Julie

When I joined the Mixed Up Chorus in 2018, I was going through a difficult time in my life. I was grieving for a person I lost, a person very close to me, my dear grandma. At the time, I felt sad, lost, anxious. I was seeking a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging, a place where I would recognise myself in the mission of the group. And I wanted to find something near my house, to be more involved in my local community, and to motivate myself and enjoy life again!

Rehearsal after rehearsal, concert after concert, the vision day (see description later), all this made me realise that I was aligned with the direction that Together Productions is taking. It fits with my values and believes, I recognise myself in what this Community is willing to do, to embrace diversity, different backgrounds, different cultures, different languages, different traditions. They welcome all the people with their similarities and differences, and promote how we can live better together by singing together and sharing our passion for music. Together we develop projects that we can be proud of and deliver a positive message to the rest of the World.

Then, I joined their sister Choir in January 2020. I saw the Sing For Freedom Choir performing few times, at TP events and other concerts we took part in with the MUC. I was moved straight away by the warm atmosphere, honesty and humanity embodied by SFF members. I loved their performances! I realised that they were also local to me and I wanted to be part of this supportive community. I was welcomed and useful to other members quite quickly, being a French native speaker like many others in this group. I can help members who are fluent in French and not in English, making the rehearsal easier for them by. My place in the SFF community makes me feel useful and fulfilled to be able to help people. It has been difficult to carry on rehearsing online during the lockdown and we developed a buddy system to support each other. That gave me a purpose during this period, being myself at risk with Covid, and spending most of my time at home. I felt connected to people and helpful, and the rehearsals kept us going during the pandemic. SFF is certainly for me a special group of people.

I am amazed of how much we have achieved with both Choirs, during these unprecedented times and having to move all our activities online. This has been very inspiring for me to take part in several musical projects, and witness how creativity and resilience kept us sane and motivated. It also allowed me to forge more connections within both Choirs and feel the solidarity, the will to stick together and help one another more than ever. I am proud to be part of these communities, and I have shared many of our projects with my family, my friends and other artistic communities I am a member of. Being a member of MUC and SFF, I have also developed further my confidence in singing and performing through the projects we did.

Then there was an opportunity to become a section rep for the Tenors part (my voice part) at the MUC. I jumped on this occasion, as I wanted to contribute further to the TP mission and plans, by acting being the scene. I have been in this role for one term and it’s been a pleasure to work with TP team and represent the Tenors group. I am growing and learning through that role, and I am sure this will be useful for other aspects of my life and other roles I will take on in the future.

I am very grateful to the TP team for the work they do and their ethos. I think this is something that became quite clear to me over the years of doing creative activities: I wish to take part in artistic projects with a humanitarian mission and a will to raise awareness and support vulnerable people.

I remember in my first year with MUC attending one of their ‘vision days’ where we gathered and discussed the mission of the Choir, reviewed what’s been achieved, and brainstormed on new directions to take. The day was facilitated by an external professional and was well organised. To date, this was probably the most democratic process and productive meeting I have ever attended. It was a real eye opener for me about how a community could be held, by giving a voice to everyone and accepting different views over a common purpose. It was refreshing, inspiring and reassuring for me to see that it is possible to be part of a group with a real sense of contribution and collaboration.