It’s a new term for the Cirencester Community Choir and there’s a real sense of excitement in the air.

Since forming in 2010, the choir have built up a healthy membership. In fact, it’s not uncommon for over 40 singers to attend their Thursday evening rehearsal sessions. “We’re all excited to get back for the new term,” said choir leader Vicky Sweeney. “We had a long summer break, and everyone is looking forward to getting together and working on some new songs,” she added.

The choir meet once a week at the Ashford Centre in Cirencester, singing a broad range of musical genres. Vicky continued: “We’re a mixed choir, everyone is most welcome to come along to a session and join us. We always make an effort to have fun, but we get the maximum amount of singing done, as soon as the session begins we get straight into singing.

“We get anything between 30-40 members at our weekly sessions. We’re quite relaxed in the sense that we appreciate people have holidays and other commitments that mean sometimes they can’t make a session, but we do ask that in the weeks leading up to a performance that people attend our rehearsal sessions.

“We sing everything from pop, folk and I particularly enjoy teaching world music. We learn some amazing African and Russian songs which provide our singers with a different challenge.

“We’re a choir that’s very much centred around having fun and creating an atmosphere that’s based around inclusivity and friendship. As well as being good for physical health, singing has extraordinary benefits for the mental side of things. I’ve been promoting the benefits of singing for as long as I can remember so it’s quite satisfying that reports are now being published that back that statement up.”

The choir have enjoyed many a memorable performance over the past eight years, though Vicky admits there’s one stand-out concert that she remembers with particular fondness. She continued: “Three years ago we performed at a concert with Ethemia, a fantastic two-piece band from Cirencester. We were also joined by another local group called The Bluenotes.

“We did a concert in the parish church here in Cirencester, the place was packed out and we raised a tremendous amount of money for Oxfam. It’s performances like that that make all the rehearsal sessions worthwhile. Everyone came together and delivered a fantastic show, it was such a wonderful evening.”

Vicky is always keen to hear from anyone with an interest in joining the Cirencester Community Choir. She added: “The first session for new singers is always free of charge. There’s no need to book, just come along to the Ashford Centre in Cirencester at 7:30pm on a Thursday evening and we’ll introduce you to our members and get you settled.”