‘Singing is music’s answer to yoga’ says director of fun – and fundraising – Vox Holloway choir

Published: 15th April, 2011
by PETER GRUNER

MEMBERS of the Vox Holloway choir are discovering how singing can be good for you – relieving stress and finding “both musical and personal harmony”.

“Singing is music’s answer to yoga,” said Justin Butcher, director of the choir, who meet at St Luke’s Church in Hillmarton Road, Holloway.

“As well as being fun and sociable, singing is also a physical, visceral and a profoundly spiritual thing to do.”

And on top of that,   the choir has raised impressive amounts of money for charity.

The choir started in autumn 2009 when a few individuals realised that there were lots of local people who wanted to sing and create music together. Until then, these people literally had no voice.

So Justin, organist at St Luke’s, stepped up, word spread and two months later a brand new choir sang Handel’s Messiah to a packed hall.

Since the success of their first performance, the choir have gone from strength to strength and raised more than £20,000 for charity in the process.

The choir’s rules are simple: can’t read music? – doesn’t matter. Never sung in a choir before? – no problem. There’s no audition, no age limit and all faiths and non-faiths are welcome. Choir secretary Jean O’Reilly said: “All you need is a passion to sing. And to be ready for what amounts to a gentle, but pretty good, work out.”

The choir has more than 100 members and meets every Tuesday in St Luke’s. Last year it gave three concerts: Harvey Brough’s Requiem in Blue in the spring, which raised £15,000 for the Haiti appeal; a summer concert celebrating St Luke’s 150th anniversary; and, to finish the year, Tavener’s Ex Maria Virgine as the centrepiece of a concert which raised £1,000 for homeless charities.

The choir’s next performance is on Easter Monday, when they will sing Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil, a beautiful collection of Russian Orthodox hymns and chants with stunning harmonies. Some choir members will use this concert to individually raise money for the relief effort in Japan.

One of the choir’s longstanding members, Jane Morten, said: “I haven’t sung in a choir since my primary school Nativity play 40 years ago. But here it doesn’t matter. No one judges you or ticks you off for a duff note. And by the time of the concerts, we’ll be pitch perfect.”

Another member, Franky Lever, said: “I’m so glad I’ve joined. It’s a really good way of unwinding after work. It’s also great to raise so much money for charity.”

• Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil by Vox Holloway choir, 8pm, April 25, St Luke’s Church, Hillmarton Road, N7. Tickets £8 and £12. To reserve a seat email voxholloway@gmail.com or call 07970 785 641 Monday to Sunday 10am to 7pm