Meet the Mancunian- 8.2 - Katie Geelan-transcript

Intro

[00:00:00] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Welcome to Season 8 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester. A warm Mancunian welcome from your host, Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe. Thank you for joining me today.

Every Tuesday, I bring you the stories of Manchester's unsung heroes, the individuals who help to create positive change in our community. My aim is to inspire you, dear listener, to follow your own passions, whether through volunteering or working in the social impact sector. I'm also keen to spotlight good causes and create more awareness and support for them.

Whether you're tuning in on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or on my website, www.meetthemancunian.co.uk. Get ready for a season filled with inspiring tales of social impact within our beloved city.

Welcome to the second episode of Season 8 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester.

Passionate about music and community choirs, we hear from Katie Geelan, Choir Director, Bolton Cancer Voices, Bury Fire Choir and Encore Youth Fire Choir in this episode.

In Katie's own words,

[00:01:15] Katie Geelan: I think, with a choir and this is what I say to my members. Obviously, we've got singers of all abilities. We don't audition. People don't have to read music. We are genuinely there for anybody who wants to come and sing, but every member makes up that choir.

And yes, it's me that stands at the front and fronts it, but it wouldn't be what it is without all the volunteers and the singers we have. Every single person makes up that choir and is there for the success of it.

Introduction to Katie Geelan and Her Choirs

[00:01:43] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much, Katie, for taking the time.

[00:01:46] Katie Geelan: Thank you. It is nice to talk to you.

[00:01:48] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Looking forward to hearing about this passion you have for supporting music in the community.

The Genesis of a Community Choir

[00:01:53] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: When did that start?

[00:01:54] Katie Geelan: Probably about 10 years ago. I've been working in lots of schools, and I was doing some work for the council as a music advisor and there wasn't a choir for people in the Bury area to join, so I just decided to set one up.

[00:02:11] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: How did you get involved with the Bury Fire Choir? I know you're part of many choirs, we'll talk a little bit about that.

Adapting to the Pandemic: The Birth of Bury Fire Choir

[00:02:17] Katie Geelan: First, when we originally became the Bury Fire Choir, before that, we were the Bury Community Choir, and we ran as Bury Community Choir right up until COVID. So then when the pandemic hit, we had the problem that all the other choirs faced, which we didn't have anywhere to rehearse. Because we've been in primary schools and secondary schools, and obviously they had to keep contact to a minimum.

I have a friend, Janet, who's one of my ex-head teachers, and she had a contact with a fireman at the Fire station in Bury. So basically, I got together with Martin and he decided that we could use the fire station premises to rehearse. So then we did a bit of a rebrand and we decided to be Bury Fire Choir and we've been that now for coming up to the past three years.

The Role and Impact of a Choir Director

[00:03:05] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And your role there is choir director, so what does that quite entail?

[00:03:10] Katie Geelan: I direct the choir. So basically, I choose the music for the choir. I sort out the venue. I liaise with people when they contact us about singing because we like to obviously support the community. I do have a great team of volunteers as well, that help me do all this. And it's brilliant. I just think because we're not a franchise, we're a totally independent, non-profit making choir so I think our numbers are absolutely brilliant. I think we've even got a waiting list as well.

Challenges and Triumphs in Choir Management

[00:03:40] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Tell us more about the challenges you face. You talked about the pandemic which like for many community groups and charities was a very difficult time but you found an opportunity from that with the Bury Fire Station. So tell us a little bit about other challenges you've had to overcome?

[00:03:58] Katie Geelan: I think again it's a problem that lots of choirs have, is actually the lack of gentlemen in the choir. And when we started, we literally had about two, three or four. And we've all, recruited people, current members have tried to encourage friends to join.

Anyway, we're in a position now where we've got the healthiest bass section in the choir that we've ever had, and I can't tell you the difference it's made. They are absolutely fantastic. So I really feel that was a huge challenge because we've always had lots and lots of ladies wanting to join. But trying to recruit men has been quite a challenge over the last few years, but I feel that we've actually got there now, but we'd still like more.

[00:04:40] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: So definitely a shout out for any men in the area.

