Choir on song

Although it was back to the day job yesterday for the 40 singers who enjoyed the high of performing to more than 4,000 classical music fans, the show is far from over.

Many in the choir hope their newly found singing skills will launch a new journey and encourage more people living on Oxford's Blackbird Leys and Greater Leys estates to enjoy music and the arts.

After belting out their versions of O Fortuna, by Carl Orff, and You'll Never Walk Alone, alongside classical group G4, from TV's X-Factor show, some of the choir were in tears while thousands in the audience gave rapturous applause.

Legal secretary and choir alto Deidre Thomson, 43, of Greater Leys said: "It's not just a happy ending but a new beginning for people to get involved in community choirs, improve confidence and sends a clear message that the community does benefit from music.

"I'm very sad it has finished but for now I've got to get up in the morning and back to the nine to five job"

Auditions for the choir began in January yet the 40 novices were transformed into seasoned professionals at the Royal Albert Hall in front of television cameras and a radio audience for Classic FM.

Soprano Cindy Reid, 50, music teacher at Mabel Prichard Special School, in Blackbird Leys, said: "At times we thought 'can we really do it' but the nearer we came to making the dream a reality we knew we could pull it off."

The choir's journey has been filmed for a Channel 5 documentary, to be screened in the summer, called Ivor's Choir.

Conductor Ivor Setterfield said: "I dreamed they would be this good and they were. They didn't exceed my expectations but they exceeded most other people's expectations."

But Thursday night's live concert will not be the last time Ivor's Choir will be heard. They will be performing at the unveiling of Blackbird Leys' first piece of public art, the Glow Tree, next week.