Mask of Hope
Sharon Richards | Bentley Community Choir
“We will move on
We will stand tall
and through all this not lose it all
We will remember what we’re made of
So, turn to stand up! ”
The Bentley Community Choir
During the pandemic, The Bentley Community Choir have not been able to meet with their choir leader Sharon Richards like usual.
So, working with Sharon, we sent out two letters to members of the choir with prompts, to give them an opportunity to reflect and respond to the questions.
The letters were designed by the talented Paul Ward at Evergreen Agency.
The responses would then be used by Sharon to write a song - ‘Stand Up’.
Letter One
Letter one was sent out to our community choir members in February and soon enough we received beautiful responses and reflections to the questions. The questions below were asked:
“How does taking part in our choir make you feel?”
“What emotions does choir practice stir up for you?”
“How has your mental health and well-being been affected due to the pandemic and missing our choir practices? What do you miss the most?”
Letter Two
Further questions were asked of the choir in the second letter, before Sharon would take the responses away and write a song that reflected the answers.
“Are you planning on returning to the choir when we are able to resume practice? And what are you most looking forward to about it?”
“Can you in one sentence give me your interpretation of the title to our song ‘mask of hope’?”
“Tell me what has kept you hopeful during lockdown and why?”
The song
We are so excited to share with you the fantastic song Sharon wrote with the thoughts and reflections from the choir. Take a listen to ‘Stand Up’ below!
Stand-up | (Mask of Hope)
Introduction:
We will move on
We will stand tall
and through all this not lose it all
We will remember what we’re made of
So, turn to stand up!
Verse:
Going around in circles like we’re going nowhere
Feeling mixed emotions trying to show that we care
Like there’s no tomorrow and we live for today
Capturing the laughter that we had yesterday
Chorus:
So, we will sing like there’s no tomorrow
and we will sing out joyous song
Fill your heart and feel uplifted
So, turn and stand up!
Verse:
Floating in mid-air and making sense of it all
Cherish all the friendship,
Lift you up when you fall,
Fill your heart with laughter raise your voice and let’s sing,
Remembering the good times and the joy it will bring.
Chorus:
So, we will sing like there’s no tomorrow
and we will Sing our joyous song
Fill your heart and feel uplifted
So, turn and stand up.
Verse:
We will move on,
We will stand tall,
And thru all this not lose it all,
We will remember what we’re made of,
So, turn to stand up!
So, turn and STAND UP!
Chorus x 3
Bentley Community Choir Performance
We had the pleasure of attending the Bentley Community Choir performance at the Jubilee Hall and it was fantastic! The choir, led by Sharon Richards, performed several songs including a couple from ‘The Bentley Song Book’ and the group also sang their Mask of Hope song ‘Stand Up’. It was lovely finally hear the choir perform ‘Stand Up’ together after time away from lockdown.
A big well done to the choir and the team, it was a fantastic evening.
Film by David Sanchez.
