Baka Beyond singer Su Hart teaches Yelli rainforest singing at St Lawrence Church Hall on 29 November. Early bird £42 until 29 October, then £55.

Su Hart, the lead singer of Baka Beyond, is coming to York to spend a full day teaching the rainforest singing of the Baka people of Cameroon.

The workshop runs from 10.30am to 5pm on Sunday 29 November at St Lawrence Church Hall, YO10 3WP. It is organised by York Vocal Collective, the group behind the city’s community choir The Stonegate Singers.

Prices and booking

  • Early bird: £42, until 29 October
  • Standard: £55 after that
  • Concession: £33, and students are welcome

Tickets are on the choir’s Ticket Tailor page.

Who is leading it

Since the early 1990s Su Hart has spent time living, singing and learning with the Baka people in the rainforests of Cameroon, the organisers say. The event page calls her “a much-loved choir leader and world-music artist”, whose many visits to the forest have “profoundly shaped her musical approach and repertoire”. Her own site is at suhart.com.

What Yelli is

The day centres on Yelli, an interlocking style in which singers’ parts fit together. The organisers describe it like this:

“It is the most ancient of singing, and is heard throughout the forests of Central Africa. It was developed to enchant the forest animals ensuring luck in the hunt, to navigate the forests, to help heal illness and argument, and to soothe loss or a crying baby. We will learn this technique and other song styles learned first hand in the forest.”

Everything is taught by ear, so there is no sheet music to read. “Expect singing that’s rhythm-rich, embodied and uplifting,” the event page says, with “a strong emphasis on pulse, interlocking parts, and that special ‘group lift’ you get when harmony, rhythm and community all click at once.”

It is pitched at “singers who want joy, groove, connection, and the chance to be guided by a leader with decades of lived experience in world vocal traditions.”

The choir hosting it

The Stonegate Singers describe themselves as a busy community choir based in York. They have performed live on the BBC, sung at The Great Get Together in Rowntree Park, and run a ceilidh night with the folk band The House Devils. In August 2017 they performed in the limestone gorge at Creswell Crags as part of Refugium, a mixed media piece directed by Jon Hughes.

When: Sunday 29 November 2026, 10.30am to 5pm
Where: St Lawrence Church Hall, York YO10 3WP
Tickets: £42 early bird to 29 October, then £55; £33 concession
Book: tickettailor.com/events/thestonegatesingers/2082014