Enjoy the challenge of Choir In A Day in Boxgrove
Berstedartsareofferingthefun and challenge of Choir In A Day – a chance to master two great songs in a one-off gathering.
We Are One: Choir In A Day returns following a successful debut last year in Chichester. For its second outing, Bersted Arts are moving the concept to Boxgrovevillagehallonsunday, April 28. You can secure your place now for £35 per person if booked before March 30, after which the price goes up slightly. Formoreinformationandtosign up, visit berstedarts.com.
Artistic director James Etheridge said: “Choir In A Day is exactly what it says. Our last event saw people from all walks of life and from all around the countyandbeyondcometogether,learnseveralsongsunderthe directionofanexperienced,professional musical director and then perform them in the evening to a live audience.
“Ourdebuteventlastnovember was an incredible success. Wehadaround50peoplejoinus – some who had performed in a choirbeforeandotherswhohad no musical or performance experienceatall.wereceivedsome amazingfeedbackandcallstodo it again – and so we’re back, this time with an 80s vibe and a selection of well-known songs to match but with a different end to the day rather than a performance.”
The whole idea emerged after the weekly choir that Bersted Arts ran for a number of years folded because of the impact of Covid and of the cost of living crisis.
“But as we walked away we knew that lots of members still really,reallywanteditandneeded something. We just thought that there must be something that we could do that would be sustainableandthatwecoulddo atdifferenttimesoftheyearand so Choir In A Day was born.”
At the first event they tackled six songs from two-part to four-part harmony: “We knew it would be tough but we had to start somewhere and we did a performance at the end of the day.toget50peoplewasbeyond whatwethought.wethoughtwe mightget30to35so50wasreally good and, as with anything that we do through Bersted Arts, any profit we make we plough back into the next event which is this one.
“People come on the day and they learn the songs but the outcome this time will be slightly different. We have limited the songs down to two. We're doing Lovelydaywhichisarealpeoplepleaser song. The other song we are doing is The Power Of Love by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. I went to see All Of Us Strangers, thefilm,anditreallyaffectedme.
It is an 80s song and I'm an 80s child and it's all about the power of love and it is just such a beautiful song.
“So these are two songs that we're going to be doing but we're not going to be doing a performance this time. We've got a videographer who is coming along alldayandwe'regoingtobemakingavideotolovelyday.thevideographer will be doing short videosthroughoutthewholeday andwewe'llalsodosomeset-ups forlovelyday.theoutcomewill bethemusicvideo.i'dhopetoget itturnedaroundwithinaweek.”
And already James is looking ahead to the next event which will be in December at St Wilfrid's church in Bognor.
He's also hoping to join next year'sfestivalofchichesterwith a Choir In A Day event.