Everyone welcome to enjoy singing (From Malvern Gazette)

Everyone welcome to enjoy singing

9:46am Friday 12th January 2007 in Music By Robert Hale

A SINGING teacher from Malvern, who already runs a successful community singing group in the town, is starting another one near Ledbury.

Ros Thomas has been running the Natural Voices group for the last three years, and will be launching Simply Singing at Canon Frome Court next month.

Ros, aged 39, is a member of the Natural Voice Practitioners Network, which believes that singing is everyone's birthright. Its teachers are committed to styles that are accepting and inclusive of all, regardless of musical experience and ability.

She said: "These community singing groups welcome anyone who fancies singing, but who may have no musical background, singing experience or music reading ability, or even believe that they can't sing at all.

"No-one has to audition, all voices are welcome, all songs are taught by ear, no-one is ever asked to sing on their own, and the emphasis of the session is on having fun and singing together for pleasure.

"I teach songs sung in harmony, and without accompaniment, from all sorts of traditions: jazz and blues, gospel, pop and world music and also offer world-premiere moments by teaching my own compositions."

“The emphasis of the session is on having fun and singing together for pleasure.”

Ros Thomas

She said the aim is to make the pleasure of community singing open to everyone. A trained actress, Ros moved to the Malvern area six years ago from Hertfordshire.

The Malvern group meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at the United Reformed Church hall, Malvern Link, from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Its next meeting is on Tuesday, January 23.

The Canon Frome group will meet on the first and third Tuesdays, and its first meeting on Tuesday, February 6, will be a taster session, free of charge.

For details about the network, see www.naturalvoice. net. Anyone interested Ros's groups can call her on ros@naturalvoice.net or 01684 576681.