Song tutors spreading the gospel in Dales

And while they may not be famous on the international scene, they will have plenty of supporters in the Dales town.

For in the spirit of the television documentary The Choir – which challenged a London Symphony Orchestra choirmaster to prepare school children with no singing experience for the international stage – two professional gospel singers have been drafted in to train the newly formed Grassington Festival Chorus.

Black Voices, from Birmingham, is aiming to train the singers before they perform in front of an audience at Grassington Town Hall in

June.

Grassington Festival director, Amelia Vyvyan said the chorus was open to all ages, male and female "whether you have sung in a choir or just in the bath, whether you can read music or not".

Community singing has become hugely popular over the last few years. The Office of National Statistics recently revealed that one in 12 people in Britain sing in a choir.

A keen crowd piles into the Devonshire Institute's amphitheatre at the top of the town as the music director, Carol Pemberton and voice trainer, Celia Wickham-Anderson of Black Voices go through a few scales.

Some of the assembled choir look a little sheepish; many confess they haven't sung since their school days, but Ms Pemberton is confident she can turn them into competent singers.

"Everybody has a voice; it's just showing them how they can have fun using it together," she said.

"It's a social kind of thing for villages to come together and share together in voice. It's a very rewarding kind of pastime and I think when people sing with other people, something happens. You feel good about yourself."

So far people ranging from teenagers to pensioners have turned up to join the new Grassington chorus.

Retired speech and language therapist Jennie Scott, 65, from Threshfield, says: "I enjoy the camaraderie you get from being with like-minded people and the exercise. It's good for your physical well-being. You learn to breathe better because you breathe right down in to your diaphragm."

Alan Wingfield, 55, from Skipton, said he had been singing for about four years. "It's enjoyable and there's the sense of being with other people," he said

Pauline Eyre, 50, from Skipton, who arrived in a wheelchair, finds singing is therapeutic for her multiple sclerosis. "For someone who has health problems it is really beneficial," she said. "I feel exhilarated after singing."

This musical medicine is something which has long been recognised by Leeds-based Heart Research UK, which organises Sing for your Heart every year.

Thousands have taken part in the national fundraising event since it started six years ago. The idea is to give your lungs and heart a good work out through organising carol-singing, karaoke, concerts and gigs.

The charity points out that a study by Harvard and Yale universities in the United States revealed that singing may even help you live longer. The report concluded this was because singing promoted both a healthy heart and an enhanced mental state. Amelia Vyvyan would certainly agree with that. "After the first rehearsal we all came out absolutely as high as kites," she said.

nBlack Voices and the Festival Chorus will perform on Sunday, June 13, at Grassington Town Hall. For tickets telelphone 01756 752691.