HappySounds Assington
2024 sees the fifth anniversary of HappySounds Assington, and we are so proud of this lovely group of people.
The choir is currently 42 members strong, and most of them have stuck together through the pandemic, rehearsing on Zoom, in fields, and in freezing halls with masks and coats on! These days we are very glad to be back to normal and welcome new members to the group in January, February and September. There is a lovely friendly feel to this choir and we sing a mixture of songs, with a bit of musical theatre and three or four part a cappella work thrown in too. Despite the Covid restrictions in the last few years we have raised over £2500 for charity through our concerts, and gone carol singing at care homes. We rehearse Thursday evenings at Assington Village Hall, 6.30-8.30pm.
HappySounds Sudbury
Here at HappySounds HQ we are delighted to announce that, from January 2024, our little HappySounds family will be growing!
After many years running the hugely successful Sudbury Sings choir, their wonderful leader Martyn Blagden is taking a well-deserved retirement, and he has very kindly asked us to look after their 70-strong band of singers to ensure we can continue their future together. From January, they will be known as HappySounds Sudbury, and they will be joining forces with our 42-strong Assington choir for our fundraising concerts. We would like to extend our warmest thanks to Martyn and wife Jane for this fantastic opportunity and wish them every happiness for the future, and we can’t wait to start making music with, and getting to know, all our lovely new singers. We will meet at the Salvation Army Hall in Station Road, Sudbury, Wednesdays 7-9pm, from January 10th.
The HappySounds Singers
This is a friendly Friday morning singalong group who sing mostly in unison for fun and company.
We occasionally pop to the Red House to go and sing for the residents, and enjoy singing well known tunes from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. This is a weekly drop-in group, tea, biscuits and a natter are an essential part of the session! We meet Friday mornings at 10.30 – 12 noon at the Friends Meeting House, Friar’s Street, Sudbury.
No audition is necessary at our sessions, and you don’t need to be able to read music, although it is provided where appropriate. All we need is a smile and a “can-do” attitude. Our choirs are a fun and friendly place to be, everyone has made lots of new friends, and they also get the benefit of some pro voice tips, as well as free online learning resources and a place to chat in a private Facebook members’ page.
We sing to rock and pop backing tracks, although we do some a cappella work in both the Choirs, and we make sure we have time for a breather and a cup of tea halfway through. We generally sing a mixture of popular songs from the last few decades, as well as a little musical theatre. We have great fun learning harmonies, we try lots of new songs, and sing anything from the Beatles to Ed Sheeran. Practise sessions consist of fun and varied warm ups, a little vocal technique, handy hints and tips to get the best from your voice, and then we work together on our harmonies. Occasionally we go "off piste" and pick random songs to all sing along to - and often find great ideas for new songs to do! The main choirs operate on a subscription basis, and rehearsals are livestreamed via a private social media platform, so you need never miss a session if you can’t attend in person.
We are looking forwards to performing at Sudbury Arts Centre and at Bures Music Festival in 2024, among other fundraising events. If you're interested in joining and would like more info please contact Nettie using the contact form on this website.