OKEHAMPTON Christmas Choir are busy rehearsing for a special festive performance outside St James Chapel on Edwardian Evening in Okehampton on December 2.

Organiser Kerri Hardy said the choir had proved ’a real tonic’ for everyone taking part.

’The choir was just something I set up so that people could have something fun and joyful to do after such a stressful and, in some instances, isolating last year and a half,’ she said.

’I’ve been blown away by the amount of interest and by the enthusiasm of the choir members. We are having such a wonderful time and they sound fantastic already. I have to say I haven’t gone easy on them with the arrangements but they’re handling it all brilliantly and having fun in the process.’

The choir is meeting every Sunday afternoon at the Ockment Centre, with between 25 and 30 people at each session.

Kerri, who is a professional singing teacher, has been spending the pandemic primarily teaching people to sing over Zoom.

She said it was good to be teaching singing in person again â?? and that everyone taking part seemed to agree.

Many are new to singing, and she said she was impressed at how quickly they had picked things up â?? particulary as the arrangements have included learning harmonies. Their repertoire, which they will perform outside St James Chapel after the traditional mayor’s carols at 7pm on Edwardian Evening, is a mixture of carols and popular Christmas songs.

’There is a Bells of Christmas Medley, with a bit of Carol of the Bells, Ding Dong Merrily on High, Hark Hear the Bells and the Bells of Christmas Day,’ said Kerri.

’That is really great. Then we’ve got It is Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas, Let It Snow and Oh Holy Night. We are also going to do White Christmas. It is a bit of a combination of songs.’

She added: ’It should be a really lovely night. In total there are 30 of us, and about 26 will be able to come along on the night, a few are working.’

She is also hoping to organise another performance before Christmas, with venue and time to be confirmed.

She said she had been buoyed up by the level of interest in the choir, as she wasn’t sure whether people would want to turn out on a Sunday afternoon for the rehearsals.

’My husband works nights and I have got two kids so it was the only time I could make. In fact, though, people are willing to give up a Sunday afternoon for a short period of time.

’We have got a really good big bunch of people and they sound great, really joyful. We have already got four or five rehearsals in, we started at the beginning of October. They are having a blast, really loving it, and hopefully they will sound fantastic on the night. They have really enjoyed socialising again. I will probably make it an annual thing. We have had a lot of people saying they will come again. There is something about Christmas songs that people love.’

She said she was aiming for a small, high quality repertoire. ’It was worth doing less and making them sound better and more Christmassy,’ she said. ’Considering that quite a lot of the choir have never sung before they are doing amazingly well. I’m trying to find that balance of challenging them so they feel like they are learning something but keeping it manageable, so it doesn’t feel too stressful. I want people to enjoy it.’