The Urban Vocal Group (, abbreviated to The UVG) is a musical charity headquartered in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, Hampshire that specialise in

contemporary music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

. The charity has been active in

Havant Havant ( ) is a town in the south-east corner of Hampshire, England between Portsmouth and Chichester. Its borough (population: 125,000) comprises the town (45,826) and its suburbs including the resort of Hayling Island as well as Rowland's Castl ...

since 2008 and within

City since 2014, providing access to music training in the form of group vocals, one to one singing and vocal health tuition, songwriting, composition, and recording, rehearsals and live performances, mentorship and volunteer opportunities as well as public music workshops. The UVG accommodates young people aged 10 to 18, and until early 2023 provided a senior group for older attendees in the Form of AUVG. UVG began extensive artist development projects in 2015 for younger musicians, which had progressed further in 2016. The UVG celebrated their 10-year anniversary as a registered charity on 14 January 2018 at

Portsmouth Guildhall Portsmouth Guildhall is a multi-use building in the centre of Portsmouth, UK, located on a pedestrian square close to the Portsmouth and Southsea railway station. Constructed in 1890, the building was known as Portsmouth Town Hall until 1926. It ...

. In February 2019, the UVG received a grant of £75,000 from Youth Music UK.

History

''The Urban Vocal Group'' was originally established in December 2007 by programmer and musician Charlie Fletcher with the assistance of fellow singer-songwriter Amba Tremain, and Singing & Voice Specialist Sally Stanton. Initially, the charity was created in the effort to form a diverse community of young people from the

and City of Portsmouth area, by teaching them the musical abilities they would find in a like-minded environment, which would potentially be beneficial toward young people if they decide upon a

profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully ''professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by ...

in the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

. In 2014, the group received a £53,000 grant by The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport through their representative division, ''The National Foundation for Youth Music'', allowing the charity to expand their quota, including the area served from their initial

-based 30-seat venue to larger venues at

from September 2014, which helped to accommodate for higher attendance rates. The grant also enabled the charity to increase their artists development activities in 2015, with an additional grant of £14,600 from the

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

in 2016. Also in 2014, the UVG formed the ''Adult Urban Vocal Group'' (or AUVG for short) to serve as a transition group for singers who previously attended the younger groups, and to allow adults to experience the UVG sound for themselves whilst also generating income for the charity. In April 2021 the charity merged with The Guildhall Trust and began a new chapter in its history. ‌

Performances

''The Urban Vocal Group'' have performed at venues such as The House of Commons,

New Theatre Royal The New Theatre Royal is a Victorian Grade II* listed theatre in the heart of Portsmouth, England, with a capacity of 667. The theatre building was constructed in 1854 as Landport Hall. It was converted to a theatre two years later. It was r ...

BBC Radio Solent BBC Radio Solent is the BBC's local radio station serving Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Havelock Road in Southampton. According to RAJAR, the station has a ...

and notably at the

Kings Theatre Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh' ...

, guesting with

BRIT Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

-winning vocal group ''BLAKE'', as well as with singer-songwriter

Chesney Hawkes Chesney Lee Hawkes (born 22 September 1971) is an English pop singer and occasional actor. He started his career at the age of 19 when he appeared in the film '' Buddy's Song'', which featured his best-known single " The One and Only", which to ...

in July 2016, before performing there alone in January 2018 for their tenth annual show. ''The UVG'' also sold-out the 500-seat venue

Portsmouth Pyramids Centre The Portsmouth Pyramids Centre (also known as the Pyramids) is an indoor leisure complex in Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It has a live arena, leisure gym and function rooms. The function room, located next door to the indoor leisur ...

, for their annual show on 4 December 2016, accompanied by singer-songwriter Marley Blandford and youth streetdance group, ''Most Wanted''. The group have also performed at events such as at

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

auditions in Churchill Square, Brighton as well as the one-off Portsmouth Summer Show in 2016, ''Southsea Bandstand'' and

Victorious Festival Victorious Festival is a three-day music festival held in Portsmouth, United Kingdom. It was founded in 2011. In its first year, the festival was named the Victorious Vintage Festival. For the first two years, the festival was held in Portsmou ...

in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Other venues include the following: *

The Wedgewood Rooms The Wedgewood Rooms is an independent live music venue, in Southsea, Portsmouth, England, which hosts both music and comedy events. It has a capacity of 400 people, and is located on Albert Road in Southsea. Recently it has hosted events from ...

Fort Nelson Fort Nelson may refer to: Canada *Fort Nelson, British Columbia, a town *Fort Nelson River, British Columbia * Fort Nelson (Manitoba) (1670–1713), an early fur trading post at the mouth of the Nelson River and the first headquarters of the Hudson ...

Southsea Castle Southsea Castle, historically also known as Chaderton Castle, South Castle and Portsea Castle, is an artillery fort originally constructed by Henry VIII on Portsea Island, Hampshire, in 1544. It formed part of the King's Device programme to p ...

Spinnaker Tower The Spinnaker Tower is a landmark observation tower in Portsmouth, England. It is the centrepiece of the redevelopment of Portsmouth Harbour, which was supported by a National Lottery grant. The tower's design was chosen by Portsmouth reside ...

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is an area of HM Naval Base Portsmouth which is open to the public; it contains several historic buildings and ships. It is managed by the National Museum of the Royal Navy as an umbrella organization representing f ...

Plaza *

South Parade Pier The South Parade Pier is a pier in Portsmouth, England. It is one of two piers in the city, the other being Clarence Pier. The pier once had a long hall down its centre which housed a seating area and a small restaurant. The outside of the hall ...

Awards

In early 2017, the ''UVG'' received the Cultural Partnership Award at the annual ''Shaping Portsmouth Conference''. Also, in January 2018, they received the Special Recognition Award at

The Portsmouth News ''The News'' is the only local paid-for newspaper in Portsmouth, England, and covers a wide area of south Hampshire. It is produced by Johnston Press, owners of Portsmouth Publishing & Printing, at their headquarters in North Harbour, Portsmo ...

' ''Guide Awards'' ceremony. , - , 2017 , , The Urban Vocal Group , , Cultural Partnership Award , , , - , 2018 , , The Urban Vocal Group , , Special Recognition Award , ,

External links

Victorious Festival

Portsmouth Guildhall

Shaping Portsmouth

Kings Theatre, Southsea

Arts Council England

References

{{Reflist __FORCETOC__ Music charities based in the United Kingdom Charities based in Hampshire