A new choir made up of ex-pupils of Keswick School is set to perform at a Carlisle music festival later this month.
Many members who attended that day wanted to continue singing together and so the reunion choir was formed and it has now been entered into the Carlisle Festival of Music. The group will perform at the city’s St Cuthbert’s Church on Thursday March 14.
Members are spread across the country meaning that the majority of practices are held online. While this is a good way to meet, it means that the choir is unable to sing in unison, as the sound does not come through from everyone’s computer at the same time, making it an interesting challenge.
A few successful hybrid sessions have been held for local members, with distant vocalists dialling into the room, so the choir members are confident that they will sound great together on the day.
The festival performances start at 6.30pm and the choir will be rehearsing all together for the first time beforehand.
They have entered two classes. One is adult choirs (12 voices or more) where the choir will sing arrangements of Over the Rainbow and Rhythm of Life and will be competing for the Rawnsley Shield.
The second class is for adult choirs and they will sing John Rutter’s The Lord Bless You and Keep You competing for the Helen Snowball Trophy.
The choir members are looking forward to meeting up again in person and singing together and are grateful to the festival committee for use of The Tithebarn to rehearse on the Thursday afternoon.
“I hadn’t sung in a group for like 20 years,” said choir member Amy Penfold (née Murray). “It was really emotional connecting to something so fundamental to feeling good and it made me feel like me! Reconnecting with the fab humans we were at school with has been so lovely and really brightened life up.”
Choir member Zoe Mackel (Longley) said “Choir was such a big part of school for me. It was great to meet up at the reunion and sing together again after so long. I loved it – and I wasn’t alone. It reminded a lot of us how good for the soul singing is, so a plan was hatched to bring Marie out of retirement, and the reunion choir was born.
“It’s not easy rehearsing over Zoom, but it’s good fun, and we’re all looking forward to singing together in person again at the music festival.”
Marie said: “I was surprised, but pleased when I was approached to see if I would start the reunion choir. It has been a pleasure to work with the members and see them every week on Zoom. They are all really busy with their everyday lives, but it is great that everyone is so supportive of each other and they can enjoy the hour of singing we have each week.
“We are excited to be performing at the Carlisle festival again as most members will have performed there when they were at school.”
The choir meets virtually at 8pm once per week, on different evenings to be inclusive of various schedules. Anyone interested in joining should contact Marie Lee via [email protected]
