Big date for choir

Aug 25 2009 by Our Correspondent, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

A PERTH-based community choir has been given the opportunity of a lifetime to perform in front of a 15,000 strong audience at one of Scotland’s biggest live music events of the year.

The Craigie Community Choir has been invited to join Scotland’s premier Celtic rock band, Runrig, when they take to the stage in the parklands at Scone Palace on Saturday as part of the Homecoming Scotland celebrations. For the 28 members of the choir it will be their biggest performance to date.

Debra Salem, the choir’s director, explained how the choir was founded: “I started the choir in 2004 with parents of children at Craigie Primary School that I managed to coax into coming along. We started with eight and now we have 28 plus myself, and in fact we now have a waiting list of people looking to join us!”

“Initially we were very much a non-performing choir, only singing to family and friends at Christmas – but although our ethos is about having fun and singing, we have over the last two years started to perform more in front of audiences other than our own friends and family.

“Last year we were involved in the BBC’s ‘Last Choir Standing’ and got down to the last 28. We just applied because we like the idea of making a DVD to send in! We have also won Choir section of ‘Perform in Perth’ for the last three years and this year we went to the Inverness Music Festival and won that.”

Commenting on the invitation to join Runrig on stage for a rendition of one of their most beautiful and iconic songs ‘In Search of Angels’, Debra said: “It’s a great thrill for us to be involved in this event and the choir is really excited. I don’t think we can quite believe that we have been lucky enough to get this opportunity and I know we can’t quite imagine what it will be like singing to that number of people - but we are singing on a beautiful song and we’re just really looking forward to it.”

Support acts include Fred Morrison, the Blair Douglas Band featuring Kathleen MacInnes; King Creosote and The Peatbog Faeries. Gates open at 2pm.

Tickets from SEE Tickets, www.seetickets.com, telephone 0871 231 0827.