Before Love Soul, I had never sung in a choir so I didn’t know what to expect. I soon realised that the weekly sessions were a whirlwind of running through existing repertoire (with all the energy and passion you’d expect from a choir performance) as well as learning new harmonies, lyrics and dance moves. I walk out of every session feeling energised and exhausted all at the same time! It’s one of the things I love the most though – we don’t just run through songs that we know inside out and could sing with our eyes closed – we’re always being challenged and stretched at our sessions.

Throughout lockdown we’ve had our weekly sessions online, and it’s been an amazing source of stability and routine, even while everything else in life seemed to be turned upside down. We’ve kept on working through the new songs that our choir leader, Dan, had planned for our 2020 repertoire. We’ve been learning new harmonies every week, and practising the dance moves at home. In some ways it’s been more challenging to learn new songs via online sessions, but at least I don’t get distracted by hearing someone next to me singing a different harmony!

There have also been new challenges that were definitely outside of my comfort zone. Since we haven’t been able to practise or perform any of our new songs together, we were invited to record ourselves singing each song, so we could capture the magic of Love Soul even while we’re all apart. These have all been edited together so it sounds just like we’re performing, and I’ve got to say the videos that have been posted on our facebook page are brilliant. Still, trying to record my own part to the song by myself at home has definitely been a challenge, and I’ll be very glad to get back to our usual in-person sessions and performances as soon as it’s safe!

Love Soul is an amazing family of people who have welcomed me as one of their own, and we always encourage one another to step outside of our comfort zone. Whether it’s auditioning for a solo, getting the hang of a tricky dance move, or singing at our solo performance night, we always have each other’s back and we cheer each other on through the challenges. One thing I’ve learned is that stepping outside of my comfort zone is a lot less scary with my friends supporting me! Together, we can achieve more than we ever thought we were capable of on our own.

Rachel Kehoe
(Southampton Member)

If you’d like to apply for an audition with Love Soul Choir, please visit the audition page on our website. Once you’ve sent your application to us, we’ll be in touch within a couple of days to schedule the time and place of your audition.