How Hastings BIG Choir was formed and its triumphant first performance

Hastings BIG Choir, with 150 members, was put together in just eight weeks by music maestro Roger Wilcock and took to the stage in July 2010 for its first performance. It was a way of bringing together men and women who had never sung seriously before, inspired by The Choir and other TV talent shows. Roger started by advertising in the Hastings Observer for men to meet the challenge of learning to sing Nessun Dorma in Italian, and 30 men responded. They went on to perform the operatic favourite at a proms concert in Alexandra Park. When joined by the ladies, they formed the Hastings BIG Choir and gave a performance filled with classics ranging from The Sound of Music to Mozart, culminating in the flag-waving favourites Rule Britannia, Land of Hope and Glory, and Jerusalem. Hastings Beer and Music Festival, organised by Hastings Round Table, was extended for one night that year to accommodate the performance, dubbed Battle of Hastings Proms.

“It was a superb evening,” said Mr Wilcock at the time. “There were a few nerves in the choir before we went on and I was a bit nervous too, because of the logistics of it all, but I was not worried about the performance because I knew they would rise to the occasion and they did. Everybody joined in with gusto and it was fantastic to see a sea of faces with everyone belting out the three big ones at the end.”

Hot on the heels of their first night success, the choir then took part in the Hastings Sierra Leone Friendship Link Singathon a few days later. The final challenge, or so they thought, was taking part in the Musica Sacra at The White Rock Theatre, alongside musicians representing the Sikh, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist and Sufi Muslim communities. The choir, in fact, went on to perform in the summer prom each year and has raised money for many charities over the years. Visit www.rogerwilcock.com/hastings-big-choir for more information.

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