Helen kicked off her workshop tour in Asheville NC on 18th September, hosted by Yuri Woodstock. Yuri has been teaching Helen’s music to his choir ‘Hark’ for many years – see the video above of Helen teaching her song ‘Love Is The Power’ to an enthusiastic crowd at Homewood Castle. She extended her stay in North Carolina and led workshops at the Love Song Gathering deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

From there Helen flew to Vermont and led two workshops for the Brattleboro Womens Chorus, hosted by Becky Graber. The last stop was Annapolis where Helen ran a workshop hosted by Elizabeth Melvin. Unfortunately Helen wasn’t able to do the workshop planned for the beginning of the month in San Francisco – hopefully another time!

Unfortunately, the One World show wasn’t performed in the Southwest due to the coronavirus pandemic. The last performances of this show were in London & Hull in 2019 and 2017 respectively.

“Helen Yeomans reminds us, through her beautiful music and lyrics, all that we hold dear…. profound and powerful.”   Lydia Somerville, Green Party

One World centred on the idea of imminent human evolutionary change anticipated by several ancient cultures around the world. The show tracked some of the key milestones of the last 2,000 years, including industrialization, colonialism, the war machine and the resulting threat to our natural world, inviting the audience to reflect on both the past and the future. One World was a powerful, moving production, ultimately leaving the audience with a sense of hope and positivity for the future.

Above is the promo video for the One World London shows.

From time to time I get sent recordings and videos from other choirs in the UK and abroad, singing songs I’ve written. They always move me, as the songs are always sung with a unique twist and reflect the personality of the singers performing them. This rendition of Unto This Land was sent to me recently by Dick Jackson who, with Cathy Baker, leads the Gettin’ Higher Choir in British Columbia in Canada. Their choir joined up with Wavelengths Community Choir, led by Denis Donnelly, to sing & record this video. Truly beautiful.

Helen’s performance choir Glorious Chorus was featured in the ‘Meet My Choir’ slot on The Choir programme on Sunday 5th June 2016 – catch it on iPlayer.

Shakti Sings Glastonbury Festival choir of green guardians sings Helen’s song ‘We Got All The Love’ in the mud at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. The choir, led by friend and colleague Susie Prater, add their unique flavour to this community choir favourite. Listen to it and smile…!

Note from Helen about this arrangement: ‘I was persuaded to write an arrangement of Jerusalem by a friend after initially having reservations about the song. But after researching the origins of Jerusalem I soon fell headlong in-love with it.’ Read more

You can purchase this arrangement on the Scores Page.

The Montgomery Freedom Flame project is an initiative in the spirit of international camaraderie and cooperation. Originally lit in Portsmouth in 1948, the torch was carried to France and the Netherlands, both occupied nations during World War II, where it has been kept ever since, to represent justice and liberation. Now the Freedom Flame has been brought back to the UK and is now installed in Princes Quay in Hull. 2015 was the 70th anniversary of the end of the war and was marked in Hull by a series of celebrations in the name of freedom, culminating in a major event on 8th May, the 70th anniversary date.

Helen was commissioned to write a piece of music especially for this event. Her song ‘Freedom Flame’ was sung by the big Hull Freedom Chorus mass choir on 8th May.

After the success of the One World inaugural performances in the South West, Helen brought the show to Hull in 2017 to celebrate the city’s City of Culture award. In 2019 the show was presented in London in three sell-out performances. In both instances Helen created an auditioned choir from the region and commissioned spoken word artists to read specially for the show.
For all information about the One World show visit the One World page.

Watch Glorious Chorus’s amazing video of Helen’s ‘Money Medley’ arrangement. Choreography by Catherine Wilcox (tenor). This song won the choir a place in the finals of Charles Hazlewood’s inaugural Orchestra In A Field choir competition 2012.