In July of this year the members of the Roses’ Choir sang together for the very first time. The concert, held at Tewkesbury’s Roses Theatre, proved to be a great success and now the choir members are building towards their next concert performance on Sunday 25th November.

The choir is run by Lindsay Martin, an experienced professional voice coach who is making an indelible mark on the members of the vocal group. Looking ahead to their winter concert Lindsay is confident her team will deliver another outstanding performance.

She said: “It’s going to be another great performance I’m sure of that. The confidence levels of every single member have shot up, rehearsals have gone very well indeed so it’s a case of getting out there and performing now. We’re doing plenty of songs with a winter theme, we want to create a cosy atmosphere where people can come in, grab a hot chocolate and enjoy some seasonal music.

“Our first performance together was in July, it was a fantastic day. Many members were singing in public for the first time so there were definitely a few nerves in the minutes before we went on stage.

“Before the concert began I asked everyone why they had turned up to rehearsals every week, they all told me the same answer – that singing made them happy, so I just told them to go out there and have fun. It was an exciting learning experience for us all, to see the smiles on the faces of the audience gave us such a lift. When we came off stage everyone was on such a high.

“Our next performance came a couple of weeks later when we sang at Tewkesbury in Bloom, every single member of the choir sang with such enthusiasm, it was clear to see how confidence levels had improved from our first concert.”

The benefits of singing in a choir are well-known, and Lindsay is certain that each of her members is benefiting from the team environment that comes with singing in a choir.

She continued: “A lot of our members were singing when they were at school many years ago, but they didn’t have the opportunity to sing once they left education. Other members have come to us with no singing experience at all, so it’s very satisfying to offer them a chance to become part of the choir.

“We’ve had several new members join us recently which is so pleasing. It’s exciting to see how we’re growing.

“I want to try and encourage more people to add singing into their everyday life. As a society our general well-being is becoming more normalised and important. Music and singing bring people together, that’s probably the part of the job I enjoy the most, seeing everyone help each other and achieve great things.”