A community choir which is transforming lives is celebrating its first year with a Christmas concert full of festive fun and musical magic. Chippenham Show Choir launched in January and now has almost 70 members from across Wiltshire.
The group sing and perform smash hit tunes from West End musicals but there are no auditions, and no previous experience is necessary. Members describe singing together as “uplifting” and “pure joy”.
The Christmas concert is due to be held at the Neeld Community and Arts Centre in Chippenham High Street on Friday 12th December from 7.30pm and will include songs from ‘We Will Rock You, ‘Holiday Inn, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘Oklahoma’ and other popular productions.
Show choir co-founder Jessica Broderick has been delighted by the success of the group. She said:
Chippenham is a fantastically vibrant town with a rich choral scene, so it was the perfect place to bring a new kind of choir which focused on musical theatre ‘a cappella’ – without instrumental accompaniment.
We’ve only been working together for a year but I’m so proud of how far everyone has progressed. They’ve been awesome.
They are such a diverse group. We have members aged from 22 to 78 years old, not only from Chippenham but also Swindon, Calne, Corsham, Melksham and the surrounding villages.
We have teachers, designers, software engineers, postal workers, care workers, secretaries and solicitors, as well as a psychotherapist, sports therapist, psychologist and artist. It’s a great mix of backgrounds.
Some people join because they’re new to the area and want to make friends, some want to return to a hobby they enjoyed when they were younger, others just want to build their confidence – but they all share a passion for musicals.
We’ve already performed at the Chippenham Food & Drink Festival and the STEAM Museum’s Golden Age Festival, but this will be our first ticketed event where we are the headline act.
We hope people will come along to enjoy an amazing evening of entertainment!
Friends Alison Guy and Emma Forman joined the choir in January.
Alison, an occupational therapist from Chippenham, said:When you’re singing you’re not thinking about anything else.
It’s reignited my love of musical theatre, and rehearsals are now my favourite night of the week. It’s great fun and really uplifting.
Emma, a traffic engineer from Yatton Keynell, said:
I’m not the best singer but it doesn’t matter when I’m surrounded by such lovely people and singing such lovely songs. It’s pure joy.”
Christmas concert tickets are £8-£12 and available from Ticket Source. The show lasts two hours including an interval.
Chippenham Show Choir will be joined by their friends from Swindon Show Choir, with six-man singing group Kettle of Fish as the support act.
For further information on joining the group, visit www.ukshowchoir.com/chippenham
Rehearsals take place on Tuesday evenings at King Alfred Hall next to St Andrew’s Church, off Market Place.
