Cemetery songwriting workshops

Name: Cemetery songwriting workshops – 17th of June
Start: 2025-06-17T00:00:00+00:00
Location: Undercliffe Cemetary

Commoners Choir

Free songwriting workshops in Undercliffe Cemetery that celebrated Bradford's workers.

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As part of Bradford 2025, Commoners Choir invited local people and anyone with a connection to Undercliffe Cemetery, to write and perform a new song to remember the forgotten backbone of the Industrial Revolution and Bradford’s growth – the workers.

This was a Bradford 2025 Creative Community Award project.

The project was led by experienced songwriter and Choir leader Boff Whalley and was in two parts – people joined Boff for a songwriting workshop in the Lodge at the cemetery for two weekly sessions, then joined the choir to for two rehearsals for two more weekly sessions. The performance of the final song was filmed at the cemetery on the 5th July.

Songs have historically been part of the culture of remembering, and honouring those who have died. They can be an important part of the funeral service, the grieving process and the memorialising of a person’s life and work. Songs can give people a sense of communal acknowledgement of both sorrow and respect and can be passed on through the generations.

The aim of this event was to create a song dedicated to the working people of Bradford that both empowers participants and serving as a lasting legacy that can be sung for years to come.