Gallery from Groby Sings Comes of Age
About Us
Groby Sings was shortlisted for a Community Award in the 2023 annual BBC Radio Leicester Local Awards. We were honoured to receive a trophy in September. Listen at:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0g1kl1k
Groby Sings has also been the recipient of a Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council 'Make a Difference Award' 2023.
The new season is announced as Groby Sings in Its Element . This season will end with a performance weekend in June 2025. Details will be on the 'Next Concert' page.
The choir restarts on February 12th. Please note we sing on Wednesdays in school term time.
Singers are welcome to join in with this season at whatever point they wish to and don't need to come every single week. Performance is optional.
Who conducts the choir?
The new Musical Director is Simon Lubkowski.
Please visit https://youtu.be/9ATB5cgCl14 to view Simon's introduction to the choir.
Guidelines For This Season
Health: You are requested to NOT ATTEND if you are feeling unwell at all or have any symptoms of any illness. This is out of respect for the health of your fellow singers, volunteers, musical director and yourself. Many of our singers are vulnerable to infection.
Venue and travel: The Groby Club, Leicester Rd, Groby, Leicester LE6 0DJ There is limited parking. Please consider walking. Do not park at the Library or Village Hall. Beware of parking restrictions in the local roads.
Adult arrival times: 1.15pm for the afternoon and 7.15pm for the evening. Please do not arrive early.
Rehearsal times: 1.30 to 3.00pm and 7.30 to 9.00pm.
Registration: All attendees will need to register as they enter the rehearsal room.
Children aged 7 and above are welcome to arrive from 3.15pm. They will be signed in in the rehearsal room. Parents and carers are welcome to stay in the rehearsal room or to leave their child when they have been fully registered.
Donations: It will cost about £3 per adult and £1.50 per child per week for us to run Groby Sings. There will be the opportunity for you to make a donation on arrival. You are welcome to attend without making a donation - we are a registered charity open to all to attend regardless of payments received. There are options for Gift Aiding a lump sum donation for the season - please ask for details.
Words Booklets: These are provided free of charge and may be used for the duration of the season but must be returned in June.
Seating and Numbers: Chairs will be set out by volunteers in advance. Please do not move them. We can accommodate everyone who wishes to sing.
Breaks and refreshments: There will be a short cake break of about 15 minutes in the middle of each rehearsal to allow for purchase of drinks and toilet use. And to give time for chat!
The urn will be set up for tea and coffee which is £1 a cup.
Cake is supplied thanks to kind offers by our singers.
You can buy drinks and food items from the bar.
You may bring a bottle of water from home for your own use.
There is a ‘creche area’ where young children are welcome to play or nap at our afternoon rehearsals in the care of their accompanying responsible adult. They are also welcome in the evenings.
From our first Musical Director
Singing in a community choir like Groby Sings is life transforming and it has been a gift to have been able to stand in front of you all and conduct you every week.
Groby Sings became a hit, such a glorious success, not because of any one of us but because of ALL OF US, everyone who turned up week in, week out and sang our hearts out. Because of all YOU wonderful people listening to your rehearsal CD's and driving your families mad and dressing up in your crazy costumes and arranging all the bears in your house to sing to when we couldn't gather to sing together.
Thank you so much for letting me be part of that. It has been so very special.
My prayer is that Groby Sings will continue long into the future.
That what we started 7 years ago will grow from strength to strength, continuing to touch people’s lives who need some hope and joy. But for that to happen, all you amazing people have got to hold tight until this pandemic is over and Groby Sings resumes. Then you've got to come back so you can finish off what was started last February and perform Groby Sings On The Road and many many more concerts after that.
As I skip off into the sunset of retirement, I need to have something to look forward to and returning to hear Groby Sings perform songs from Calamity Jane is top of my list.
Keep singing everyone. Keep laughing. Most importantly….you know what’s coming…keep eating that delicious cake!
Helen Hayes
Last Performance: We performed in November 2024 to over 300 of our family, friends and neighbours.
Groby Sings Comes of Age
Concerts were performed on November 23rd and 24th 2024
Comments from our Musical Director:
Simon says...
What a fabulous time we all had this past weekend - such a joy from start to finish!
