The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum have announced that the Loadsaweeminsingin’ singing group are to be their first choir in residence. The choir have already started rehearsing and are delighted to have found a new home where they will also be participating in creative collaborations at the cultural attraction as part of the museum’s 150th celebrations.
This year, The McManus the Learning & Engagement Team are leading the People’s Story, an ambitious outreach project that will explore the relationship between Dundee’s diverse communities, the museum and its collections. The residency is seen as a key addition to this process. The choir will perform at events throughout the year, enhancing opportunities the museum has to engage with audiences and highlight the interconnection between The McManus and people of Dundee over the past 150 years.
Loadsaweeminsingin’ was established by Anna Newell at Dundee Rep in 1994 with a show called ’Following a Different Drum’ where the ground-breaking all female community singing group was established. The group has met every Monday night since then and have performed in a huge variety of shows including Michael Marra’s operetta ‘If the Moon can be Believed’. Sarah Harrop took over the group in 2004 and continued the community singing group’s journey including a performance on BBC’s ’Last Choir Standing. In January 2015, the group came under the new direction of Alice Marra, daughter of Michael Marra and have continued to grow and perform in a wide variety of shows.
Christine Millar, Section Leader for Learning & Engagement at The McManus said
“Loadsaweeminsingin’ are a group who mirror many of our own values and encapsulate much of what we strive to achieve ourselves at The McManus. Proud of what Dundee can and has achieved over the years and a huge enthusiasm for celebrating and understanding the people’s story. We are looking at ways of providing shared experiences and extending our audience through participation. It is a great fit then to have a choir who can help do just that and we can’t wait to hear them perform at The McManus.”
Alice Marra said
“The group are a hugely powerful and passionate bunch of women from in and around Dundee and although the group has evolved over the years there are still members from its very first incarnation. The group are absolutely delighted to be working in such a wonderful space at The McManus and hope to collaborate with other groups based there and really get involved in what’s happening around the 150th anniversary of the building. The group would like to thank Christine Miller at The McManus for giving them this very exciting opportunity and look forward to this new era of Loadsaweeminsingin’!”
The group had hoped to take on some new singers for the new term in January however such is the popularity of the group, they are currently no spaces available. However, if anyone who wants to add their name to the waiting list can get in touch at loadsaweemin@gmail.com.
