Rochdale choirs perform at Manchester Together

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Choirs from Rochdale were amongst those performing at the commemorative Manchester Together  - With One Voice concert in the city centre on Tuesday (22 May).

Local choirs such as Sing! Littleborough, Wardle Academy Choir and Rochdale Carers Choir took to the stage in Albert Square on the first anniversary of the horrific Manchester Arena bombing.

Sing! Littleborough and the Carers Choir performed Faith Hill’s ‘There You’ll Be’ to a crowd of approximately 15,000 and was screened across Cathedral Gardens and MediaCityUK.

Sarah Williams of Sing! Littleborough, who meet every Wednesday evening at the Falcon, said: “It was amazing. Everyone was there for a different reason and there was such a feeling of love. It was a fabulous event and we were honoured to be a part of it.”

Sing! Littleborough choir leader Phil Reynolds, who also runs the Rochdale Carers Choir, Tameside Voices and Sapphire Blue, applied for the groups to take part in the event.

Sarah added: “We had two weeks to practice and for some members it was their first gig. It was a great atmosphere, and everyone was well-looked after. We were one of only nine choirs out of 100 that were asked to perform on stage, so it was a real privilege.”

Phil explained: “We wanted to be part of such an important local event, and to lend our voices to the tribute to the 22 who lost their lives, their families and survivors. Singing is proven to have a huge positive physical and emotional impact on health, and many of my choir members rely on weekly rehearsals as a lifeline for lots of reasons. And performances like this come along very rarely. For some it was their first public performance and they absolutely loved it.”

A representative of Wardle Academy said: “As a school, we were extremely privileged that our Wardle Academy Choir, 'Wardle Voices' was invited to perform at such a prestigious event. Our students were very happy that they were able to support the 'Manchester Together with One Voice' event.”

Over 3,000 singers from choirs across Greater Manchester performed at the free evening concert in remembrance of the 22 people who died in the Arena bombing on May 22 2017.

A communal singalong finished the concert, performing the hit track by Oasis ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ which has since become an anthem after the attack, Ariana Grande’s ‘One Last Time,’ ‘One Day Like This’ by Elbow before closing the event with Take That’s ‘Never Forget.’

Rochdale Carers Choir has member up to 96 years old and meets (term time) Wednesdays 12.30-2pm at Rochdale Unitarian Church.

Sing! Littleborough is a recently formed choir meeting in a pub every Wednesday (term time) 7-8.30pm at The Falcon Inn, Littleborough.