Together in perfect harmony

Sit up and face the front, we're going to be doing Blackbird by Paul McCartney. That doesn't sound too tricky, just a bloke with a an acoustic guitar. Who's going to whistle it to get things going?

Oh dear, no-one is. Instead, some sheet music is being handed out. There's pages of it. A lurch in the stomach is followed by the thought that this is all a terrible mistake. I'm here under false pretences. The others, who are regulars, look confident as they ready themselves. I stare hopelessly at the sheets of paper, measuring the distance from my seat at the back to the exit door in furtive glances. Time to do a runner?

This feeling of panic is soon over. Kindly people on either side start to smile and nod encouragingly. One of them starts pointing to the music on his knee note by note as the accompanist and the musical director go over it.

In this snug church hall it was a smart move to perch anxiously on the last row. It offers a cloak of invisibility and turns out to be the territory of the basses who are now called on to start off the piece without even learning any words, just "dum, dum, dum, duuuurm.."

It isn't the Blackbird we all know from memory, it's a version arranged for four part harmony with twiddly bits. The sopranos have a first go at their section, are told to stop, and re-start shakily. The altos are asked to stand up for their turn. What's an alto?

As we become absorbed in the sound, it's reassuring to see that some of the others are frowning and struggling too. Inside five minutes, you feel comfortable dumming along to a Beatle. You don't really need to read music at all and without realising it, your head has moved into a different place.

The night progresses. We move on to Vivaldi and to Leonard Bernstein and finally to the pub round the corner. After one session you have become part of the gang. Welcome to the world of the community choir.

No auditions, no previous experience required, just walk in the door and have a go in a collaborative, co-operative, local effort. It's an idea that is ticking all the boxes for people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, especially in Yorkshire.

This particular choir night is on Mondays in York for a new 60-strong set-up called Millegro. It's maybe made more exotic than other community choirs by the animated presence of its musical director Ewa Salecka, a classical musician, arranger and jazz singer from Poland. Ewa had barely been in her adopted city for five minutes when she lit a torch that brought to light dormant musical ambitions. So many eventually wanted to join, the doors had to be closed and a second larger choir is about to be launched at an indoor bowling centre where there's more room to expand.

The singers have probably surprised themselves at their collective self-belief after months of rehearsals. For their second public performance, Millegro is taking over York Theatre Royal for a night later this month.

Thinking big is not unusual among community choirs as they ride a tide of enthusiasm. No, they won't get a record contract from Simon Cowell. They have something else that really is even better – ambitious goals that can be grasped by all.

How about performing regularly with the wonderful orchestra of Opera North? Yes. What about travelling to Italy to perform the music at a Mass at St Mark's in Venice? Yes, they've got the t-shirt. Standing up in front of a huge crowd at a sporting arena for a warm-up sing before a rugby international? No problem. The Royal Albert Hall? That gig took place last Saturday. Over 400 travelled down to London for it on the Spring Bank Holiday, organised by the Northallerton-based Sing Live UK. They had been invited to take part at one of the centrepieces of the singing calendar, the Night of a Thousand Voices, presented by Aled Jones with West End and Broadway stars also performing. It was in aid of Leukaemia Research and most community choirs follow this pattern, raising money for a charity.

Sing Live UK started in Leeds 11 years ago. They still have a company in the city, another in Sheffield and 11 others including two in Florida. The scale is prodigious: 40,000 of their singers have appeared in their concerts in 119 cities in 23 countries. Their musical director, Steven Roberts, says: "With community singing you leave your problems at the door and are in a different word. We try to find music that's interesting and challenging to the singers and also to an audience. You get such a buzz after a performance that some people get withdrawal symptoms. There's a camaraderie, a bond and a shared sense of responsibility which allows people to achieve magnificent things. As a professional musician, I'm humbled by it." Their shows are themed – such as gospel and songs from the shows. Members pay 95-135 for what is usually a three-month period of coaching and rehearsals leading up to the performance. The general idea was for people to have three months on and three months off. But so strong is the lure, members from their Manchester choir, currently in down time, are travelling over the Pennines to be part of the Leeds choir who are rehearsing.

A smaller local group with a growing reputation is Good In Parts who meet on Mondays in north Leeds to sing a mixture of African, eastern European, pop, jazz and blues. An example of what appeals to them is Fields of Gold by Sting. One of its members, Barney Bardsley, says: "When I discovered singing I had been going through a deeply stressful time, because of my husband's terminal illness. The psychological impact tightened my throat and left me speaking very quietly.

"A friend suggested I come to her local singing group. She thought it might help. I went, reluctantly, and feeling painfully aware of my squeaky, tiny little voice.

"Within a matter of a few sessions, my voice was transformed. I started to gain confidence and most importantly a sense of joy and release, through singing alongside other people. Seven years on, I am still a member."

Raymond Hallam sings with Inspiration, a 300-strong community choir started in Leeds a year ago by musical arranger and conductor Gary Griffiths. It meets on Monday nights at a church in Pudsey and performs three concerts a year at Leeds Town Hall with the Orchestra of Opera North as well as at community and charity events. The members pay 80

a term.

"I'd never been in a choir before," says Raymond, a tenor. He retired from local government 25 years ago, and joined Inspiration as part of an 86th birthday resolution to try something different and socialise more.

"I'd been widowered for 10 years and apart from swimming and walking, rather kept myself to myself. I heard about this choir and went along to a concert last summer to see what it was all about. I felt a great surge of energy and spirit coming from them, and wanted to be part of it. I don't read music, but Gary is a great teacher, and everyone was very welcoming. I always go home feeling I've had a good workout, and I hope to carry on singing until the end...my end, I mean." Inspiration are travelling to Paris this summer to perform at Notre Dame and Disneyland. They are also booked to entertain rugby fans at the Galpharm Stadium, will hold a public singing workshop day in Wakefield and stage their big summer concert on July 11.

Ewa Selecka, 32, came over here to improve her English and try her luck in London's music scene. She worked as a waitress to make ends meet – a good move in the sense that while taking orders from customers in a restaurant in the City, she fell in love with the man doing the cooking, Greg Birch. He is now her partner and Millegro's accompanist. She knew nothing of York – the couple decided to come here because it was where Greg, a Lancastrian and still a full-time chef, had studied music.

"We wanted out of London and as soon as we had parked at a York hotel I felt this was the right sort of place," says Ewa. "We walked about and found this little church hall near the Museum Gardens. It's a spot that seems to embody what York is all about and we thought to ourselves, we could rehearse a choir here."

They didn't spread their net very wide, pushing little notices to say Millegro was starting up through doors in the Bootham and Clifton areas. About 20 came for the first get-together, paying 3.50 a night. "I found with people here that there's a surface layer, they are very reserved," adds Ewa. "But under that they are wonderful. Working with them gives us such a warm glow. We have people who have lived in the same street for years and only nodded. Now they are friends.

"These days we hear so much about virtual lives and doing everything on the computer. This is an opportunity for people to meet. It means a lot on a personal level."

It can't be often that an Eighties hit by The Cure and a cerebral work by a contemporary American composer called Morten Lauridson find their

way on to the same programme. They do on Ewa's. "I try to approach a familiar idea from a different angle. My roots are in classical music and rock and I choose what I would like to sing myself. We do not just think about the singing but hands, posture and expression. We are putting on a show, not a concert."

Millegro – Sure on this Shining Night, York Theatre Royal, May 26, box office 01904 623568.

Sing Live UK, tel 01609 780315.

Inspiration choir, www.inspirationuk.com

Good in Parts, www.goodinparts.org.uk

YP MAG 8/5/10