The People's Orchestra and The People's Show Choir Podcast, February 2025: Poland, Shrewsbury and Cheltenham

Intro (0:00)

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0:08 Matt Ward: Hello, and welcome to The People’s Orchestra and Show Choir Podcast. I’m Matt Ward, and as usual I’ll be informing you about what’s happening now, and looking into the future at what’s coming up for The People’s Orchestra and The People’s Show Choir. This month I’ve got some great interviews with Nick Makwana, who was on last summer’s Poland tour, and Lorna Parkhouse, leader of the Shrewsbury choir, and I hear from Bonnie Toner about the resurgence of the Cheltenham choir.

Come and Sing Day in Cheltenham (0:32)

0:32 Matt: Before that, though: February is the month of love, and we are celebrating with our Come and Sing community choir masterclass, themed “Disney and love”, on February the 15th at Cheltenham Ladies’ College. You do not need to be a member – or a lady, or even female! All are welcome. So go now to thepeoplesorchestra.com and book your place.

Musical Word of the Month: diminuendo (0:58)

0:58 Matt: Let’s kick off this month, though, with our new feature with Chris, which is the Word of the Month.

1:03 Chris Weber: The word of the month is diminuendo. It is a word used by composers to signal the progressive diminishing of the volume of a piece of music, melody or single sound. The symbol for diminuendo is a hairpin, where the more the two lines converge, the less powerful the sound becomes. When the change in volume lasts for many bars, composers tend to replace the hairpin with the abbreviated word dim.

1:28 Matt: Thank you, Chris.

Nick Makwana on the Poland tour (1:31)

1:31 Matt: Now, January is a quiet month for The People’s Orchestra. Although everyone is back in rehearsals, it’s a time to build for the future, but also a time for reflection – and what better way to introduce our new members to what’s coming up than to share some stories from existing members about last summer’s Poland tour? I’m here with Nick Makwana, who was on that tour. Nick is a professor of paediatrics at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals and the University of Birmingham, and is a member of the Halesowen choir. Welcome – how are you?

2:00 Nick Makwana: All good, yes – feeling good today, thank you very much.

2:03 Matt: Excellent. Now, Nick, give us a quick outline of the itinerary of the tour.

2:07 Nick: It was full-on, I have to say! We had five days there, and it was a good mixture of getting to know each other, sightseeing, singing and eating great food. We went to a number of squares within Poland. We were very lucky – we had a fantastic week of lovely warm weather, so we were outside. We sang three times, and each time was just very uplifting, because of the weather, as I’ve said, but also you’re singing with a whole load of people who you’ve got to know over the 12 months you’ve been there, and we were singing great songs – so what’s not to like?

2:45 And then from the sightseeing point of view, we had some great comedy sightseeing. I think our illustrious choir leader, Chris, took us on a tour around Kraków where he guaranteed we wouldn’t learn anything – and he was absolutely right, we didn’t learn anything! But it was a lovely walk, and we got very healthy. One of the more poignant parts of the tour: we did a trip to Auschwitz, which was very emotional for a number of the choir members, but I think it was very worthwhile doing. It’s an important part of history that I think we should never forget.

3:30 Matt: Yeah, absolutely.

3:31 Nick: And then we had some fantastic food, we had a good laugh, we mixed in on different tables, got to know different people. So yeah, the itinerary was pretty full-on, but actually a really good variety of things to do.

3:45 Matt: Sounds absolutely packed. What would you say was a standout moment of the tour that you will never forget?

3:50 Nick: Oh, I think that’s a really difficult one, because there are so many. Firstly, it was just getting to know the members of the choir outside of choir. One of the things you often find when you go to choir is you go in, you sit with your group, you chat to the people around you, but you don’t really get the opportunity to talk to others in the choir. I really enjoyed that – getting to know people.

4:15 The second thing I would probably say is the actual singing itself. It was just fabulous, because obviously we’ve been so used to singing in our little rehearsals, so to sing outside was a completely different experience – and again, so uplifting. Being outdoors is good for you anyway, and combining being outdoors with singing, which is also massively good for you, just boosts your wellbeing completely. So that was amazing.

4:50 And then the third thing I’d have to say is that at the very last outdoor concert we did, I was a bit naughty – I broke the rules, left the choir and made the whole audience dance to our last song. I wasn’t sure how that would go, but actually they all loved it. If you see the videos on YouTube, they all joined in with the routines, and the members of the choir joined in with the routines as well. So I think that was really just the icing on the cake for a fantastic week.

