Many members of Sing Live North East have never sung in public before.

Rachel is one of the more experienced members, having studied music to degree level and performed in amateur and professional productions.

I was very excited when the advert for Sing Live North East was pointed out to me in the local paper. When I was younger, I was very much involved with all aspects of the arts.

I have lived here for seven years and the main reason for my excitement is that Sing Live is my first musical ‘venture’ since I’ve moved to the North East. It’s safe to say, I’ve picked a winner!

The Rehearsals

I couldn’t wait for the first 'proper' rehearsal to begin

I came away from the launch with a feeling of excitement and enthusiasm. I couldn’t wait for the first ‘proper’ rehearsal to begin. We have now had three and last week was our first after Christmas.

As with all the rehearsals, this started with a series of breathing, stretching and vocal exercises to blow away the holiday cobwebs! We got stuck in to the singing and all thoughts of post Christmas blues and freezing weather were soon forgotten!

We focussed on three songs this evening. Firstly Rhythm of Life, where we have now learnt the ending and completed the song. As soprano 1, I have the pleasure of ending the last few bars on a top A!! We have been told this will get easier and in fact, after a while it did get more manageable.

Gang warfare!

The mood in the room changed immediately, as we suddenly became gang members fighting for our turf!

We then looked at ‘Tonight’ from West Side Story. The mood in the room changed immediately, as we suddenly became gang members fighting for our turf! This song will require a lot of practising to get the choreography spot on. But already the sparring between the Jets and the Sharks was becoming quite believable.

We even tried this one without our books. Although people faltered on the some of the words, they still remembered to frown and growl!

We ended with the Phantom of the Opera. We sang this through first as a rehearsal and then as a ‘performance’. We had put in a lot of work on this song before Christmas and everyone remembered all the pointers we had been given.

When the final chord was sung, the sound resonated around the church - the atmosphere was electric!

The sound we produced was amazing. When the final chord was sung, the sound resonated around the church - the atmosphere was electric! If we can produce something like that in three weeks, just think what it’ll be like on the night!!