Autumn 2019Sing! Littleborough

A community singing group for the locals of Littleborough and beyond, ‘Sing! Littleborough’ has been raising the roof at various venues and events with their joyful song and smiles since October 2017.

Led by the vocal coach and musician Phil Reynolds, the choir is taught a range of songs, both new and old, to entertain their audiences, meeting at The Falcon pub in Littleborough Square.

Sing!’s first rehearsal two years ago saw over 50 people come through the doors. Within the hour, members were singing in three-part harmony, belting ABBA’s ‘I have a dream’ followed by a bit of James Bay’s ‘Hold back the river’.

Since their formation, Sing! has played a myriad of gigs from Heart Radio to local care homes, concerts at Gorton Monastery and even sang at Manchester Together with One Voice in Albert Square last year, marking the first anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing. They performed Faith Hill’s ‘There You’ll Be’ to a crowd of approximately 15,000, which was screened across Cathedral Gardens and MediaCityUK.

When asked how the singing group came about, co-founder Sarah Williams said: “I really love singing, it is so uplifting and good for the soul, so after the unexpected closure of the Rock Choir in Littleborough, myself and a few singing friends (Joan Cook, Liz Creagh and Joanne Bottomley) put out some feelers online and were overwhelmed with the response.

“Finding a choir leader and venue were the next steps, and both Phil and The Falcon Inn were keen to help us get the group off the ground.”

Phil Reynolds, who also runs the Rochdale Carers Choir and Tameside Voices, said: “I already knew Liz and Joan from other choirs and they’d been gently nagging me for a couple of months to come and set up a choir - it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

“I’ve worked hard to make it a fun weekly social event whilst providing a variety of performing opportunities (over 30 in 18 months) and the choir has surpassed all my expectations.”

Most recently in July, Sing! performed their current favourite song, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol - the most played song on UK radio in the 21st century - at Milnrow Wellbeing Festival.

Phil added: “Singing is proven to have a huge positive physical and emotional impact on health and wellbeing, and many of the choir members rely on rehearsals as a lifeline for lots of reasons.”

Sarah added: “We are changing lives: the number of members who say how much they love choir and how uplifting it is, is really humbling.”

One member who has personally felt the uplifting effects of the Sing! Littleborough choir is Janet Birch.

Janet said: “Sing! Littleborough has changed my life. It’s not about your singing ability. It’s amazing; I’ve had anxiety issues in the past, but being part of the choir has built my confidence.

“You can just let yourself go when you’re singing, and nobody judges you. I have discovered that I really enjoy entertaining people. For me it was a life changer, not the singing but the social side of it. I love it and I don’t know what I’d do without it.”

Do you fancy joining Sing! Littleborough?

Sing! welcomes new members all the time - join them at the Falcon Inn, Littleborough from 7pm - 8.30pm each Wednesday (term time).

Sessions begin again after a summer break on Wednesday 4 September 2019.

Sessions are £5 each.

No auditions, no need to read music, and if you can talk you can sing. The choir’s next gigs for 2019 include:

• Rochdale Heartbeat Autumn Serenade - 28 September at Littleborough Cricket Club
• Rochdale Half Marathon - 6 October at The Wine Press, Littleborough
• Music at the Monastery - 13 October at The Monastery, Gorton, Manchester