By Jackie Leonard
When I first heard about the Summer Concert my immediate reaction was ‘I won’t be doing that’, having joined with no choir or singing experience just a few months back (February).
Marjolein finally persuaded me to be part of it – ‘you should do it’ – for which I am grateful, even though I felt a little nervous on the Saturday morning before the concert. In the week before, I crammed in trying to learn the lines to all the songs, using the long drives to work to sing along to songs such as The Call, Abba Gold Medley and Shotgun – all on repeat (thank you Rachel for your tip on how to learn lines). This really helped as well as standing next to fellow Alto, Lindsay, who seemed to have mastered all of the lyrics and sang them with gusto!
A general ‘Swimming in a choir of voices’ (Keep Singing – Rick Astley) helped with any hesitation of the next line. In the week before I had been counting say, how many ‘And we will come back home, home again’ (From Now On – The Greatest Showman) repetitions there were. It really helped having the Conductors at the front (Bethany, Bekki, Claire, Diana, Emily, Katy, Will) to guide us on whether it was the turn of the Tenors, Basses, Altos or Sopranos (and when to sing more quietly or loudly).
The cabarets in the first and second half were a total surprise to me and it was lovely to hear different voices and songs including the well-known classics: Jolene, Message in a Bottle and Mr Tambourine Man.
The ‘Your Turn!’ songs were great too as the audience got involved. In Rhythm of Life led by Bethany Kirby, we could have some confidence from a quick preview in Thursday’s rehearsal and The Lion Sleeps Tonight (led by Will Hay) brought much laughter, including a young boy continuing with the animal sound long after the song had ended (causing a roar of applause from the choir).
I loved the introduction for Turbulence/Trustfall, a mash-up of a Pink song, arranged and conducted by Emily Dry. The choir is joyous and open and hearing about the meaning behind it was insightful and helped I think to try and get into the mood of the Trustfall after Turbulence: ‘…when it hits, don’t forget/As scary as it gets it’s just turbulence’.
Savage Daughter was my favourite – a feminist anthem for sure. We were directed by Bethany Kirby (who also arranged it) to be savage! (‘sing at the front of your mouth’) and the stamping by some helped to convey this. I had a quick tutorial just before the performance by Lindsay and Sarah which really helped with when to mimic holding the phone: ‘Call you in the morning’ (right-hand side), ‘Call you in the evening’ (left-hand side).
There were in fact a lot of actions in the performance, including swirly dancing during the cabaret (Mr Tambourine Man) and fist thumps in Shotgun and Walking on Sunshine and heads down and jazz hands for Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat (Guys and Dolls) which ended the show.
The title of the Summer Concert ‘Walking on Sunshine’ was chosen by the audience as the encore. We had all dressed as directed in yellow and black (thank you to Eva for making lovely yellow crocheted flowers for everyone who wanted them).
So much talent in the Sing! community choir whether from The Band (including electric guitar, piano, drums, sax and banjo) who accompanied the singers, to the conductors, cabaret acts and solo performances. But at heart it is a community choir which is what gives it such a welcoming, friendly ethos and feel.
Thank you to all those who put so much energy into making this choir and the amazing performance happen and encouraging newbies like myself to take part. It was fun and joyous. f
