What singers do I need for a funeral?

If you’re not from a musical background it can be hard to know what kind of singer you need,  or how many to book. Here’s we’d recommend for some of the most popular funeral songs. 

You can hear most of the songs listed below on our Listen page.

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Schubert’s Ave Maria

Choral soprano soloist

This piece is written for a solo soprano, which is the highest female voice. It requires control and delicacy, and we would choose a singer experienced in church singing, with a high, clean, pure sound. 

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Lloyd Webber’s Pie Jesu

Female classical duo

This piece works best as a female duo - one soprano voice, and one slightly lower mezzo soprano voice. Like Ave Maria, this requires purity and delicacy, and two singers skilled in balancing sound between them. 

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Franck’s Panis Angelicus

Male/female duo

Panis Angelicus normally comes at Communion, and it works best as a male/female duet. For this we would book one female soprano and one male tenor. It can however still be sung beautifully as a solo if your budget will only stretch to one singer. 

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Fauré’s In Paradisum

Choir of eight

This piece requires least six voices. However if you’re booking six we normally recommend stretching to a choir of eight  to help the harmonies blend. If the choir are also leading your hymns it will help them balance nicely and lend some extra power. A choir can include soloists if there are also solos in your order of service. 

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O Danny Boy

Male soloist

This is traditionally a male solo folk song. At some funerals it’s sung together as a hymn, but it’s surprisingly tricky so we think it’s best left to a professional. We recommend a classical voice for power, precision, and emotion, but many prefer a softer, folk-style singer for authenticity.

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Amazing Grace

Choir of 8

This is best sung by a choir leading the congregation, as it’s really well-known and well-loved, and a great opportunity to lift everyone at the service. Go for a choir of eight if you can, or a choir of four to still give the congregation a good boost. Book a choir of twelve if you want to really raise the roof!

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Alternatively, it’s very moving as a solo song - performed either by a classical singer, or a singer with a gospel background. 

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How Great Thou Art, The Lord’s My Shepherd, Abide With Me, and most hymns

Choir of four, eight, or twelve

Like Amazing Grace, these hymns are easy enough to sing all together, with well-known tunes, but benefit from having a choir to help lead and support the congregation. You’ll also hear some lovely harmonies from the choir underneath the melody as you sing. 

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Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiro)

Male/female opera duo

You need singers with serious classical training to take on this operatic song. It can be sung as a solo by either a female soprano or a male tenor, but it’s best with both voices, as in the famous recording by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli. 

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O Mio Babbino Caro

Operatic soprano

This piece requires a solo soprano voice, but unlike Schubert’s Ave Maria it’s sung best with plenty of expression and emotion, and a fuller operatic sound with vibrato. 

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Nessun Dorma

Operatic tenor

Just like O Mio Babbino Caro, this is an operatic aria so it comes from a theatrical background and requires a little drama and expression to help it land. A strong male tenor singer with a background in opera would be our pick for this. 

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Hallelujah

Singer/guitarist, pop soloist, or choir

This song can take on many different styles so let us know which you prefer. You could book a singer with an acoustic guitar if you like the Leonard Cohen original or Jeff Buckley cover - or a female singer with a strong belt voice if Alexandra Burke’s version is more your thing. Our favourite way is a classical version sung by a large choir - that way you can even invite the congregation to join in with the ‘Hallelujah’ refrains. 

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My Way

Male soloist

And finally, no list of classic funeral music is complete without Frank Sinatra’s My Way. We have several male singers on our book with that signature Rat Pack (or ‘crooner’) style made famous by Sinatra and others in the 1950s. It needs a little swing and a good deal of swagger, with a good strong voice for that unforgettable final chorus. 

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