By Ruth Goodall
Talk to many people about joining a community choir and the reaction is often “I’d like to, but I can’t sing”.
Almost 30 people came to the first “Singing for All” session at Weston Longville. Photo: Ruth Goodall
Yet more and more people are finding that a choir is a great place to meet new people, learn new skills and leave their worries behind.
What is special about a community choir is that everyone is welcome: there are no auditions and no previous experience is necessary.
The Gerontius website lists 57 choirs of many different kinds in the Norwich area.
Locally, Cawston has a community choir, which started a year ago and meets in the Parish Church on Tuesdays from 7.30–8.30 pm.
“Singing for All”, a community choir based at Hall for All in Weston Longville, meets on Wednesdays from 7–8 pm. The choir leader for both choirs is Anne Berry-Smith.
Cawston regularly attracts 35 singers, and 29 people came to our first session in Weston Longville, where we were all rather nervous at the beginning. But by the end, and amid much laughter, we were singing three-part harmonies.
I have no idea what we sounded like, but we concentrated hard and were proud of what we had achieved. (Cawston is further ahead and has even received invitations to perform.)
So if this is something you would like to try, contact Naomi Horrocks for Cawston by email or Ruth Goodall by email for Singing for All at Weston Longville. It could change your life.