[00:04:44] Katie Geelan: Absolutely.

[00:04:44] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And then are there any other challenges you'd like to talk about that you've had to overcome?

[00:04:50] Katie Geelan: Not really. I think we tend to what I call, tick along. I think we tick along really nicely. Like I say, I do have a fabulous team of people that take responsibility for things like music, admin, social media. So I feel that we're like a tree and I'm probably at the top of the tree, obviously, because I get a lot of what comes to me. And then with the group we've got underneath. We just do really function very effectively.

[00:05:15] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I like that analogy of being a tree and that probably that tree has a nice shade over the community as well.

[00:05:22] Katie Geelan: That's the other thing as well, I think, with a choir and this is what I say to my members. Obviously, we've got singers of all abilities. We don't audition. People don't have to read music. We are genuinely there for anybody who wants to come and sing, but every member makes up that choir.

And yes, it's me that stands at the front and fronts it, but It wouldn't be what it is without all the volunteers and the singers we have. Every single person makes up that choir and is there for the success of it.

The Power of Community and Music

[00:05:52] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: So talking about the success of the choir, tell us a little more about the impact Bury Fire Choir has made over these three years?

[00:05:59] Katie Geelan: A lot really. Like I say, we do a lot of work. We're very lucky how we're supported by people in the community. For instance, I have to mention Steve and Sharon who run a charity called Liv's Trust. Liv's Trust was set up after the arena bombing because Sharon and Steve lost their granddaughter, Olivia Campbell Hardy, in the attack.

So Steve's been instrumental in helping with the setup of the Encore Youth Fire Choir because both choirs are related, but the Children's Choir is like the sister choir of the Bury Fire Choir. So obviously we do bring both choirs together to perform at events, and so like I say, things like Liv's Trust, the Bury Hospice all these outside organisations really help us and give us, lots of opportunities.

I think the impact we have on the local community because we're always there to support events, and we support the Bury Pride. We've done the Glastonbury, not the big Glastonbury, we have something called Glastonbury because we're in the Bury area. We've sang there, we've sang at the Head for the Hills festival in Ramsbottom.

And I just think the impact it has on members because as you get older you don't always get the opportunity to perform and what I like is to give my members that opportunity to be on a stage, to get a round of applause. And I think that really does mean a lot to our members, when people comment or they've enjoyed the performance. So I think, the general wellbeing behind that is very important.

[00:07:26] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I can definitely relate from my days of singing in the St. Thomas Cathedral Choir way back in Mumbai. There's a real camaraderie and, like you said, that power of music to soothe souls.

[00:07:37] Katie Geelan: The other thing that's nice, we have a very mixed age in the choir. Obviously, I used to work in a lot of the primary schools in Bury, so I've got a lot of, young teacher friends. And I think, again, when you're a teacher, it's so intense. You don't go home and finish, you have work to do, but I think for those teachers that come to the choir, it just gives them that bit of time for themselves and a bit of a feel-good factor as well. We've got members from age 17, probably up to people in their 80s, so we've got a lovely range.

[00:08:05] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is a lovely range, and of course, you cover the younger group as well.

[00:08:08] Katie Geelan: The children's choir are fantastic and a lot of them might have a mum or grandma or grandad in the adult choir, so we really do call ourselves a family, really.

Advice for Starting a Community Choir

[00:08:19] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Tell us about the advice you have for people looking to start something similar in their local communities. We've got listeners now from about 50 countries, or it could be some other part of the UK. How do they get started? How do they start a community choir?

[00:08:34] Katie Geelan: I hope you can tell from talking to me that I'm very passionate about music and I love making music myself, but I love making music with others. And I think you can get going, you don't need a lot of resources.

Obviously now we have the internet. There are lots of, there's lots of free music available. You can use YouTube, you can get backing tracks. So I think that makes it quite accessible and all you need really is a space. I've been very lucky. I've had two great accompanists. We had Tom for seven years. We've recently got a new accompanist called Dan.

But choirs can function without an accompanist. You can use tracks. Like I say, there are things on YouTube to help you start your choir. So just go for it. And you'll probably find the interest is definitely there because singing really does help people with mental health and that all-round feel-good factor.

