My life gets ever more surreal with a new venture of joining the wonderful Calverley Community choir in recent months. I saw it promoted on FB and thought “This looks fun” and went along. The meetings are on a Wednesday evening 7 – 8.30 and a terrific group of up to 40 folks turen up regardless of the weather for a grand old sonic exploration.
Jenny Leigh (or as I think of her “Fearless leader) created this community choir and commented on the main site –
“I’m Jenny! I started Calverley Community Choir because I knew very few people when I moved to the village and wanted to share my love of singing. I’ve previously sung with Voices of The Day Choir in Leeds, and then ran Tonal Recall A Cappella for a number of years. I truly believe singing can unite a community in a very special way and I’m a huge fan of harmony singing. My biggest advice to anyone looking to join a choir is to just dive in, but try a few out. Not every choir will meet every singers needs!“
From rehearsals to live outings
I’ve fronted a number of bands and played to a whole range of audiences in the UK and overseas, but this is a very different experience. To my amazement, I absolutely love the experience. Its at times totally bonkers with the musical sections of sopranos, altos, tenors (I’m in that smaller and mighty group) and bass, but a ton of fun. I totally applaud Jenny’s initiative in this initiative and my wife Sue and I have met some wonderful characters. Its a great example of uniting a community and its refreshing to meet so many people who love music. I love the fact that all people are welcome and its totally affordable. A great example of an initiate from music lovers for music lovers
There are also a lot of great singers and as a whole the sound is quite something. In my tenor ensemble I’ve met some real characters and we had our first live outing this last weekend with a stripped down ensemble playing two sets. The music is diverse and both Jenny and Sarah (her number two) have the skills to really get the best from the group. I know how much work is needed to rehearse a 7 piece band, so multipy that to forty and it requires a lot of tweaking.
Its also fascinating to see a song start off with some uncertaintly and then become fully formed. So far my song favourites have been “Shallow” and “Rise up.” I’m begining to appreciate why people love this form of singing and its inspired some ideas for future recording and/or live performances as when it all comes together it is truly magical…
Calverley Community Choir
Me and my “tenor buddy” Fiona
Me and Sue
Fearless leader “Jenny” and the sopranos/altos