Rocky Road Choir, clockwise from left, Rosemary Christopher, Marion McGill, Sheila Wood, Bev Reynolds, Jennifer Hemmes, Jeannie Leather, Bob Burgess, Carolyn Francis, Leah Marlow, Anne Duff, Josh, Zillah Postlethwaite, Janet Goodwin, Susan Casey and Mitzi Davison.
By Kath Gannaway
THE Dandenong Ranges Music Council will host the Big Shindig at the Yarra Valley Racing Centre in Yarra Glen on Saturday.
The Reclink Rocky Road Choir is one member of Onwards and Upwards, a wider group of choirs which perform individually and together at the event.
Founded by Moya Simpson and John Shortis, Onwards and Upwards is a community music project designed to encourage older bushfire survivors to connect with the community.
Leah Marlowe, Rocky Road choir leader, said that “the combination of connecting with the community and singing is a very appealing and therapeutic thing”.
The informal aims of the Rocky Road Choir are to have fun, enjoy singing and reach out to one another and the community, Ms Marlowe said, and a recurring mantra sung by the members is ‘recovery, family, harmony’.
Bob Burgess, who has been a member for two years, described the atmosphere of the choir as “very friendly and supportive… very huggy”.
Jeannie, another member, said that the members of the choir are “one big happy family” that gets along magnificently, and that the weekly choir meetings are the uplifting highlight of the week.
“Rain, hail, snow – I’ll be here no matter what,” she declared.
At the Big Shindig, several local choirs such as the Chum Creek Primary School choir, the Aboriginal Children’s Choir, the Healesville U3A Choir and Singing for your Soul’s Sake, will sing songs about the Yarra Ranges community that were written by Shortis and Simpson.
The Onwards and Upwards theme song, a rousing song about pushing forward and living life with vigour, will be sung by every singing group in attendance.
The Big Shindig, on Saturday, 24 September at 2.30pm, is a free event supported by the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund. For more information, visit www.drmc.org .au.
