Inspirational young Harborough opera singer launches her own lockdown choir - and it's already a hit

An inspirational young Market Harborough opera singer is making her voice well and truly heard as she tackles the challenging Covid-19 pandemic head on.

Liv Slatter, 22, is hitting all the right notes after launching her very own lockdown choir.

And the talented singer is thrilled after already recruiting an impressive 60 fellow enthusiasts to back her exciting virtual initiative.

“I started the choir about four weeks ago and it’s really taken off, I’m just ecstatic.

“I’ve been amazed by how many people have been so keen to join us and get involved,” said Liv, who lives in Market Harborough.

“This has been an awful year and the coronavirus has been a massive test for all of us.

“It’s been particularly difficult for anyone with mental health issues.

“It’s truly tragic how many people have taken their own lives during this terrible time.

“So I decided that I had to do something positive and something practical to help out and genuinely make a difference,” she said.

“And what better way to do that than by starting my very own choir?

“I’ve sang in fantastic choirs over the years and I started training as a professional opera singer when I was just 16.

“I was inspired to get this project up and running because singing is so good and so therapeutic for you and music is very powerful.

“I always find that there’s at least one song that people can relate to on so many levels.

“I have autism and I used to struggle with my speech,” admitted brilliant Liv very bravely.

“But learning to sing has helped me to speak much more clearly – and made me far more confident as a person as well.

“I’ve had to perform on stage and won competitions against 500 other singers when I was only 18 and they have been huge turning points.

“So I went to the National Lottery.

“And after weeks of filling in forms and answering lots of questions we have been awarded £5,000 to help fund my choir.

“The cash will help to pay for our fantastic sound engineers and videographers to help put all of this together and make it a resounding success.

“I put the word out on social media and we’ve had people from across Harborough as well as Oadby, Wigston and Leicester clamouring to join us.

“We held a vote and we’ve decided to sing Michael Jackson’s epic hit ‘Heal the World’,” said Liv.

“We are offering free online vocal lessons to our singers by top coach Tracey Holderness.

“And when all of our singing stars are comfortable and happy then they can send in their files and our magical engineers will put them all together to create the record.

“Everyone who takes part in this amazing effort will get a free copy.

“We have an excellent mix of the classic alto, tenor, bass and soprano voices.

“But we are still looking for people to join up and everyone is welcome – right across all ages, men, women and children.

“We are hoping to release our record in the New Year so that we can make the most positive, best possible start to 2021 – and put this horrible pandemic behind us for good!”

If you would like to join her growing band of singers at Olivia’s Lockdown Choir, you can find out more by visiting her Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/oliviaslockdownchoir/