Solihull choir takes centre stage at Commonwealth Games

A choir based at ExtraCare’s Solihull Village will be lighting up the stage at the Opening Ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games this week.

Pop Voices was formed in 2013 purely for people that love to sing. With no auditions necessary the choirs focus solely on the enjoyment of singing and making friends.

Sessions for the local choir are held every Tuesday 10.30am-12pm at ExtraCare’s Solihull Retirement Village. The company already ran a wellbeing choir at the village for Parkinson’s UK and they loved the space so decided to hire it for Pop Voices too. Director of Pop Voices, Anya Small states; “It is really great space, airy and with good acoustics for singing. It also has a lovely café area that our singers can socialise in afterwards. The facilities are fantastic, it is a really welcoming environment and a super space to sing in.”

The choirs at Pop Voices are involved in a community spirit project run by B:Music at the Birmingham Symphony Hall. Groups of choirs gather to perform as one mass choir at the prestigious Birmingham venue. It was from there that the choir were invited to be part of the 1000-piece choir performing at the Opening Ceremony on 28th July at Birmingham’s newly redeveloped Alexander Stadium.

Anya adds; “We are a community choir and Solihull Village is very much a community in itself. We have been lucky enough to have some members of the retirement village join our singing community too. We are all very excited and privileged to be part of the Commonwealth Games and this piece of Birmingham’s history!”

Anya can’t wait for the group performance; “We have been rehearsing hard for the Commonwealth Games and recording, but the songs are top secret at the moment. I can’t say much but we may even be performing with a big name!”

To find out who Anya may be talking about you can catch the choir at the Opening Ceremony on Thursday 28th July, 7pm, live on BBC One.

For more information about Solihull Village including hiring out spaces please visit https://www.extracare.org.uk/solihull-village-hub/

Pop Voices new term will start on 6th September and anyone is welcome to come along and try a free taster. More information on Pop Voices can be found on website www.pop-voices.co.uk