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5:25 Matt: Fantastic. So I’ve seen a fundraiser – a 12-hour dance – where you were raising money. Tell us about some of your other charity work, and why you’re so involved with The People’s Show Choir as a charity.

5:35 Nick: For me, I think doing charity work is a really important part of giving back to the community that I live in. I enjoy dancing – I’m not professional by any means – but I thought it would be a really nice way to raise money, by doing something a bit different. So I did a 12-hour dance-athon, and my plan was to raise money for Children in Need, for the hospital charity, which is for our paediatric unit, and for another charity that I’m part of, the Inca Society (name unconfirmed). I touted the idea to our charity people, who thought I was completely mad, but said, “all right, if that’s what you want to do, that’s fine”. They managed to get a lit-up dance floor for me in the reception of the hospital, which is actually very odd!

6:20 It was great, actually. We started at 8am and finished at 8 in the evening. My colleagues joined me, people walking past joined me, the hospital nursery came and did a little stint with me as well, and even patients came and asked what we were doing, and when we said, they came on and joined in as well. I think some patients were pretty confused, because we’ve got a psychiatric hospital next door, so I think they thought they’d come to the wrong hospital, as they walked through reception seeing a dancing doctor in the middle of it! But they were egging me on and joining in, and it was totally worth it, because we raised just under £8,000 – so about £2,000 for each charity. That was amazing.

7:13 One of the reasons I ended up gravitating towards The People’s Show Choir is that when I was looking for a choir to join, I really liked what I read about what they do. They’re a community choir, so they’re a charity, and they give back to the local community. They do very similar work, really: helping young people with unemployment, helping with wellbeing, helping with loneliness – all of which is a lot of the stuff I work with as well. I’d never sung properly before – the first time I’d sung was when I joined the choir – so I thought, I want to do something different, but I also realised that by doing that, I’m helping a charity to give back to the communities that I’m in. So it was a win-win for me.

7:55 Matt: That’s great. And if you’d like the opportunity to give back to The People’s Show Choir, and help out with all the things that Nick was talking about, you can go over to the website now, thepeoplesorchestra.com, hit the Donate button and make a donation. Nick, thanks for taking the time today to stop dancing, stop training, and talk to us!

8:20 Nick: No problem at all.

Lorna Parkhouse, choir leader of Shrewsbury (8:25)

8:25 Matt: Lorna Parkhouse is the choir leader of our Shrewsbury choir, which is one of our largest choirs – and with January being one of the busiest times of year for new members, it’s only getting bigger, isn’t it, Lorna?

8:35 Lorna Parkhouse: Hi! It certainly is, yes. We had about 18 new people last night, 16 of whom have signed up in week two, so that takes us up to about 76 so far – with a lovely influx of men last night, after we started learning “It’s Raining Men”! So that was really nicely timed.

9:00 Matt: That’s great. So outside of rehearsals and mass events, what else do you get the choir involved in?

9:05 Lorna: My goodness – we perform locally all over the place. We’ve had local gigs and local bookings. We perform at the British Ironwork Centre (name unconfirmed) regularly – two or three times a year they have us over doing sets. We’ve had sets at Shrewsbury Pride, which is absolutely brilliant – we’ve done that each year. We’ve done fun runs, we’ve done hot air balloon festivals a couple of times, things like VE Day. Last summer I came together with a number of other choirs and organised a choir festival in a day, and that was absolutely brilliant. So there are so many performance opportunities outside of the couple of mass events – it’s huge.

9:45 Matt: I know this is a sad and sensitive subject, but I understand that your choir had the deeply meaningful task of performing at the celebration of life of one of your members who sadly passed away. How do you approach preparing for such an emotional occasion, and what did it mean to the choir to honour her memory in this way?

10:05 Lorna: Yeah. It’s an honour to be asked to perform at something like that. She was one of our singers – she was absolutely lovely. It was such a tragic situation: she and her husband died within a few weeks of each other. So when the family approached us, it wasn’t even a question of saying no – it was, how are we going to do this? What are we going to do? I worked really closely with the daughter, who I’d not met before then, although she had come to a couple of our local events, so she knew of us, and she knew how much her mum valued the choir. The daughter was really adamant that she wanted us to sing at the end of the celebration of life, and to leave people going out with a smile. So we went through our repertoire, and they picked “Let’s Go Fly a Kite”, which was a beautiful end to the service.

