the gathering fund
There are moments when music stops being something you listen to and becomes something you inhabit.
When your heart rate slows. When the barriers between you and those around you melt away. When you feel both transported and - somehow - at home.
SANSARA has been creating these moments for over a decade: choral experiences that take us, in the words of one reviewer “beyond our everyday selves”.
Now, we’re developing something new: choral gatherings.
Imagine an evening where
Spine-tingling, surround-sound singing places you at the very centre of the sound
Breathwork helps you ground and reconnect
Powerful human stories bring you closer to the causes you care about
You experience the ‘wow’ of singing alongside professional singers
You leave touched by something deep, reminded why music matters
“An evening with SANSARA is both deeply peaceful and strikingly powerful, their ethereal sound carrying an emotional weight that feels almost transcendent. Through luminous, expressive music, they offer a sense of grounded, collective hope. It’s a moving reminder of how grassroots connection and shared voices can foster understanding and inspire a brighter, more humane future.”
- J Ortiz, audience member (April 2026)
Why we need your support
In the arts, funding often goes to finished work: to concerts already planned, music already written. Funding for research and development, for the time to explore a new idea and actually try it out, is rare.
Without R&D, innovation doesn't happen. You can be the exception.
By supporting The Gathering Fund, you become a pioneer investor in the future of choral music; giving us the space to imagine, experiment, and build something genuinely new.
Three pilots. Three extraordinary experiences.
We are planning three pilot Choral Gatherings in 2026/27
Autumn
On the eve of World Homeless Day, SANSARA shares the stage with singers from Choir with No Name and Streetwise Opera for the UK premiere of Gavin Bryars' Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (choral version), bringing lived experience of homelessness to the heart of the space.
Winter
Building on our sell-out Christmas concerts at the stunning, atmospheric Chapel of St Cross in Winchester, we want to develop these seasonal gatherings even further, exploring what this time of year means to us - and you - today.
Spring
A celebration of William Blake’s extraordinary imagination on the 200th anniversary of his death, including a multi-disciplinary live performance, deep listening imagination workshops and site-specific events.
Will you help us raise £20,000?
To reach the target, that’s just over 30 people giving £600. Or four donations of £5,000.
Every contribution, whatever its size, goes directly to making these pilots happen.*
Be a pioneer. Help us find out what choral music can become.
*Funds raised will be treated as unrestricted donations, designated to Choral Gatherings and their associated costs.
What you’ll receive
To thank you for backing this creative leap, supporting the Gathering Fund automatically welcomes you into our Giving Voice Community for a full year.
The Friends Tier | Gifts up to £600
All our Friends Circle benefits plus…
A personal, handwritten letter from Artistic Director Tom following the pilots. Not standard program notes, but a raw look behind the curtain: what he was searching for, what failed, and what moved him unexpectedly.
The Directors Tier | Gifts from £3,000+
All our Directors Circle benefits plus…
The unique opportunity to pose a fundamental question—about music, community, or what it means to gather—that Tom will take directly into the creative process.