If the idea of having a singalong with a beer, wine or lemonade in your hand appeals to you, community choir leaders Teresa Duddy and Ben Talbot-Dunn have just the thing.
The pair, who run the New Swell Choir, are running their popular pop-up choir event, Sip & Sing, at Point Lonsdale Bowls Club on Friday, June 14 and Bells Beach Brewing in Torquay on Saturday, June 15.
After a successful first Sip & Sing in March last year, Ms Duddy and Mr Talbot-Dunn have run three more of the events, with the number of participants ranging from 100 to 200 people.
The sessions will involve working up the Fleetwood Mac song Dreams to performance level in a relaxed, social environment.
Ms Duddy, whose background is in opera and musical theatre, said no singing or musical experience was necessary.
“(At previous events) people have definitely been brought along by partners; their partner feels more confident singing, or they might be in our weekly choir,” she said.
“And generally the feedback is they were really surprised they could do it; it was really fun, really easy, it sounded beautiful. Or they’ve never sung in harmony before, so that was really exciting.”
Mr Talbot-Dunn, who composes music for TV, short films and documentaries, said seeing people who had not sung before surprise themselves was a beautiful thing to see.
“It’s this magic situation where they’re both performing and they’re a part of a group,” he said.
“People can expect a fun, social night out… having a good catch up with friends chatting and also doing something different.”
Visit linktr.ee/newswellchoir to register for the Point Lonsdale or Torquay Sip & Sing events or find out more about the New Swell Choir.
Matt Hewson
