When was the last time you had a good sing? Unless you are a regular church goer, there are limited opportunities for adults to enjoy singing as part of a choir. But an exciting community choir based in Partridge Green is giving residents the opportunity to sing to their hearts out once a week.
The Jolesfield Community Choir was set up in September 2010 by Judith Finlay, a teacher at Jolesfield Primary School and a fully trained musician. “The school has had a children’s choir for some time and we’re part of the ‘Sing Up’ initiative,” said Judith. “Some of the parents kept asking about an adult choir and eventually I decided to put a questionnaire out to parents at the school and the wider community. I had such a good response that I decided to set up a community choir and see what happened.”
Although Judith had previously sung in many choirs, she had only ever conducted children’s choirs. “I wasn’t quite sure what to expect at first and I was quite nervous to begin with,” she admitted. “But it’s been a very enjoyable experience and I’m very proud of the quality of sound they produce.”
Word quickly got round about the quality of the choir’s singing and after only a couple of months in existence they were approached by one of the local churches to sing at the St Celia’s day celebrations (St Celia being the patron saint of singing!). They were also approached by Becky and Nick Illes to sing at the Green Man’s evening of festive music and carols. Both events have now become a regular annual fixture.
Singing has many health benefits, both physical and psychological. As an aerobic activity, singing increases the oxygen in the blood stream, increases lung capacity, improves posture, clears respiratory tubes and sinuses and exercises major muscle groups (including the heart) in the upper body. Psychologically singing is a great stress buster as is it releases endorphins or feel-good hormones. Or, as one member put it: “After singing with the choir you walk out of the door with a lift in your step.” Other members talked about the increased confidence they got from singing as part of a community and the sense of achievement they got from mastering a particularly tricky piece of music.
The great thing about the Jolesfield Community Choir is that you don’t need any experience or even know how to read music to join. In fact, as one of the members said “It’s not an elitist choir and you end up learning about music in a drip-feed kind of way!” The choir has a great team spirit and although they work hard when learning a new piece of music, there is a light-hearted and fun element to the evening.
If you are one of those people who sing in the shower or the car, you probably ought to go along and give it a go. After all, as Ella Fitzgerald said, the only thing better than singing… is more singing!