11:00 And then, in terms of preparation – when I started working with the choir… Our choir all wear our hearts on our sleeves; I wear my heart on my sleeve with the choir. And it was that message: it’s normal to be really upset over this. It’s not only OK, it’s absolutely fine – it’s normal. And if we are going to bawl our way through rehearsals while we’re rehearsing it, that’s fine – let it out; that’s what you’re here for. You’re here to process your emotion. And I said that to them about the event as well: if you cry, just let it happen. It’s absolutely fine. And they did such a beautiful, beautiful job. We’ve done so many huge gigs, and I think that was probably one of the moments I was most proud of them.

11:50 Matt: You collaborate with other choirs outside of The People’s Show Choir too, don’t you? How do you manage to do that successfully and positively, so the focus is on promoting inclusivity, not tribal division?

12:00 Lorna: Nice question! I think where I come from is, as a musician, I want to promote music. It’s as simple as that. Singing is good for you on every single level – mentally, physically, socially – so there’s room for every choir in the world, and more. We’re all in the same business, and it doesn’t matter whether you work for a large charity, a business model, or whether you’ve got a small independent choir – we’re all in the same business, and therefore we need to work together. It can be quite isolating otherwise, working as a self-employed professional musician. You could get very lonely, particularly if you approach things as if you’re competing. So I never go in competing. Like I say, we’re in the same business – you’ve got to work together.

12:50 Matt: And then, outside of singing, your choir socialises quite a bit together, don’t they? What drives that? What keeps you all together?

12:58 Lorna: Should I answer “Prosecco”? I know my choir will laugh when they hear that! A choir isn’t just there for singing, is it? It’s a family. It’s another community inside your local community, and that’s very much the feel that we have at Shrewsbury. Right from the very first term, we made sure there was a social at the end of term, and people went out for drinks, and they’ve taken that on now. They organise themselves meals a couple of times a year, spa days – you name it. What I also love is that they go and support other performing arts things. Very often groups will get together and book themselves tickets – sometimes for a touring national show, but actually they go and support other local groups, amateur theatre groups and things like that, which again is a really, really healthy environment.

13:50 Matt: It sounds like, for your choir, the choir is actually their primary friendship group.

13:55 Lorna: I would definitely say that, yes. There have been some really strong bonds made over the last – nearly three years.

14:05 Matt: And for any new members who are thinking of joining The People’s Show Choir, whether it be Shrewsbury choir or one of the other choirs, what would you say to them?

14:12 Lorna: Well, definitely just come along. You’ve got to try it.

14:15 Matt: So the way you’ve described it, it sounds like you have a great group of people who are bonded, are looking after their own mental health, and are allowing themselves all of the emotions. There is sadness, but there’s that joy, driven by the joy of singing, infused through the whole group. It sounds like you’re doing a great job down there.

14:35 Lorna: Thank you.

14:37 Matt: And if you’re not a member of The People’s Show Choir yet and you would like to give it a try, go to the website, thepeoplesorchestra.com. In the top right-hand corner you’ll find a free trial button – you get a two-week free trial. Find a choir that’s local to you, come down and give it a go. Lorna, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me today – it’s been brilliant.

15:10 Lorna: It’s such a pleasure – thanks for having me on.

Bonnie Toner on regrowing the Cheltenham choir (15:19)

15:19 Matt: Our Cheltenham choir suffered a big loss when the long-standing choir leader stepped down to set up her own choir. Unfortunately, the majority of our choir members followed, leaving us with four people. We sprang into action, got a brand new choir leader and did lots of advertising, and in the space of three weeks regrew the choir to its former size. Today I’m joined by Bonnie Toner, who’s one of the original members who went through that ordeal. Hi, Bonnie!

15:48 Bonnie Toner: Hi, Matt – thank you for having me.

15:50 Matt: So, a phoenix-like resurgence, with lots of opportunities for new voices. What’s it like working with a new choir leader and accompanist?

15:58 Bonnie: I firmly believe that things happen for a reason, because the office sprang into action and found us our amazing Mark and James – Mark as choir leader is absolutely fabulous, and James is brilliant. To be honest, we feel really, really lucky.

