I Love Being A Funeral Singer

The new trend can give real emotional release, says music professional Briony

- Wendy Glass

It’s a real privilege to be asked to sing at a funeral but it’s also incredibly nerve-wracking.

A funeral singer only has one chance to sing for the person who has died and their family so I have to be note-perfect. There’s no room for mistakes or errors.

And I can’t cry – although there are often times when I have to bite my tongue to stop the tears flowing.

I set up The London Funeral Singers three years ago with my friend and fellow professional singer Penelope Shipley. Penelope came up with the idea after being asked to sing at several of her relatives and friends’ funerals and realising that hiring a singer for a funeral was becoming increasingly popular.

We started with just the two of us but, as Penny is more of a jazz singer while my voice is more classical, in order to meet the requests we were receiving for other kinds of singing, we needed to bring other singers on board. The London Funeral Singers now has more than 50 professional singers, choirs and musicians on its books.