Founded in 2013, The Fourth Choir decided to celebrate our tenth anniversary season by launching a campaign to raise funds to record our first album: “Songs of Ourselves” is the result. Our first challenge was to find songs that were “of ourselves”, songs with which we felt a connection. Our Musical Director, Jamie Powe, searched long and hard for works that would represent The Fourth Choir, both musically as an a cappella choir and politically as a choir that supports equality and diversity, with particular reference to the queer community. We were also interested in exploring pieces that had never been recorded before and most of the works on this album are being recorded under studio conditions for the first time. The Fourth Choir has always felt drawn to performing music by underrepresented composers, voices that struggle to be heard due to marginalisation and prejudices – homophobia, transphobia, racism, misogyny. It is an exciting time therefore that so much music by underrepresented composers is now being heard.