What do you love about singing in the Choir?

I love singing because there is a tremendous community spirit. There is a massive emphasis on collaboration and teamwork. There is also the creative side of it - feeling free to express yourself through music is such a powerful thing.

You can also really see the progress you are making and feel like you are getting better. It helps build your confidence and you get solo opportunities. There is so much to offer from singing in a choir.

How do you think singing has helped to develop you as a person?

I am going on to study music at university, and I owe a lot of what I do now and what I’m going on to do from singing in the Choir. Singing is my main instrument - I play other instruments - but singing is the main reason why I have studied music for A level, and it's the reason why I want to study music at university.

Singing in a church choir, and in a school choir, gives you a balance of singing for small audiences, in intimate settings, and performing in larger venues, sometimes for enormous crowds. St Mary’s has a really great concert every year called Carols at the Castle, and we sing for crowd of some 3,000 people. You learn to adapt, and you learn to be more confident in yourself and your ability, and to show what you have to offer.

What are your favourite memories of being part of the Choir?

When I was a treble, we used to go on choir residencies to different cathedrals. I remember there was one time where we had a day playing laser tag to chill out before the concert in the evening and I lost my voice because I had been screaming so loudly! I had to give a solo to someone else, and while that was gutting, it just goes to show how much fun being in a choir is; it's not all about singing, it's about the people you meet and the memories you make that you carry with you.

On a more soloistic, individual level, you get opportunities to develop as a solo musician, and I was invited by Mr Hancock to sing Mendelson's Hear My Prayer in a concert with a community choir at St Mary's. It was a really great opportunity to not only develop as a soloist but to explore more music, as it gives you access to a far wider repertoire that St Mary’s introduced me to in the first place.

How has singing helped you to develop musically throughout your time at school?

I have definitely become more confident in myself. I think it's opened so many doorways and opportunities in other genres of music and in other walks of life. Getting those skills as a performer encouraged me to do more drama at school, for example. I took music at GCSE and A level, and I've really enjoyed composing and conducting through that. It's opened so many doors to things that I definitely would not have done without it. Certainly, I owe a lot of my experience and where I'm going to singing in that choir.

Why would you recommend singing in the Choir to others?

I'd recommend singing with a choir like St Mary’s because of the standard of musicianship and the teaching you get. It's a free education in music, and it's inspired me to go on and do music at university. It really is an amazing standard and, again, the people that you meet and the friendships you make is second to none.

Being in a choir is more than just singing; it's about being part of a community, it's about developing your own skills as a musician and in performance, but ultimately it is the friendships you make and the places you go.