I joined Rock Choir at the beginning of March 2019 after I told a friend my singing teacher wasn’t going to be giving singing lessons anymore & asked what I was going to do with my singing. I told her that maybe I’d join a choir when I was good enough, & she shocked me when she said, “Oh, you’re good enough!” In telling my friend this, he gave me a challenge to find & join a choir within a week. I was kind of scared to do this because I’m from America & quite concerned when people hear me speak, plus, I was getting ready to go home for just a long weekend to see my oldest child, so I asked him to give me to the end of March. After a few message exchanges, I decided to google choirs in my area just to have a little look. Rock Choir came up, & I read about it & thought, “What the heck,” & booked myself for the next taster session before my trip home. I’m rather shy until I get to know people, & I walked in the day of my taster session & people came up to me & welcomed me straight away, wanted to know about me & what brought me to England, told me all about the choir & the things they did & places they’d been to as a choir, & gave me lyric sheets of the songs they were working on. I was a bit overwhelmed having never been apart of a choir EVER, didn’t know what vocal range I was, but I looked at the music & felt so welcomed by the leader & members, & people were asking me if I was going to return the following week. I couldn’t because I knew I’d have severe jet lag but promised to return the week after that. I walked out the day of my taster session smiling from ear to ear & said, “This is MY choir!” I didn’t look at any other choirs, & wrote my friend to tell him I accomplished his challenge within the week! As a foreigner, & as an adult, it’s really hard to uproot your whole life & move to a different country & have to start completely over & make new friends. My husband & I decided we were going to permanently stay in the UK (I had dual citizenship through my English mother & he worked, took tests & paid to get his), so we made another move from West Sussex to the North East to buy our first home here. I had to make friends all over again, so before we moved I changed choirs during our summer break! Talk about overwhelming!! I went from a choir of 50 some people to well over 100! That was quite scary for this shy girl who doesn’t like to draw attention (& I draw attention every time I speak!), but I went each week & people started welcoming me there & included me after choir to go out for coffee &/or lunch. I have honestly met the best people & made brilliant friends through Rock Choir! I feel like I’ve finally met the people I’ve been searching for my whole life!! I also want to share that I have had a challenging life. I’ve struggled with depression & anxiety, been painfully shy & my physical health has been on the decline since I was in my 30s (I’m in my mid 50s now) & my physical issues have effected my mobility more & more. People in choir watch out for me without me ever asking, & they support me more than they know (especially my leader). Going each week & going to events helps me escape from whatever is going on in my life, & it distracts me from the pain I feel every day. My leader always tells me to let him know whatever I need for a performance, & my needs change from day to day, so he’s told me to just message him on the day of the event & let him know & he’ll accommodate me. He’s also been a great support with things I’m struggling with in my personal life as have the people around me. I try not to use any aids when performing because I also love to dance! I often say to people that joining Rock Choir has been the very BEST thing I’ve ever done for myself! I’ve experienced so many wonderful things like going to Abbey Road to record…. TWICE! I lost my mom 21 years ago, & I often wonder what she would think of me experiencing these things in HER home country. Lastly, I have to tell you that I seem to often dream that my husband tells me that we have to return home, & in these dreams, I’m sobbing & telling him, “But there’s no Rock Choir back home! I’m NOT going!!”
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THE UK’S ORIGINAL, AWARD-WINNING, LOCAL, CONTEMPORARY CHOIR. ⭐️
If you love to sing, you’ll love Rock Choir!
No auditions and no musical knowledge needed.
It’s all about singing, fun, community, friendship and life-changing experiences! Rehearsing in over 250 towns across the UK.
Book a FREE taster session now at www.rockchoir.com 💻✨