16:20 Matt: Oh, fantastic. So for how long were you concerned – or at what point did you start thinking, “actually, this isn’t the end; we’re going to get back to normal”?

16:28 Bonnie: The first week back was just to see how many of the old people turned up while we were gathering new people. Literally, there were only four of us – and one lady actually came on the wrong day, not realising she should have started the week after, so technically three of us! And we were panicking, I’ve got to admit. I was thinking, “well, what do we do?” But we went around advertising, leaflet-dropping, advertising on all the local noticeboards, and the next proper week, I think we had 20, 22, 24 people. So basically it went from four to a good amount, and I really think that’s thanks to the office finding us leaders so quickly, and all the advertising.

17:10 Matt: Oh, that’s amazing. So how much fun are the rehearsals now?

17:14 Bonnie: Oh my goodness, honestly – I probably shouldn’t say, but it is better than it was! Mark – he won’t mind me saying – is quite bonkers. They’re school teachers who teach choirs, and they’re actually more fun, I think, because they used to teach children. And James is a really accomplished piano player, so we’re really grateful for him. So literally, it’s better than ever. You’ve just got to see everyone laughing and joking – I’ve never known a choir that laughs and jokes so much. It’s absolutely amazing – the best choir I’ve ever been in.

17:55 Matt: Brilliant. So how many members have you got now?

17:58 Bonnie: I think – oh, we had 17 new people just last week! That was literally thanks to the advertising. I’m not sure of the number – there must be well over 40 people, I should think – but that’s 17 in one week, so the sky’s the limit, really.

18:20 Matt: I bet you make quite a sound!

18:22 Bonnie: Well, I’ve got to say, we do, yes!

18:25 Matt: Brilliant. So what would you say to anybody who was thinking about possibly joining the choir?

18:30 Bonnie: I’d say, if you just want a laugh and fun, and to meet loads of new people – everybody is so friendly, they really are. It’s just fun. We do fun warm-ups. The teaching is excellent – I love the teaching style, because you’re not hanging around. Bam, bam, bam – we learn a whole song, and we go over it. The teaching is excellent, it really is.

19:00 Matt: And what are you looking forward to most in 2025, whether it be within Cheltenham or a mass event?

19:05 Bonnie: We’ve already got things lined up, which is great. There’s a mass event on the 30th of March at Symphony Hall in Birmingham – a big mass choir. Then there’s a local Disney sing-song on the 15th of February, which anybody can book and come along to. We’ve got the Food and Drink Festival booked, and there’s Sue Ryder, a hospice charity, in March – possibly an invitation to sing there. It’s only just started, 2025, so I’m sure we’ll get lots more events.

19:45 Matt: Yeah, absolutely – we’ll have the details of these at the end of the episode as well. Bonnie, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me today. It’s been brilliant.

19:55 Bonnie: Thank you very much.

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Book your place at our mass events for 2025 (20:04)

20:04 Matt: Coming up over the next couple of months: book your place at the Come and Sing Day at Cheltenham Ladies’ College on the 15th of February, through our website, thepeoplesorchestra.com. You can also book tickets for Mother’s Day, March the 30th, at Symphony Hall, for our mass event with 600 singers from our choirs around the country, and the orchestra too. So come along – ticket sales support the charity. And remember, if you aren’t yet a member of the choir but you would like to give it a go, you can try it out for two weeks free by going to our website, thepeoplesorchestra.com, and clicking on “two weeks free”.

Outro: looking into March (20:41)

20:41 Matt: Thank you for listening to this episode of The People’s Orchestra and Show Choir Podcast. Tune in next month, when I’ll be finding out how our Come and Sing Day in Cheltenham went. We’ll also be delving into the world of walking choirs, led by Chris Weber – he’ll be telling us about the unique concept, how it’s developed, and what’s in store in the future. We’ll talk to Mariann Harris, one of our vital front-line staff, who works to get unemployed people back into work. And I’ll also catch up with a volunteer member of the Ringers Choir to find out what that’s all about.

21:10 For anything else, check out the website, thepeoplesorchestra.com, and follow The People’s Orchestra and The People’s Show Choir social media channels. And if you would like to find out more about how I can help you with making a podcast for your organisation, take a look at my website, audioeditingsecrets.com, and follow my social media, which is @audioeditingsecrets, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. I’ve been Matt Ward – thank you for listening.

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