Saturday 3rd September was a new experience for me: the choir for a day event, where singers of all ages and abilities come together to learn a repertoire of songs to sing at an evening concert. No experience necessary, just an enjoyment of singing and for the first time, no need to read music!
The event is organised by my good friend Sarah Burton, who sings in a Barbershop quartet called Sarsparilla. She recognised that lots of people like singing, but either don't have the time to sing in a choir, or are too intimidated by choirs to join them. Some people just want to sing for fun, without the pressure of learning complicated arrangements for lengthy concerts.
Many choirs in my area are either church-based with a religious slant to the music, or have simply disbanded because of the lack of willing pianists. One exception is Witchford Voices: at 70-strong, they are one of the largest community choirs locally. But they are oversubscribed, partly due to their formidable leader: Naomi D'Cunha. Naomi has been teaching music for many years and is an enthusiastic singing coach. I worked with her in pantomime a few years ago. She can teach anyone to sing.
The event is organised by my good friend Sarah Burton, who sings in a Barbershop quartet called Sarsparilla. She recognised that lots of people like singing, but either don't have the time to sing in a choir, or are too intimidated by choirs to join them. Some people just want to sing for fun, without the pressure of learning complicated arrangements for lengthy concerts.
Many choirs in my area are either church-based with a religious slant to the music, or have simply disbanded because of the lack of willing pianists. One exception is Witchford Voices: at 70-strong, they are one of the largest community choirs locally. But they are oversubscribed, partly due to their formidable leader: Naomi D'Cunha. Naomi has been teaching music for many years and is an enthusiastic singing coach. I worked with her in pantomime a few years ago. She can teach anyone to sing.
And she really proved her skill on Saturday. A motley group of singers was transformed into a fully-fledged choir, singing African songs, traditional spirituals and pop songs, all with only four and a half hours of rehearsal. During the performance, we got the audience to join in the chorus of What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor, which rounded off the evening nicely. Naomi's enthusiasm really pulled us through the day which, although tiring, was well worth it.
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