Established just over a decade ago, The Choir Factor have made a significant impact in the music scene here in Gloucestershire.

Singing songs from the 1960s right up to the present day, the choir have earned a reputation for being one of the best vocal groups in the county and have appeared alongside professional acts and capacity crowds at some of the leading performance venues in the south-west.

The Choir Factor’s Musical Director and Founder, Esther Bettis, has been a music teacher for over 20 years as well as being an accomplished pianist, guitarist and violin player. Her early career was spent as a piano teacher in Surrey which continued when she moved to Gloucestershire in 2003. It was in 2007 that Esther devised her plan to create her very own choir. Esther explained: “I wanted to run a choir for a very long time. I first had the idea when I was young, probably the same time I started secondary school. It was the day that Diana and Prince Charles got married, The Sound of Music was on the TV and I vividly remember being blown away by it. I knew from that very moment that music and singing was what I wanted to be involved in. I set up a choir when I was at school and we used to sing at all the music festivals in Kent, we had a great time.

“Many years later I said to my husband that I should try and do it for a living. The Choir Factor was launched just over ten years ago, and I’ve been busy ever since. At the moment we have four venues and the participation rates are really strong. We run four choirs a week at venues in Cheltenham, Gloucester, Quedgeley and Tewkesbury.

“A lot of our singers are based locally but we do have some who travel a fair distance. Our singers pay a fee every term which then entitles them to turn up to as many rehearsals as they want, at our four venues. We sing a lot of modern pop songs from artists like Paloma Faith and even songs from The Greatest Showman. Our whole ethos is based around having fun, so rehearsals and performances are always very relaxed as well as being educational.”

Esther has many fond memories from the last decade, with several performances that will stay long in the memory. She continued: “We’ve performed alongside G4, a four-piece vocal group who reached the final of the X Factor back in 2004 and have gone on to be a really successful group. Another memorable performance came a few years ago when we were asked to perform on the pitch at Kingsholm before a Gloucester game. We were live on TV, I was giggling like a young child! That has to be the stand-out performance from the last decade. Everyone involved did themselves proud, to get to sing in front of thousands of people, that’s not something that happens all too often.”

Esther says the benefits of singing are numerous and anyone looking to get involved in joining her choir will be made welcome. She said: “It’s a cliché that you often hear – if you can talk you can sing. It’s so true though and I would encourage everyone who has even a slight interest in singing to get in touch. Lots of people join a choir because they are scared of what they sound like when they sing, that’s the beauty of a choir, all the voices are combined, and you can’t hear the person singing next to you. Everyone has a voice, it’s my job to educate and encourage all our singers to perform to the best of their abilities.

“Singing is great fun most of all. Singing is so good for your health, both physically and mentally. Being part of a choir helps build friendships, we try and run a few social events during the year which are always a lot of fun. Our youngest singer is thirteen and our eldest is eighty-five, we’re all about inclusivity.”