We’ve been waiting for June for quite some time now – both my ICU Liberty Singers, The Liberty Belles and my West Bridgford Liberty Singers had quite substantial gigs on the horizon!
The Liberty Belles kicked things off with their first gig in 2 years. We had the opportunity to have some solo singers, a little group called the Liberty Las as well as the choir of around 20 ladies which is the Liberty Belles. We love a Portello Lounge gig as we are always made so welcome.Loads of support from other singers as well as our friends and family.
Next, the ICU Liberty Singers travelled to Saundersfoot in Wales for the Welsh Intensive Care Society Summer Meeting. Usually a choir of around 30 voices, we were down to just 7 – the constraints of travelling, a train strike, and life generally getting in the way! Still, we made a lovely sound with the 7 and sang along to recordings we had made ourselves over the past few months. Some of these were virtual and some from the meet up we had in London in March.
It was all the more special to sing together as we usually only meet online and we all know you can’t hear anyone else because everyone is on mute. Seeing faces and being together really made the event special. I think they surprised themselves with how good they could sound on their own (I turned the music off during our warm up so they could hear more clearly – really impressive!)
I was particularly pleased with how my talk went! I was invited to speak on the topic of ‘keeping your mental health in harmony’ where I shared some of the choir stories from my community singers and managed to get 90 conference attendees to sing along with me. Amazing!
No time to bask in the glory – the following day was a really big one for the West Bridgford Liberty Singers – the eagerly awaited Proms in the Park in our home town.
90 singers on the stage on a blustery day singing all of our favourite songs! It was fantastic! The feeling of joy and wonder from the singers was absolutely brilliant. People met people they don’t usually see (the pitfalls of our enormous choir) and new friendships were forged. It was quite emotional as we hadn’t been able to do this gig since 2019 and we really felt it. I was so proud and happy!
Next stop was Belfast with the ICU Singers at the SOA Industry Conference. 11 of us this time and mostly different singers! This conference was a big deal – first time back in person and a huge buzz about the place. We sang to over 200 people as they networked and caught up with each other at the drinks reception. They all applauded when we finished songs so I assume they were listening! More lovely connections made between our singers and the chance to do some sightseeing in Belfast due to the timings of the flights!
An immense month for the singers and for me personally. More opportunities being discussed and more fun to be had!
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