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BBC Sing! community choir on song at Belfast's Ulster Hall

Rory O'Reilly
BBC News NI
Press Eye A group of women are singing and clapping. Two women at the front have their mouths open. One to the left is wearing glasses, has grey bobbed hair, is wearing a grey, checked jacket and is holding an opened, large black folder. One woman in the middle has brown, bobbed hair and glasses. She is wearing a patterned blue and white top and she is holding a closed black folder. A woman to the right has long, dark hair and is wearing a green jumper.Press Eye
It was a joyful experience at the Ulster Hall in Belfast

About 750 singers have come together to create BBC Radio Ulster's biggest community choir.

BBC Sing! was showcased at the Ulster Hall in Belfast on Monday night with an hour-long radio special being broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster this Sunday.

Singers were grouped into six county choirs and the event was hosted by BBC Northern Ireland weather presenter Geoff Maskell.

"I've always had music in my life - we had a piano at home from whenever I was a small child and I've always sung in choirs through school, but then you just get to that point in life where life gets in the way," he said.

Press Eye A man with grey hair and a grey short beard looks into the camera, smiling. He is wearing a pink shirt and blue jacket. Other people are in the background , standing on steps of a stage.Press Eye
BBC Sing! host Geoff Maskell said he loving being part of the community choir

Solo singers, choirs and vocal groups rehearsed for weeks, bringing community halls and spaces across Northern Ireland to life with the sound of music as they joined voices.

Each county was led by its own choral professional: Una McCann in County Antrim; Michael Harris in County Armagh; Kirsty Orr in County Down; Mairead Duffy in County Tyrone; Maurice Kelly in County Londonderry; and Keith Acheson in County Fermanagh.

Beverley McKeown from Open Arts Choir also helped lead the way for the finale of the night.

Amanda Munro was one of the singers in the County Down Choir and said it was an amazing experience.

"It's a great way to get the community together... and it's one of those events that people can express how they feel through song," she said.

"It's just a wonderful way for the community to be together."

A large group of people standing in tiered rows in an auditorium. They are looking towards a female who is standing to the right of the picture wearing a light top and black skirt, standing in front of a microphone.
The County Antrim choir performed on stage in Belfast

The county choirs came together for their versions of Kool and The Gang's Celebration and The Divine Comedy's National Express.

Ashleigh Connor was one of the singers in the County Antrim Choir.

She said the place had been "buzzing".

"Obviously it's a lot of waiting about, there's a lot of stuff going on in the background, but it's been a great opportunity for us, especially as a new choir and we're not really in the choir scene, so it's been great getting together and hearing everybody," she added.

Press Eye A large group of people standing both upstairs and downstairs in the Ulster Hall, which is a very orate building with a high ceiling and arches design on the upper tier. On the ground are boxes that say BBC and a man is at the front of the room, facing the crowd, wearing a blue jacket and trousersPress Eye
The dramatic setting of the Ulster Hall was the backdrop for the finale

Geoff Maskell said his musical journey got a new lease of life on the Ulster Hall stage about 10 years ago with the BBC Workplace Choir.

"It led me to joining a community choir and it's led me to this and it's just been a wonderful, wonderful journey," he said.

He was joined by musical director Anne McCambridge and choral leaders who were responsible for making sure each county sounded its best.

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County Fermanagh choir performing on stage in the Ulster Hall

Ms McCambridge said: "It's just so glorious to bring so many diverse folks together from all sorts of choirs, folks who have never even been in a choirs before.

"So, a real mix of everybody and it's just togetherness."

About 750 singers have come together to create BBC Radio Ulster's biggest community choir.

She said it was a "really powerful thing to stand here and sing together and raise our voices".

"For us to bring together so many wonderful folks and to lift each other up in song and in harmony, it's the literal opposite of the awful things that are going on in this world at this moment," she added.