“Community choirs focus on creating a sense of belonging and community. The priorities are to make everyone feel welcome; to create a sense of belonging; to make singers feel safe and supported; to offer opportunities for singers to learn something new and to grow; and (most importantly) to have fun making music together.” Chris Rowbury, ‘From the front of the Choir’ https://blog.chrisrowbury.com
I’ve been a fan of Chris for many years, indeed ever since I joined D.C.C. I wanted to write something this month about the community which is our choir and our connection with the wider community in Dacorum and his words seemed right.
We have definitely grown, both in size and ability, since our founding on November 9th, 2009 when 20 people met in a small classroom in Astley Cooper School. Membership recently topped 100, our range has grown where we now sing in up to seven part harmony, or sometimes more in our warm-ups, divided by the months we were born! We hope to amaze and astonish you at our Spring concert on 18th May.
At the beginning of April, we sang for Age UK at the Centre in the Park in Gadebridge. Neither our singers nor the audience of 30 or so were deterred by a blustery, rainy day and we all sang out with gusto.
Community performances are an important part of what we do and we love doing them. The enthusiastic applause and the comments from the crowd added to our enjoyment.
A gentleman in the front row greeted everything we sang with ‘Magnificent! Our MD, Rufus, invited the group to join in some of our songs, including ‘When You’re Smiling and it really did feel as though the whole world was smiling with us. I spent some time with five ladies at the end of the event and they all agreed that singing along: ‘makes us very happy and more alive’; and ‘brings a lot of joy’.
In recent years we’ve offered events and day trips to members and friends to help create ‘a sense of belonging and community. Last Christmas we went to The Wigmore Hall and the Royal Albert Hall. Future events include a Barn Dance, a visit to the West End to see Guys and Dolls and a boat trip to Hampton Court for the RHS Flower Show.
And never forget ‘Singing is Good for You’.
New members are always welcome, you can find out more about us and how to join by visiting our webpage, www.dacorumcommunitychoir.org or just pop along to a rehearsal at the Church of the Resurrection on a Tuesday morning to see what we’re all about. We meet in term times between 9.45 and 11.35 a.m.
For further information see, www.dacorumcommunitychoir.org and our Facebook page, Dacorum Community Choir, or ring 07402 181182 if you’d like more details.
