Brewood Singers reunite for Christmas concert

Up and down the country choral groups were forced to cancel rehearsals and performances and practice by themselves at home.

But now they have reunited to sing their hearts out together once more and prepare for the busy festive season.

Among them is Brewood Singers, a SATB - soprano, alto, tenor and bass - choir of around 30 people that has been running for more than 45 years.

The choir is busy rehearsing for its Christmas concert which will be held at St Mary & St Chad Church in Brewood on Monday, December 20.

"Last year was the first year for over 40 years that Brewood Singers we’re not able to do their annual Christmas concert," says secretary Jen Beardsmore.

"This will be our first concert performance since Christmas 2019 - due to Covid and lockdown. We were only able to do a virtual performance last Christmas."

The choir, whose chairman is Pat Mumford,performs arrangements of songs from film, theatre, pop and also light traditional choir music with shows taking place at a variety of venues including churches, garden centres and village halls.

Over the years members have helped to raise money through raffles for local charities, including Brewood and District First Responders and Brewood Dementia Support Group.

Regular rehearsals and performances were put on hold for almost 18 months due to coronavirus restrictions although members found different ways to keep in touch with each other while meetings weren't taking place.

"We really missed seeing each other. Some of us were able to meet up on Zoom for quizzes but we didn't try to do any singing on Zoom because we would all be singing on our own.

"Our musical director David S Brookes would send us files of music during lockdown to listen to so we could learn new pieces and he also put together two virtual performances.

"Those who could recorded themselves singing their parts and David put them all together. That was a good project for us to work on," says Jen.

The choir finally returned to rehearsals three months ago but have had to make a few changes including finding a new venue for the weekly sessions.

"We started to rehearse for Christmas in September but the guidelines for events and performance mean that we are still not quite back to normal.

"We have had to find a larger hall to rehearse in, we still sit a metre apart for rehearsals and have plenty of ventilation by having all the windows open. Most of us test regularly too," she explains.

Jen, who has been a member of the choir for 18 years, says members were delighted to be able to return to rehearsals.

"It was wonderful to be able to get back to singing altogether. I love singing. It's been part of my life since secondary. It's my passion and I know a lot of the members feel the same way.

"We are all looking forward to the Christmas concert. We're not sure if some audiences are ready to come back but tickets are selling well so that is very encouraging.

"We're mindful that Covid is still with us so we're trying to do everything in the safest way possible," she tells Weekend.

For their Christmas concert, which will include a mix of traditional carols and festive songs, Brewood Singers will be welcoming back former member and opera singer Luke Swatman, who found fame when he was dubbed ‘The Worcester Pavarotti’ after Twitter coverage of his karaoke went viral.

Classically trained Luke, who hails from Wolverhampton but now lives in Worcester, began singing when he was six and as a teenager sang with Willenhall Operatic Society, performing in musicals including My Fair Lady.

A former pupil of St Edmunds Catholic School, he continued to entertain audiences around the region and in June 2018 came to the attention of international media after an informal rendition on karaoke of Nessun Dorma at a Worcestershire pub.

He was later chosen to take part in The Voice UK 2019 and impressed the judges with his mesmerising version of Andrea Bocelli's 'Il Mare Calmo Della Sera'.

Coach Jennifer Hudson chose Luke for her team but sadly he was eliminated at the battle round stage of the contest after performing Elton John's classic Your Song with fellow contestant Nicole Dennis.

Jen said the choir members were looking forward to welcoming Luke back as they had previously joining forces for a successful summer concert in 2019.

"Luke is a good friend of the choir and we're delighted that he is joining us again. Luke’s programme is yet to be announced but we are looking forward to hearing his magnificent voice once more," Jen tells Weekend.

*Tickets for the concert cost £8 and are available from Choir Members, by calling the Box Office on 07900 693 754 or from brewoodsingers.co.uk. The choir rehearses every Thursday at St Dominic’s School in Brewood from 7.30pm-9.30pm.