Eve Lamb
Eve Lamb
If you love singing … then the community choir that’s about to be piloted in Castlemaine – starting tomorrow evening – may be for you.
The One More Chorus community choir is the brainchild of talented sister singers, Elsie and Maggie Rigby, who are well known to many as Melbourne folk icons, The Maes.
Inspired by the notion that everyone has a voice and can sing, the two have already been successfully running their One More Chorus choir every Monday night in Brunswick.
“It is a contemporary community choir that my sister and I started in 2018,” says Maggie who recently moved back to her old hometown of Castlemaine.
“We run our choir on a drop-in basis and we try to teach a new song each week or two so there’s no need to commit to a whole term of Wednesdays. The whole point is the sound we make together in the room on the night.
“We welcome members of all ages, all genders and all levels of singing experience and sing contemporary music from Australia and around the world.”
The sisters’ vocal standards, though, are impressive, and they have recently collaborated with Missy Higgins, Liz Stringer, Maple Glider, Ruby Gill and Didirri among other artists.
They will bring the One More Chorus choir to Castlemaine’s Theatre Royal at 7pm – initially for tomorrow evening’s debut session and then again, same time, the following Wednesday evening, July 20.
And they’re welcoming anyone and everyone to participate for a nominal cost at the door on the evening, with the hope that the turnout will be sufficient to warrant many more such sessions into the future.
“We will look at running more seasons in Castlemaine if this pilot season is successful,” Maggie says.
“Elsie and I grew up in Castlemaine and our parents, Jane Thompson and James Rigby, ran several local community choirs for most of our childhood including the Chat Warblers, The Peace Choir and the Acafellas.
“We went on to form an internationally touring folk band called The Maes but resisted starting a choir for a long time to avoid following too directly in our parents’ footsteps.
“We found when we finally did start our own choir that it is one of the richest and most rewarding forms of art and community that we have experienced.
“Since moving back to Castlemaine in 2020 I have been really looking forward to bringing that experience to my old home town.”
