Choir will have Stirling Castle going a bit Gaga

TWO sisters who set up a choir to take their minds off their dad’s cancer diagnosis are shocked at how big it’s become.

The Heart of Scotland Choir and its junior spin-off will perform to a packed audience at Stirling Castle on Friday.

The concert, in the spectacular Great Hall, comes less than three years after sisters Annie Smart and Jane Hamilton came up with the idea of a choir.

Now there are 130 members, aged from six to 65, in two choirs.

Jane explains: “I was suffering depression and the choir cured that. It has helped others, too.

“My dad, Laurie, was well known on the Scottish music scene and was musical director for The Krankies.

“He was diagnosed with cancer in 2008 and we wanted to do something positive, which was the choir.”

Sadly, Laurie passed away earlier this year, but he saw the progress the girls had made.

“We started with 30 members and that’s tripled,” Jane continues.

“We sang onTV on John Barrowman’s Tonight’s the Night. We also visited Dolly Parton in Nashville and sang on her show.

“There are fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, and even three generations of one family. The songs aren’t always familiar to everyone, but it’s a learning experience.

“We sang for Judy Murray in Stirling Castle’s chapel recently but this week will be the first time adult and junior choirs sing together.” They don’t cover typical choir tunes. “We do songs by Pink, the Stereophonics and other chart acts,” Jane says.

“Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars will never have been heard within those walls before!”