Get Out of the Shower and Get On Stage!

Learn to Sing With Choir of the Year and Making Music
Sing Away The January Blues, Start The Year on a High Note and Reap the Health Benefits of Singing

Scunthorpe based choir beats almost 200 others to become best amateur choir in the UK

Learn to sing for FREE in 2010, unlock your inner diva, banish the January Blues, get fit and de-stress through the power of your voice at Learn to Sing, a unique series of singing coaching sessions run by Making Music, the umbrella organisation for voluntary music and Choir of the Year, the UK's largest amateur choral competition. Each course concludes with the opportunity for singers to perform live on stage in front of a packed audience at a regional Choir of the Year event.

Learn to Sing, supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, takes place in seven major cities across England from 26 January 2010 [details below]. Learn to Sing is open to anyone of any ability, from total novice to shower soprano and karaoke enthusiast.

Each Learn to Sing course lasts for six weeks (one evening a week) and is hosted by a skilled choir and led by a team of specially trained vocal coaches from the British Association of Barbershop Singers (BABS).

Participants will be taught the basics of singing, including how to look after the voice and sing in harmony through to performance skills and rhythm and voice development across a range of different styles of music from rock and pop through to the classics. Participants will not only learn to sing with confidence and discover the joy of group singing, but also secure the huge health benefits that singing provides and meet new people. Interested participants can find out more: www.makingmusic.org.uk/learntosing.

Choir of the Year provides Learn to Sing participants with the opportunity to perform live on stage and see, meet and learn from the very best vocal groups in the country, raising their aspirations and showcasing the range of singing opportunities on offer. Over 200 singing groups of all ages and styles are involved in Choir of the Year 2010, performing at public regional and national heats across the UK for a place in the Grand Final at London's Royal Festival Hall on 28 November, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC FOUR.

Learn to Sing 2010, courses. Full details of all on www.makingmusic.org.uk/learntosing:

Newcastle, with the Tynemouth Choral Society starting from 15 February
Manchester, with the St George's Singers, Stockport starting from 26 January
Warwick, with the Leicester Philharmonic Choir starting from 29 March
Manchester, with the Salford Choral Society starting from 27 January
Basingstoke, with the Wokingham Choral Society starting from 11 March
Bristol, with The Great Western Chorus and Avonbelles starting from 3 February
Milton Keynes, with the Welwyn Garden City Music Society starting from 8 February

Sing yourself fit
January is the perfect time to start learning to sing, as singing and has significant physical health and wellbeing benefits, helping New Year goals become a reality. Professor Graham Welch, Chair of the International Music Education Research Centre at the University of London summaries why people who sing are healthier than those who don't:

• Singing releases endorphins into your system and makes you feel energized and uplifted. Singing gives the lungs a workout.
  
  
• Singing tones abdominal and intercostal muscles and the diaphragm, and stimulates circulation.
  
  
• Singing makes us breathe more deeply than many forms of strenuous exercise, so we take in more oxygen, improve aerobic capacity and experience a release of muscle tension as well.

The longer-term health benefits of singing regularly are well-established and include the offset of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Greg Cohen of George Washington University tracked a Senior Singers Chorale in Arlington, Virginia and found that the singers suffered less depression, made fewer doctor visits a year and took fewer medications compared with non-singers.

Robin Osterley, Chief Executive, Making Music said: "We are passionate about helping people discover the joy of singing and the associated health and wider benefits it provides. We're committed to helping develop new singers of all sorts and all ages. With the great support of Arts Council England and extra benefit of Choir of the Year's involvement, Learn to Sign 2010 will enable hundreds of people to get into signing, and for singing to become part of the lives.

Helen Price, Education Manager, Choir of the Year said: "The popularity of TV talent contests demonstrates that we're a nation of would-be singers, but people don't always make the leap from singing in the shower to singing in a group! For 25 years Choir of the Year has been at the forefront of developing and showcasing the very best group singing in the country and the sense of fun and achievement that comes through live performance. Today group singing is the most popular team pastime after sport in Britain. We're delighted to be involved in Learn to Sing and help people discover a passion for singing and look forward to hearing the singers perform at their regional Choir of the Year event in 2010."

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For press information about Learn to Sing please contact
Will Kallaway
020 7221 7883
william.kallaway@kallaway.com

For general information about Choir of the Year please contact
Helen Price
helen@choiroftheyear.com
020 7313 6273

For general information about Making Music please contact
Sarah Robinson
sarah.robinson@makingmusic.org.uk
0207 422 8280

About Choir of the Year (www.choiroftheyear.com)
Choir of the Year is the UK's national amateur group singing competition and the foremost competition of its kind - winning the competition is the ultimate achievement for any UK choir.

Over 200 choirs of all ages and music styles will be performing at regional heats at major venues across the UK from February to June 2010. These events are FREE for the public to attend, but tickets go quickly! The choirs are singing to win a place in the Grand Final at the Royal Festival Hall on 28 November, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC FOUR. Competing choirs receive live feedback from esteemed judges at each event. Tickets for all performances can be booked by emailing info@choiroftheyear.com.

Since 1984 more than 130,000 singers of all ages have taken part in Choir of the Year, a biennial festival of singing, performing in a vast array of styles - pop, gospel, barbershop, classical and World music. It is FREE to enter and choirs get to perform to a live audience and have expert judges provide live feedback and written guidance notes following the heat. Choir of the Year is more than a competition and helps choirs to become the best they can, providing the opportunity for singers of all ages and backgrounds to meet and exchange ideas, it raises the aspirations of thousands of singers by promoting teamwork, dedication and a passion for singing.

About Making Music
Making Music, the National Federation of Music Societies, is one of the largest arts umbrella organisations in the UK, representing and supporting over 2,750 voluntary music groups. Its members include choirs, orchestras, music promoters, jazz and wind bands, community festivals, samba groups, sitar ensembles, barbershop choruses and brass bands. It provides a comprehensive range of financial, artistic and administrative services, as well as development and training opportunities to member groups. Making Music also lobbies on behalf of its members to national and local government and other agencies. Collectively, Making Music's 200,000 musicians and music lovers present around 10,000 concerts each year to an audience of 1.6 million people.

About The British Association of Barbershop Singers
The British Association of Barbershop Singers (BABS) is a registered music charity whose aim is to encourage harmony singing across all age groups. The Association is a voluntary organisation that has built an enviable reputation for the high quality of education and training it offers and currently has 60 registered barbershop choirs and 90 registered barbershop quartets. There are 6,000 people singing barbershop harmony in the UK with over 100,000 worldwide. Further information on barbershop singing can be found at www.singbarbershop.com

Learn to Sing and Choir of the Year 2010 are supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. To find out more about the Arts Council please visit www.artscouncil.org.uk

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