WI Members Meeting – Voice Coach, Steve Amer

22nd January 2025 | Wickhambrook W.I.

For the first meeting of 2025 we welcomed Steve Amer who was introduced as a voice coach. It quickly became apparent that this was to be a talk which included audience participation as Steve talked about the importance of music and in particular singing on people’s physical, emotional and mental health. We were encouraged to join in a call and response aboriginal lullaby – led by Steve. After that we launched into a rousing rendition of “Que Sera Sera”, “There’s a Kind of Hush” and “Puppet on a String”. Steve had been impressed by the fact that we had sung “Jerusalem” at the start of our meeting as this is a tradition that not all WI’s maintain. It was no surprise that all our members joined in the community singing.

Steve works with the charitable group Beccles Choir which began with the idea of forming a choir for people who cannot sing! The aim is to make the choir inclusive for people who perhaps cannot read music or who feel self-conscious about their singing ability. More information can be found at The Voice Cloud.

Steve talked a bit about how after the Second World War two servicemen realised the effect of nurses singing to wounded soldiers had on their recovery. Music Therapy has since become an important part of helping in the recovery of physical and mental health. Suffolk Record Offices wanted to engage young people in researching their past and thought music would be a useful tool. They were particularly interested in sea shanties linked to the fishing industry along the Suffolk/Norfolk coastline.

We all enjoyed Steve’s interactive talk and were in agreement that music truly has a positive effect on one’s physical and mental health.

Voice Coach WI Meeting
Voice Coach Steve Amer WI Members Meeting

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