Year One of Medway Choir: a reflection

November 2024 saw the inaugural performance of Bright Shadow’s brand new Zest Medway choir. I had the privilege of leading the choir which has been a wonderful experience for both myself and the participants. 

One of the highlights of this project has been the opportunity to be mentored by arranger, choral director and vocal coach Mark de Lisser. We had two mentoring sessions over zoom and were able to cover a wide range of topics such as arranging songs, harmonies, warm-ups, vocal range in older voices, experimentation, choosing repertoire, backing tracks, technical requirements, sound equipment, incorporating Bright Shadow’s values and of course Mark’s experience in leading Our Dementia Choir as seen on BBC 1. The mentoring sessions encouraged me hugely and built my confidence in establishing the choir. 

Over just a few short weeks I worked with the group once a week to get them ready for the first performance. In these sessions we explored song choices and every song we sang came from a suggestion from someone in the group. This meant the participants could have a personal connection to the songs which aided their learning and performance. We experimented with singing in a round and singing with both backing tracks and a cappella. As the weeks progressed, I could see the choir grow in confidence and ability in singing the songs. Once we had learnt the basics of the songs including lyrics and melodies, we then looked at performance technique and giving the songs even more meaning in how we perform and communicate them to an audience. 

On the day of the performance we were honoured to be joined by Mark who taught the choir a Bob Marley medley which was arranged especially for the choir and a Christmas medley. The choir performed to a friendly audience within the community hub we had been meeting in, which includes a GP surgery. Our supportive audience joined in with singing and dancing, and our choir members left feeling full of joy and confidence, as one participant commented, “That was absolutely wonderful, getting to sing in front of all of those people. I enjoyed it very much.” C

As this choir is funded for a further two years, I am looking to build on the strong foundations we have started with. My hopes are that more people are able to access this opportunity of singing together as it builds community, improves self-confidence and boosts wellbeing among many other benefits. I hope that we can challenge ourselves even more with our repertoire and arrangements and that many more people can attend our performances and see first-hand the difference singing in the choir is making for our participants. 

“Bringing joy into the room of people living with dementia is something that I was born to do. There was nothing more special today than hearing Brian say that he wasn’t in a good mood this morning but has left here on top of the world. That is what music is all about. It’s a joy wherever I go and whatever I do with people living with dementia and it’s what makes me the most excitable man ever, just seeing the joy in people’s faces when singing.” – Mark de Lisser

“Bright Shadow consistently punches above their weight to provide these excellent sessions for us. I am amazed that you got us all up there performing in front of a crowd… Emily and Mark were fantastic and I am so thankful to them, Bright Shadow always finds the best people for us to work with.  I arrived this morning feeling quite unwell and un enthusiastic but now as I leave I feel jubilant and uplifted. More people should know about Bright Shadow.” – B

Medway Choir is funded from 2024-2026 by the Power of Music Fund, managed by the National Academy for Social Prescribing.