As one of the newest members of Velvet Harmony, I was very excited to be joining my fellow chorus members in Nottingham this year for Harmony College. I didn’t know what to expect but all the information in our delegate’s packs was indicating friendship, fun and learning and that is exactly what we got.

Before heading to Nottingham we were asked to learn two songs, off page, Make Your Own Kind Of Music and Auld Lang Syne. Upon registration we were divided into two choruses – red chorus and blue chorus. This gave us a chance to work alongside new people and make new friends. Over the next two days we were able to perfect these songs under the wonderful direction of either Sally McLean or Jo Braham in order to perform them in front of our fellow delegates.

Outside of our chorus practises we were also given the opportunity to get tuition in different areas of interest to improve our skills in both singing/performing and developing our chorus as a whole. Mo Field was this year’s guest educator, giving us a wonderful motivational speech to open the weekend as well as popping in on our practice sessions to guide us on our learning journeys.

It was the most wonderful experience with my two highlights being performing in a chorus of over 100 ladies and creating the most amazing harmonies, and watching other choruses and quartets perform in the barbershop style. I learned a lot about singing, performing and being part of something bigger than my day to day comings and goings as a mum and wife. I look forward to continuing on my learning journey as a member of Velvet Harmony.

Kristy – Bari