00:00The Westgate Road Avenue here, one of Newcastle's oldest and most treasured cultural landmarks,
00:06has announced the formation of Tiny Theatre Voices, an inclusive community choir open to all
00:12abilities. Starting in September this year, the choir will meet weekly on Monday evenings
00:17and aims to bring the joy of singing to all through a diverse repertoire of classical and
00:23contemporary music. Obviously the history of the building is such that we've always had
00:29performances here and there have been choirs in the past but we felt that this was a really good
00:34time to bring communities together. The community engagement strand is a new part of our work,
00:42looking to the future and looking to work with communities in and around Newcastle.
00:47Singing is really good for our physical and mental well-being, it also connects communities and
00:53individuals together. So we really think that this is a fantastic way to bring people into
00:59the theatre. They're going to have the opportunity to perform on stage as well, which is amazing and
01:05something that other community choirs might not have. So we feel that this is a unique opportunity
01:12for people to get involved with the theatre but also to find the joy of singing. So it's a really open
01:18choir. We're welcoming everybody whatever their singing ability. I believe that everyone can sing,
01:25so we'll bring everybody together. There won't be any auditions, you can come for a free trial session
01:33and then we'll be singing all kinds of music, whether that's classical, folk, contemporary, pop,
01:41all-encompassing really and we just want it to be a really fun opportunity for everybody.
01:46Alongside the new choir, the theatre has also unveiled a wider programme of community initiatives.
01:53A Knit and Netta group run in partnership with local charity Search Newcastle has already launched,
01:59along with the time tabletop board game club, offering free social meet-ups open to all ages.
02:05For families, the theatre's creative workshop series is set to bring colour and creativity to the school
02:11holidays. So one of the things we wanted to do with the creative workshops was bring people into the
02:16space who might not come other than an evening performance. So we've programmed a short series
02:22of children's workshops that include animation, edible art, some mask making and there are a couple of
02:30adult workshops in there as well. We've got a handcrafted chocolate workshop and there's a creative
02:37journaling workshop happening in the autumn as well. What we're hoping is that people will see the theatre
02:43as somewhere to come to be creative and the idea is that then we will hold some half-time workshops for
02:52children and continue a programme of workshops for adults and families across the year.
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