Choirs are back! Made famous by the TV Show “Last Choir Standing”, rock choirs are springing up all over the country. So why not join the first New Community ‘Rock’ Choir in Chichester. No auditions, open to all, free to join, meet new people, enjoy singing gospel, soul and rock anthems.
The New Community Rock Choir started on 7th September 2010 after Steve, one of our Ministers, woke up in the middle of the night singing, “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah!” (Yes, he is a little strange!) Before coming to Chichester, Steve was in a full time Media and Music Ministry, but this was the first time he had been involved in starting a choir.
At our first rehearsal around 30 people came and after one year more than 100 people had signed up! We have a great time every Tuesday night with Steve on guitar and responsible for most of the musical and vocal arrangements, Lesley Oldham, who has a lot of experience with choirs, acting as Vocal Coach and Richard Payne, local teacher doing a great job as our conductor. The first night we met Lesley got us going with a great rendering of “Zipperdedooda!”
Among the first songs in our “repertoire” were the classic rock song by Bill Withers, “Lean On Me”, the hit song made famous by Shrek(!) and the X Factor’s Alexandra Burke, “Hallelujah” and the old hymn which made TV’s “Last Choir Standing” so popular with a stunning performance by Men Aloud, the Male Voice Choir – “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah”.
We have added a number of classic songs to our repertoire: “Swing Low”, ”From A Distance”, Sister Act’s, “Joyful, Joyful”, Titanic’s, “My Heart Will Go On”, Abba’s “Mamma Mia!”, the Beatles, “Let It Be” and “In The Bleak midwinter.” Administration is a huge job as you can imagine, and one of our members, John Manning has taken on this significant role.
We took Chichester by surprise on 26th November 2011 with our first Flash Mob – singing, “Swing Low” down North Street.
We have performed at the Rox Festival in Bognor, the Big Switch in Selsey and a number of other performance in the area including a concert for local charity “Life Centre”. Our next Charity Concert is for Stone Pillow, a local charity supporting the homeless, on Saturday 24th January 2012 – 4.00pm at Graylingwell Chapel, followed by tea. Donations received on the night.
Do feel free to invite friends along to join us every Tuesday night, 7.00 to 9.00 at Graylingwell Chapel, the new community events venue in Chichester.