20 years ago today….

Clare Edwards remembers how Notorious has grown since 1997 and calls back all old members to join us to celebrate our 20th Anniversary.

It is difficult to believe that is was really 20 years ago that we started our choir, Notorious. I ran a choir at sixth form college for two years and another one at university for 3 years and I remember thinking that was an achievement! But as I turned 23 a number of members of those previous choirs started to ask me, ‘are you going to set up a choir’ and the rest is history.

Notorious was formed in 1997 by a group of friends old and new because we felt, at the time, we were too old for youth choirs and too young for the many choral societies that Birmingham had to offer. We wanted to sing a wide range of music (not just classical greats over and over again) and we wanted to be in a choir that challenged us whilst being friendly and non auditioning. We also wanted to sing in as many unusual places as possible.

Since 1997 we have stuck to that mission and have grown from 6 or 7 members to around 40 in each concert. The Notorious ‘family’ is much wider than this with over 60 people who sing regularly (but not every term), alumni who keep an eye on us through social media and occasionally sing when life lets them, and the friends and family who support us concert to concert as audiences, programme sellers, and as part of our more formal ‘Friends’ scheme.

It still feels like a group of friends. We still sing a massive range of repertoire;Muse, Britten, Prodigy, Faure – you name it. We still sing in usual venues; caves, coffin factories, pubs, a science museum, and a municipal tip to name just a few!

The big climax to our 20th Anniversary Celebrations is in November – and we want to ask all our old members/friends to come back and sing with us. It’s ok if you live far away now – we will live stream rehearsals and record every rehearsal and you will have all the information and support you need to join us. We are planning a weekend of rehearsals on Fri 22nd/Sat 23rd September (with a Ball at Highbury Hall) and finally intensive rehearsals on the day of the show itself.

So did you ever sing in Notorious – even for a term? We would love to have you back. We already have 70 confirmed singers and counting. It’s going to be our biggest yet.

To register email 2017@notoriouschoir.org – we would love to hear from you!