Chris Kaufman introduces Enfield in Song, a welcoming choir for the whole borough

*The Enfield in Song gang, including budding songwriter Charles Jaffrey (back row, far left)*

Move over Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lennon and McCartney; we’ve discovered a star songwriter in our very midst.

Enfield in Song, the community choir that has been performing to delighted audiences in churches, care homes, memory and visually-impaired clubs, has a new anthem written by unsung hero Charles Jaffrey.

Scotsman Charles was unsung because he had never penned a lyric before. But, responding to musical director Laurence Payne’s challenge to choir members to have a go, the stirring strains of Enfield in Song now rattle the rafters in halls, homes and clubs across the borough – raising spirits in the gloomy face of the pandemic.

‘The theme rattled around my head for a while,” says Charles, “until the words clicked into place with the basic tune.”

Mary Horsfield, the choir organiser and former art and drama teacher who has sung professionally in the past, said: “We’re lucky to have musical director Laurence. He’s a talented pianist who creates his own unique arrangements, which get the audience tapping their feet and singing along.”

The choir is very welcoming and looking to recruit more members. I myself am an example of that; for years I would belt out Glory Hallelujah at White Hart Lane, but I never thought I could sing. They hadn’t even put me in the school choir. Then I thought I’d give it a go, picked it up with the rest of the choir, and now I can sing four-part harmonies!

Enfield in Song choir members, who range in age from 40 to 80, from Palmers Green to Aberdeen, by way of Germany, Argentina, Australia and Wood Green, are a varied bunch. They include former teachers, cab drivers, education support staff, artists, a police inspector, trade union officer and journalist. Among them are people who have met Nelson Mandela, Danny Blanchflower, Alfie Bass, the Queen Mother and Prince Monolulu. Now the choir wants to pull in more people from all round Enfield. There are no auditions, nor a need to read music; you just need to sing in tune.

If you want to give it a go and have a try out with Enfield in Song, just join our Monday morning rehearsals at Holy Trinity Church in Winchmore Hill. And if you’d like to hear us in action why not drop in to St Andrews Church in Southgate at 3pm on Saturday, 14th May? You can listen to a mix of show songs and popular and nostalgic melodies inside a beautiful church.

For more information about Enfield in Song:
Email [email protected]

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