Hannah Brine’s latest community choir is the new Forest Gate Singers who start rehearsing on October 1 — anyone with a voice can join.
“I just love singing and sharing my passion with others,” Hannah tells the Recorder. “Singing in a group is great for mental health.
“Forest Gate Singers is to sing a wide repertoire of styles. There is a great appetite for singing here in east London.”
Hannah was responsible for setting up the Victoria Park Singers five years ago that rehearses each week in Hackney and performs regularly in public.
She also set up the Finsbury Park Singers and Walthamstow Singers, as well as choirs in Manchester, Cheshire and Derbyshire.
Her choirs have performed at the BBC Proms and the Royal Variety Show.
Hannah also coached the choir for Gary Barlow’s 2016 Royal Variety performance and also performed with him on TV’s Strictly Come Dancing.
There are no auditions for Forest Gate Singers and you don’t need to have sung in a group before, she says.
The choir is being conducted by Seb Marshall, musical director of the Woodford Symphony Orchestra and the Portobello Orchestra in Notting Hill.
“Seb can help those who have never sung in a choir to gain confidence using their voice,” Hannah added.
Seb, who has recently moved to Forest Gate, also conducts the Sinfonia youth orchestra at Camden Music Service in north London each Saturday morning.
He said: “We use sheet music and learn by ear — so you don’t need to have sung in a choir before to join us.
“Community choirs bring people together from all backgrounds and experiences.”
The first rehearsal on October 1 is at 7pm, at St Saviour’s Church in MacDonald Road, Forest Gate, then every Wednesday evening before the Forest Gate Singers stage their public debut on December 3.
