All together now... (From The Argus)

All together now...

10:44am Saturday 16th May 2009

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By Alice Wright - Reluctant Housewife »

Are you in need of some fun? Could you do with meeting some new people? Would you like a therapeutic outlet for your stresses? Or do you just fancy a good night out? Then would you consider joining a choir? Okay now before you tune out please hear me out… When I moved to Hove the one thing I knew I definitely wanted to do was join a choir. My interest had been piqued last year by the wonderful BBC series The Choir, where a charismatic choirmaster spends a few terms in a school attempting create a full, working choir out of the reluctant lads or lasses who end up getting so much out of their efforts. It was uplifting and moving and got me thinking that – as a stressed out new mum – it could be just the kind of outlet I needed too. Television interest in the choral world continued with the ridiculous Last Choir Standing (Choir Idol) and has recently culminated in the contrived nonsense that was All the Small Things - but I haven’t been put off!

It had been a while since I had done anything formal (school probably) but I’d always enjoyed singing – usually to myself and most recently to Baby – and I now wanted something for myself that I could really get stuck into, so a choir it was. Apparently singing in a choir is the UK’s second most popular hobby (I really have no idea what's at Number One and am not going to guess), so it seemed I was in good company.

Finding the right choir can be a bit hard, don’t get me wrong there are plenty in the Brighton area of all different types and sizes, but you have to fit in and really enjoy it, it can be trial and error. I had a try out at a small chamber ensemble that sang solely in Latin (first time I had been in a church in years) before I found the wonderful Brighton City Singers. This large, flourishing community choir has been going for over six years and sings absolutely all sorts of music at all sorts of events and is full of all sorts of people. I was relieved to find you could just turn up without an audition and get stuck into some singing. Everyone is welcome! (Every Weds night 8pm at Somerhill Junior School) It’s brilliant fun! When the room isn’t full of song it’s full of laughter and chatter. The Musical Director MJ, is so welcoming and entertaining and manages to keep up to 60 voices in tune, she makes us sound great! After practising a piece it’s so wonderful to hear it all come together, you can actually feel quite shivery sometimes to be part of it. Singing feels incredibly cathartic, it’s almost as good as shouting out loud – in fact sometimes I am sure I am probably just shouting out loud, but it feels good. I would really recommend it. There are nights when I don’t really feel like getting up and going out but I am always glad that I did and the days I don’t go to choir I still find myself singing round the house.

And now here’s the plug – even if you don’t feel like joining a choir yourself then surely watching a choral concert has to be a great way to spend an evening? The Brighton City Singers are performing as part of the Brighton Fringe next weekend at Hove Town Hall and it would be amazing to see you there. It’s a concert full of new music based around the theme of Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll and is sure to be a lot of fun and sound great, and I know because we’ve been practising hard to make it so. Oh yeah!

SEX & DRUGS & ROCK'N'ROLL…OH YEAH!

A Choral Concert with a Difference Directed by MJ Paranzino Performed by The Brighton City Singers and The South London Choir Saturday 23rd May at 7.30pm Tickets £8.00 (£6.00 concs) 01273 261503/ fringeboxoffice@brightondome.org.uk Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 4AH