Led by Jo Freya and Freddie Kofi, two new community choirs from Ruskington recently came together to perform new songs from musical traditions as diverse as folk and gospel. The project was inspired by the wishes of people in the village to learn about new styles of singing and have the chance to work with inspirational choral animateurs.

Participants included children fron Chestnut Street and Winchelsea Primary School, Cotelands Secondary School and members of the Roundalay Community Choir and All Saints Church Choir.

The project revolved around creating two new choirs, each containing a group from one of the schools and members from one of the adult choirs. The groups chose the musical tradition they wanted to explore and each choir was offered four workshops with their choral animateur. This process culminated in a final Saturday afternoon sharing where both choirs performed the songs they had learned and, as part of the final performance, rehearsed and performed two pieces together.

Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to investigate the new singing styles and the final sharing was well attended and received by an audience of around 150 people. It was the first time that everyone had worked with others across such a broad age range and the general reaction was very positive.

The project was funded by artsNK, Firebird and Lincolnshire Schools External Schools Activity Fund.

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