Busting Myths and Sharing Successes

[00:09:23] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: An opportunity for you to talk about anything I haven't asked you about.

[00:09:26] Katie Geelan: The Cancer Voices, I'm the musical director but the lady who is the founder of the choir is called Karen Elliott, and she is so passionate about Bolton Cancer Voices. It's a very different choir to the Bury Fire Choir because obviously the criteria for joining the Bolton Cancer Choir is that you've had to have had at some point in your life, a cancer diagnosis.

So we have some people that have now been cured from cancer and we have also singers with us that are going through cancer treatment. I think the singing, the coming together once a week, it gives people a break, from what's going on in life and they just come together, and they have that unity of singing. An incredible choir, always looking for new members, and Karen would welcome you with open arms to anybody who would like to join in the Bolton Bury area.

[00:10:15] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: What's a common myth in your role or in the field you're working in which is community choirs that you'd like to myth bust. You talked about one which is that anybody can sing and people of all abilities.

[00:10:29] Katie Geelan: I always feel when I take a rehearsal, my key thing that I want people to get out of a rehearsal is I want them to enjoy it. But at the same time, I want us to be the best we can be. I always think people's time is very precious, especially since the pandemic.

People have busy lives. They have family, they have jobs. So they give up one and a half hours a week to come to me to sing. Yes, they want the enjoyment, but I also think if you can get some quality as well and get to the point where you can do performances. And you can advertise yourself out within the community. That does take your choir to another level really for your members as well.

[00:11:07] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I'm now going to move to the signature questions that I ask all my guests.

And the first one for you is, if Manchester was a colour, what colour do you think it would be and why?

[00:11:18] Katie Geelan: Do you know, as soon as you said colour with Manchester, a rainbow came into my head because Manchester is so wonderfully diverse and cultural. I couldn't think of one colour. To me, Manchester is just an array of colour and, like I say, a rainbow.

[00:11:36] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is a nice analogy.

[00:11:38] Katie Geelan: It really is though, the amount of community groups, singing groups. And my choir recently took part in a choir festival in Bolton, and I think there was something like, there must have been maybe 20, 22 choirs involved. It wasn't competitive, it was just, sing, and we got some lovely constructive, notes to take us forward. But every choir is different, and I think that's what makes choirs really special.

[00:12:03] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: if you could choose a famous landmark in Manchester to represent you, which one would it be and why?

[00:12:10] Katie Geelan: I think because of all our associations with Liv's Trust and what happened in Manchester, it would definitely be those beautiful gardens outside Manchester Cathedral that have been dedicated to the people that lost their lives in the Manchester bombing.

As a choir we, we mark it every single year. We do something on the day, we celebrate with Manchester music, but we feel it's very important that we always remember what happened on that night.

[00:12:38] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That was a very sad time indeed in Manchester.

If you could trade lives with someone in Manchester for a day, who would it be and why?

[00:12:46] Katie Geelan: Maybe Andy Burnham. Andy actually came to visit our choir and he was such a lovely man and I just think the amount of things that he must have to deal with. I wouldn't want his life forever but I would maybe like to just experience a day in the life of Andy Burnham might be quite nice.

[00:13:04] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is a very nice thought.

What's the most important life lesson you've learned so far?

[00:13:09] Katie Geelan: I think if you have a gift, which I genuinely feel I have for music, you get so much pleasure out of sharing that with other people. If you have a gift, don't keep it to yourself. What I look as God's gift to me is my way of saying thank you, is sharing that with other people. And that's what I always try to do.

[00:13:28] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is a very beautiful thought.

 What's the most important personality trait somebody needs to be successful in community choirs or in directing community choirs?

[00:13:38] Katie Geelan: Think you've got to never take yourself too serious. Element of fun. You've got to be organised. I always, I like to organise a rehearsal. People want to know what they're doing, what they're working on. And just make it fun and effective and always that being the best you can be, getting the best out of people. That's what I really like to try and do.

[00:13:59] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And I like that very much about that organising the rehearsal because like you said, people are sparing 90 minutes or so of their life.

