Gospel Plus choir music director Sherry Elton started teaching Find Your Voice singing workshops after a friend confided she didn’t think she could sing.
"It was so sad when I’d hear people talk and say that they couldn’t sing a note after they’d learnt that I’d led a choir.
"That’s what got me going really.
"So the reason why I’m doing it is to encourage people to come along to Find Your Voice, to learn that they can actually sing in tune and that it’s quite fun.
"I hope that way they may be encouraged to come and join our chorus," Elton said.
She urged would-be choristers that the workshops were about "finding their singing voice in a gentle way through talking and laughing".
"I was motivated to teach these workshops after I went to a Tony Backhouse session two years ago.
"He teaches gospel singing workshops all around the world," she said.
"I came away buzzing, and while I was driving home, I thought ‘this is amazing’, so I stopped to see a friend at Winton and said, I’ve just been to this workshop, and I’ve just got to do this."
The Find your Voice workshops are held at the Whare Taupua Community Arts Space on Forth St and have attracted people from all walks of life.
"It was fun and non-threatening," attendee Julie Mador said.
"I sort of thought, that I could sing to some extent.
I felt like it was something that I could keep exploring."
After finding her voice while attending the singing workshops, the novice chorister has built up her confidence and joined Elton’s Gospel Plus choir.
Elton started the Gospel Plus choir in February last year opening it to anyone who was interested.
"It’s been amazing,
"It’s about people who would like to sing, and there’s a huge power in creating harmonies that weren’t there, and you need people to do that," she said.
Since the Gospel Plus formation, the gospel choir has done several public performances including the Night of the Arts and stints singing at local rest homes.
"When you see these people’s eyes go bright it’s quite powerful.
"I like to find people who don’t know if they can sing and just see them light up when they actually realise that they can."
■To find out more, contact Sherry Elton: 027 213-1156, eltons@xtra.co.nz
