In support of Mental Health Awareness Week (18th – 24th May), Singing Mamas Choir Network is giving the gift of a song with the release of Apart Together, written by Stroud based musician Asha McCarthy.
Apart Together is a song to help people feel more connected to each other during the lockdown. Asha McCarthy, choir leader and mother of a toddler said “I felt very anxious at the beginning of the lock down; I wrote Apart Together hoping people would feel comforted and less alone”.
Apart Together is a collaboration between choir leaders from the Singing Mamas Choir Network, the women are based all over England. The parts were recorded separately and then produced by Rachel Holmes (Oxfordshire) to create the finished piece. Rachel said “When people listen to the song, I wish for them to hear the courage and hope in our voices and use it as a source of strength to see them through what remains of these troubled times”.
Kate Valentine (East Sussex), Founder and Director of Singing Mamas Choir recently answered the call to return to Nursing on the frontline against Covid-19. Kate said “I have seen first-hand as a choir leader and now in hospitals how important connection, and song are to patients and their loved ones; singing is a medicine and I hope this song goes some way to making them feel better”.
Singing Mamas Choir also launched ‘Songline’, a response the announcement of the lock down eight weeks ago. Since then and three times a week, Singing Mamas Choir Leaders and special guests from the wider natural voice network, including Susie Ro Prater, have been sharing songs as part of our Songline sessions. Songline has brought thousands of people together to sing and feel part of a community. Asha McCarthy will be teaching Apart Together on Songline on Friday 22nd May at 10.30am
For further information visit singingmamaschoir.com and facebook.com/ashacello
Mental Health Week is hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, this year’s theme is kindness. Click here for further info