Community with one voice at The Big Sing

If ‘many hands make light work’, then perhaps the same could be said of ‘many voices’ when they all come together during the Barossa Vintage Festival’s ‘The Big Sing’ on April 26.

In an exciting new event, which draws on the spirit of the pub choir, no hard work is required – if you have a voice, then you can join in, no experience or booking required. 

One of The Big Sing’s local singing leaders, Cloudy Davey explained the event well on BBBfm recently, during an interview for a short documentary being recorded about the event.

“It’s about bringing people together who may not have opportunities to sing in normal day to day life, or have a lack of confidence in singing but a real desire to do so,” Cloudy said.

“Bringing people together in a group and really facilitating a strong sense of community within a group, where everybody can feel like they’re really contributing to something really beautiful, and they can walk away feeling really fantastic afterwards,” she added.

The idea was the brainchild of Festival Co-Directors, Maz McGann and Rebecca Reynolds, who both admit to loving a good ol’ sing.

 “One of the things we were keen to incorporate in this year’s Vintage Festival was the idea of participation in cultural activities… making it really accessible and fun,” Maz said.

“One of the things we’re really trying to reiterate is… it’s not about being the best, it’s about being in a group of voices and together, collectively, we sound wonderful – and most of us don’t sound great singing on our own anyway – so it’s the nature of actually coming together and making something beautiful together.”

In the lead up to the event, Cloudy Davey along with other local musicians, Megan Isaacson and Jamie Blechynden are leading a number of community workshops to help people learn the songs, but participation in these is entirely optional – come to one, come to all, or none at all.

“It is very much around the aural traditions, so learning by ear, you don’t need to be able to read music, you don’t need to be able to know whether you’re a soprano or an alto, you don’t need any musical experience, you can just come along and join in,” said Maz.

The same three musicians will lead the event on the day, which is designed to be the heart-warming finale to the Vintage Festival Parade After Party at Tanunda Recreation Park. 

It’s not supposed to look or feel like a performance – more like one big, warm community hug.

“There will be people on the sides almost with their ‘arms’ around everybody because they already know the words, and everybody else can just join in on the day,” explained Rebecca.

As for the songs, there’ll be five to get around, including, ‘Bring me a little water, Sylvie’ by Lead Belly, ‘Solid Rock’ by Goanna, ‘Cover Me In Sunshine’ by Pink, and ‘We Won’t Cry’ by Archie Roach and Paul Kelly.

Built on the Barossa’s long tradition of choirs and inherent community spirit, ‘The Big Sing’ is designed to capture a unique moment in time, and celebrate humanity at its best.

Two workshops to go

While no musical experience is necessary and you don’t need a good voice or know how to hold a tune…the community is welcome at the remaining two free Barossa Big Sing Workshops, which are being held tonight and on Tuesday, with details as follows:

Wednesday, April 16, 6.30pm to 8.00pm, Barossa Regional Gallery.

Tuesday, April 22, 7.00pm to 8.30pm, Barossa Regional Gallery.