Adopt London Choir members meet with MP and reveal secrets
Some of the Adopt London Choir members met with Vicky Ford (conservative MP for Chelmsford and Parliamentary Undersecretary for the Department of Education), on Zoom on Thursday 10 December. They talked about how fun and uplifting the experience of being involved with the choir has been and also revealed some very interesting secrets about how the Christmas Song music video was made. Ms Ford was very impressed to learn how it was all brought together and delighted that such a masterpiece could be created despite the choir never actually having met in person or even heard each other sing.
The choirmaster, Megan, is a professional vocal coach with over 20 years’ experience as well as being a foster carer for highly traumatised children and teenagers, so she knows first-hand about the traumas our adopted children may have experienced and the challenges adopters are faced with. This is why the choir means so much to her, and all its members. The informal peer support which the Adopt London Choir provides as well as that hour of uplifting singing has been much appreciated.
The choir has only ever met on Zoom as it was formed in June 2020 in the height of the pandemic. Megan chooses upbeat songs often with some relevance to family and togetherness and arranges them in three or four parts. During rehearsals, she sings through each part and the choir get to practise their parts… however, they are all on mute singing along in their own homes. They have never heard each other sing or how they sound as a choir apart from in the videos that Megan puts together.
For the Christmas video, Megan said: “We wanted to make sure it was a fun, happy Christmas song video so mid-October everyone had to find all their Christmas decorations and Christmas jumpers and make a background ‘set’ so when the video was finished it would look festive. I can’t believe how well they all jumped at the challenge and went for it!”
None of the voices has been ‘tweaked’ so the sound is the actual sound of the choir as they would be in person. When filmmaker Will has worked his magic, the choir and Megan hear how it all sounds for the first time.
Choir member, Gill said: “For us attending the choir practice each week has been like therapy – it’s a precious hour of time protected for singing with a wonderful group of people, all connected through adoption, that has helped us forge a very supportive community even though we have never met face to face as a group.”
If you would like to join the Adopt London Choir everyone is welcome, it doesn’t matter how if you have experience the most important thing is to have fun, they are a warm and welcoming bunch and in constant need of new members – in particular, as with most choirs, more male voices are needed. So if you are an approved adopter living in or connected to one of the 23 Adopt London boroughs please email Megan at [email protected] and include the name of your borough or RAA that you are linked to.
We look forward to singing along with you soon.