The quality of the singing was outstanding, and the fact that I could see you all so well made it so much more enjoyable - scanning smiling faces as you realised just how GREAT you sounded was amazing. There are too many song highlights to mention, but the quality of the harmonies being sung was amazing - rich, full, warm and just like a big hug - WELL DONE!
Thanks for travelling that little bit further to Brockington College and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did - the audience were very engaged throughout, and the comments from them during the interval and afterwards show that they were just as enthralled as I was by your singing and performing - even Halfway Rap was good, and that's something I had not foreseen in my MD's crystal ball!
Thanks as ever to you as singers for being such a dedicated and appreciative group of people to work with - I love spending time with you all, and really do feel that whilst fun (and cake!) is still at the heart of what we do, we are adding in some real singing prowess to the mix as well, whilst still having lots of fun, and eating lots of cake (at least in my case!).
Thanks to the management team for their tireless efforts to get everything "just right" for us all, the Trustees for all the dotting of i's and crossing of t's, and of course a special thanks to Jane for all that she does for Groby Sings - too much to mention it all without a doubt!
Thanks to Cliff for accompanying throughout the season, especially with the Youth Choir, and a huge thanks to Paul who really is the creative genius behind so much of what we do, from song choices, arrangements, accompaniment, being a trustee, (having to work with me!) and so much more - we are so incredibly lucky to have him, and I cannot wait to start planning our future seasons and songs with him!
I will hopefully see lots of you at the Post-performance party on the 4th, but if not I look forward to welcoming you back to the club on Wednesday 12th February, where we can listen to ALL our amazing songs for "Groby Sings... In It's ELEMENT"!!!
Take care, and thanks again - I am a very proud Musical Director, very proud indeed!
Simon xxx
Some of the other comments received from the previous season :
Massive thanks to you for your musical talents and organisation.
What a fantastic weekend we’ve had; the audience’s faces and participation were a wonderful sight and sound.
It was fan-dabby-dozy. I also had to hold back some tears on some of the songs they were so powerful xxx Thank you all for allowing a real poor singer to enjoy this experience and learn to hit some notes. The funny sounds of the guitar on standing and Simon’s manic smile 😃 always remind me to smile and share the fun.
The whole weekend was amazing the energy & buzz was something else!! The enthusiasm from the audiences was great.
I just want to take this opportunity to tell you how much I have enjoyed being a new member of Groby Sings.
It has been a difficult year for myself and my family so far, but each Wednesday I have gone home feeling uplifted.
I am so glad that my friend persuaded me to join.
The group is such an asset to everyone that attends, their friends and families.
I felt very proud to be a part of it over the weekend.
Well done everyone! A fantastic Sunday concert. Simon pulled it off brilliantly. The audience participation was great fun. I liked the images projected behind the singers.
The concert itself I thought was a triumph. The audience were very appreciative and the seven members of my family who came to support us (including two teenage boys!) loved it all.
Another super weekend. You and your team do a fantastic job. Simon was on 'form’ and the band were great. Big thanks to all.
Thanks again to you and the team, Simon and all the volunteers for making last weekend run so smoothly and making it so enjoyable.
Groby Sings acknowledges with gratitude the generous support of singers...
A New Boy
Dancing Granny
In Memory of a Loving Mum
Anonymous Benefactor
Happy Face and the Geeky Scientist
Rambling Rector
Il Basso
Cheerful Chortlers
Amazing Altos
Amy Lee
The 2 C’s
Dancing Duet
Sing On
Aged Alto
Always an Optimist
Ev From Eire
And local businesses...
-
Classic Cuts
Ladies’, gentlemen’s and children’s hair design
0116 287 8804
11 Lawnwood Road, Groby LE6 0BH
2. Glenfield Electrical
0116 298 3804
Mill Lane Industrial Estate, The Mill Lane, Glenfield, Leicester, LE3 8DX
3. EdithJames Catering
07951 548682
which have enabled our words booklets to be provided for free to all singers.
Groby Sings could not happen without the generosity of...
The Club, Groby
English Martyrs School
Brockington College
St Philip and St James' Church, Groby
The Thomas Herbert Smith Trust Fund
Groby Library and Time Out Cafe
Making Music
The Dementia Programme Board of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
The Worshipful Company Weavers
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council
Registered Charity 1180490