The Newcastle LGBTQ+ choir celebrating the queer community through song (2024)

An LGBTQ+ choir based in Newcastle is celebrating the local queer community through music with welcoming rehearsals and uplifting performances.

Northern Proud Voices is the largest and longest-running community choir for LGBTQ+ people in the North East. Formed in 2011, the group began with less than a dozen members and now has more than 100, with the group meeting every Thursday to rehearse at ReCoCo in Newcastle city centre - an evening that is always "great fun", according to treasurer Simon Devlin-Bell.

Simon joined the choir in 2022 after seeking a new hobby that would enable him to reconnect with others in person in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, and was blown away by the impact that singing with fellow members of the queer community had on his mental health. Chronicle Live caught up with Simon and the choir for Pride Month to hear all about the group, and why it's more important than ever that spaces like theirs exist for LGBTQ+ people.

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Northern Proud Voices sing all types of music - Simon's favourite to perform is Survivor by Destiny's Child - and pride themselves on being inclusive and diverse, with members spanning the LGBTQ+ spectrum and ages ranging from early twenties to early seventies. New members are always welcome, with no previous experience or musical training required and no intimidating audition process to endure.

"It's so much fun - and it doesn't matter if you can sing or not," Simon explained. "We're a really welcoming bunch - if you're in any doubt, just come along and give it a go. We have all sorts of abilities, all sorts of backgrounds and histories."

Simon assured those new to singing that it's "not as scary as you think", with his own story being a perfect example of how being part of a group like Northern Proud Voices can boost confidence. Initially too nervous to join in at all, he has since gone on to perform with the choir in front of thousands of people.

"It's surprising, the benefits you can get from singing," Simon pointed out. "One is from the singing itself, which really does improve mental wellbeing. But it's also about bringing everyone together into a community - the mental health benefits of that are just astonishing."

He added: "You can be having the worst day at work, or whatever you're doing you just feel terrible, and you come here for a couple of hours - it's incredible the difference that it makes."

Simon compares Northern Proud Voices to a "family" - and as well as being something fun to do each week and a great way to make new friends, the choir members insist it's "vital" now more than ever that LGBTQ+ groups like theirs exist. "It's about visibility - for people to see who we are, and celebrate diversity within our own community," Simon said.

This visibility includes public performances from birthday parties to Northern Pride, with their next performance coming up at Newcastle Cathedral on Friday, July 5. The evening forms part of this year's Pride in the City programme celebrating the LGBTQ+ community with a series of events across Newcastle, and tickets are available to book on a pay what you feel basis on the Cathedral's website here.

Visitors can look forward to an eclectic mix of songs in a "joyous" evening of pop and rock tunes, from the iconic It's A Sin by the Pet Shop Boys to Eurovision smash hit Tattoo. If you think you would like to join Northern Proud Voices or want to find out more about the choir, head down to rehearsals on Thursdays at ReCoCo in Carliol Square.