[00:14:06] Katie Geelan: Time is precious with everybody. But so many members say, and they do actually share, they might have had a bad day or something might have happened and they all say when they come to choir, they can't describe the lift that it gives them. And that's just the power of the singing. That's not me. That's just the power of being part of that group and making music together.

[00:14:25] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: How can interested people reach out to you and learn more if they want to come and listen to something that you're performing or if they want to volunteer, like you said, you want more voices?

[00:14:35] Katie Geelan: Absolutely. We also like performances as well, so if there are people listening that have a concert or an event and they would like some music, we can just be contacted on our Facebook page. We've got Facebook, we've got Twitter and Instagram, is the best one if you leave us a message and we will get back to people. And obviously for membership, again, if you tell us you're interested, we have a team that will send you out further information.

 We do have a website as well, Bury Community Choir, that you can read about us, about some of our members and look at the previous concerts we've done as well.

Heartwarming Stories and Final Thoughts

[00:15:07] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: To end the podcast, is there a funny story or a heartwarming story you'd like to share with listeners? You talked a lot about the power of music to rejuvenate.

[00:15:16] Katie Geelan: We have had a few scary moments and they're always tech related. So this is a story of when in the children's choir we sang. We've sang live on the BBC a lot when obviously when it's been the anniversary of the Manchester attack.

One year we were in the centre of Manchester, it was the first year after the attack and we were in St. Anne's Square and we were singing live on Radio Manchester and it was a beautiful sunny day. And I got the iPad on the speaker and because the sun was so hot it actually burnt, literally burnt the iPad out, so the music stopped.

The Manchester Medley is a nine minute medley. The children were about three minutes in and the music track cut out. And they just carried on singing the whole song with no backing. So again, that wasn't one of our best moments, but for the children just to carry on, it was incredible. And that's what I'm saying. They're so hearty, my singers, they're so prepped as well. So they knew just to carry on.

[00:16:15] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Complete professionals, isn't it?

[00:16:17] Katie Geelan: Absolutely!

[00:16:17] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: But I think this is the thing, every challenge there's an opportunity that comes of it.

[00:16:21] Katie Geelan: Sometimes we get to a venue, I remember once we were somewhere and I haven't got anything to stand on because the choir were a lot higher than I thought they would be. So I was given a milk float, and anybody that knows me would know that I never wear flat shoes, especially at a concert, so I had my little stilettos on.

And I was balancing on a milk crate trying to conduct. So yeah, there have been some moments like that, but those are all just part of it. And we go along with it when things like that happen, just carry on.

[00:16:50] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Keep calm and carry on.

[00:16:52] Katie Geelan: Absolutely. Keep singing.

[00:16:53] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much, Katie. This has been a real pleasure and I'm looking forward to coming to one of your concerts, especially because I know one of the members of the choir, who introduced us.

[00:17:02] Katie Geelan: You're very welcome. And a big shout out to Becca because she does so much for all of us. She's amazing.

[00:17:08] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Brilliant. Thank you for being on the show.

[00:17:11] Katie Geelan: Thank you.

[00:17:11] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Katie has shared a special segment from the Manchester medley her choir sang. I hope you enjoy listening to it.

Outro

Katie, I really enjoyed learning about supporting community choirs today.

Dear listener, thank you so much for listening to the second episode of the Meet the Mancunian podcast Season Eight. Tune in every Tuesday for a new episode or log on to www.meetthemancunian.co.uk to listen to all the episodes and learn more about my podcasting story.

Next week on Tuesday, 18th June 2024, I speak to Charlie Michael Baker about creating awareness for autism.

Thank you for joining me on the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester. I hope today's conversation has sparked some new ideas and inspired you to act in your community.

A big thank you to my wonderful community for your continuous support and valuable feedback. Your stories shape the very essence of my podcast, driving me forward with purpose. I'm eager to hear your thoughts. Visit my website at meetthemancunian.co.uk to share your insights. Remember, this podcast is your platform too.

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Keep fostering connections and always remember the power to change the world lies with each one of us. Until next time.