Singing With Valerie, Eight Week Course at the Ardhowen

What to Expect

Singing With Valerie is an eight-week singing course at the Ardhowen led by Natural Voice facilitator Valerie Whitworth. The Natural Voice approach starts from the position that if you can speak you can sing, so there is no audition and no requirement to read music. Sessions combine learning heartfelt songs with singing in harmony as a group, and the emphasis falls on the physical, mental, social and emotional benefits of singing rather than on preparing a performance.

Participants work on what the course calls the embodied voice, meaning breath, posture and the physical mechanics of producing sound, alongside the repertoire itself. Sessions run for ninety minutes on Thursday evenings. Because the eight weeks build on each other, this is a course rather than a drop-in workshop, so it suits anyone who wants a regular autumn commitment rather than a one-off.

Good to Know

• Eight Thursday evenings, 15 October to 3 December 2026, 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM.
• The Ardhowen, Dublin Road, Enniskillen.
• The full course costs £82, which works out at just over £10 a session.
• Book through the Ardhowen box office on +44 (0)28 6632 5440 or online at ardhowen.com.
• No previous singing experience or music reading needed. Led by Natural Voice facilitator Valerie Whitworth.
• Sessions include harmony singing as a group as well as individual voice work.

Getting There

The Ardhowen is on the Dublin Road on the southern edge of Enniskillen with free parking on site, which makes a weekly evening commitment straightforward if you are driving. Approach from Dublin or Cavan on the A509 and then the A4, from Belfast on the M1 and A4, and from Omagh on the A32. Enniskillen bus station on Wellington Road serves Ulsterbus and Bus Eireann, though Thursday evening return services to outlying villages are limited, so check timetables before relying on the bus for a 8:30 PM finish. Weekday evening parking at the theatre is generally easy unless a main-house show is on the same night.