward music that’s close to their hearts and helping make Queen’s a more musical place to be.

Performances

Our annual Spring Recital is the focal point of our year at QCaSS. This is an opportunity to showcase the incredible talents of our ensembles and features mesmerising solos from our dedicated members. Hosted in the Harty Room in the QUB Music Building, our Spring Recital is an evening of beautiful contemporary choral music that will leave you inspired, and all the proceeds of this event go to charity. In addition to this, each year during the festive season, we come together and head into the city centre in Belfast to go carolling. Carolling is a lovely tradition which helps us all get into the festive mood while raising funds for charity through QUB RAG.

Each year we are continuously searching for new and exciting performance opportunities for our members. Some of our past events include the Big Collab Concert in 2023 with Queen’s Symphony Orchestra, QUB Dance and QUB RAG. The theme for this event was a Night at the Movies and featured a mystifying performance by Queen’s Quarter Choir of Misty Mountains from The Hobbit. Held in the Mandela Hall, this performance raised money for charity in collaboration with QUB RAG. We have also been delighted to take part in the Sing for Life Choir’s Christmas Concert in 2019 in Fischerwick Church, where we helped to raise money for Cancer Focus NI.

Social events

Our social calendar is filled with fun events from pub crawls to karaoke nights. Come along to our spooktacular Halloween pub crawl featuring fun challenges and rewards, costumes mandatory! Or test your knowledge and skills at our pub quizzes and games nights. Finally, you can sing your heart out at our good old-fashioned karaoke nights where you can come see your friends, have a drink if you’d like, and bash out some of your favourite classics and showtunes on the big screen with the members of QCaSS cheering you on. We also host a monthly post-rehearsal karaoke session with fun themes to unwind after an evening of singing… with some more singing! 

Some of our past events also include ABBA Night, complete with a quiz, costume competition, and fabulous prizes (including an ABBA Gold vinyl); Beat-the-Committee night where members took on the committee in a series of silly games and challenges; and a lounge night with a Mario Kart Tournament and prizes (including a Sony HiFi Speaker System).

Keep an eye on our Instagram and Facebook for any upcoming events!

Membership

QCaSS membership is £3, entitling you to discounted tickets to our events and allowing you to participate in our performances throughout the year and vote in our committee elections. You can sign-up as a member at any time during the year and you can find a link to our membership sign-up on our link tree below.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/qubqcass

Get in touch

If you have any questions about the society, our ensembles or anything else, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us via email at choralandsinging@qub.ac.uk or message us on Instagram or Facebook.