There’s one giant giveaway that the choir practising in an RGU function room is for neurodiverse people.
It’s not the singing – that’s a match for any other choir.
And while there’s a touch of anxiety in the air, that’s more down to the fact the group is performing on stage in less than a month.
No, the big clue is the box of fidget toys in the middle of the floor. Fidget poppers, slinkys, snake cubes and a pink fluffy octopus spill out of the container, ready for anyone who fancies a calming play.
“It gives us something to do with our hands,” explains Chloe Jackson, the choir’s founder.
Sure enough, when the practice gets underway, Chloe grabs a slinky and stretches it out between her fingers, a big smile on her face.
Who are Umbrella A Cappella and what do they do?
This is Umbrella A Cappella, Aberdeen’s first – and only – neurodivergent choir.
Chloe, an Aberdeen nurse who started the group a year ago, has ADHD and autism among other neurodivergent traits.
Others in the group have dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia, a condition that affects writing.
There are even a few who aren’t neurodivergent but there simply because they like to sing.
Next month, the choir celebrates its one-year anniversary with its first solo public performance.
On Thursday, September 26, in a room at the Aberdeen Teca Hilton, the group will sing a fun-packed menu of traditional and not-so traditional songs and medleys, raising money to keep the choir going.
With the countdown to curtains up very much on, Chloe and the rest of the choir invited The Press & Journal to an evening practice session for a pre-show taste.
And our cameras caught rousing renditions of traditional Jamaican song Janie Mama and West African melody Bele Mama, which you can watch below.
Umbrella A Cappella get ready for Aberdeen show
‘We can just be ourselves here’
Conducting the choir is Alec Thompson-Miller. Alec leads at least four local choirs through his Ace Voices community project and firmly believes in the power of communal singing.
“There’s no pressure to perform in this group,” he says approvingly of Umbrella A Capella, before turning to the choir and leading them in a rendition of Do-Re-Mi from the Sound of Music.
Off to the side, Annie Still is also – pardon the pun – singing the group’s praises.
“We can just be ourselves here,” she says. “And if we get anything wrong, then we just laugh.”
Standing beside Annie, Laura Ross talks about the friendships made in the group over the past 12 months.
“Individually, we’d be too nervous to sing, but as a group it is a lot easier,” she says.
And how will she feel on the night of the performance?
“Oh, I’ll be absolutely crapping myself,” she laughs.
Umbrella A Cappella celebrates differences
Lisa Peretto isn’t neurodivergent but her daughter is autistic, and the choir has helped her better understand the condition. She’s also had a whale of a time.
“There’s no pressure, there’s no expectation,” she says of the group.
“We tried to do some sign language to one of the songs. Hardly any of us could do both at the same time.”
Next to Lisa, Katie-Rose Macklin explains how ADHD has affected her life, and how the choir has helped her.
“I’ve definitely had ideas of ADHD in my life, but the choir helped me to be more myself about it, more understanding of it,” she says.
“Here, we celebrate difference.”
Umbrella A Cappella holds its first anniversary concert at Aberdeen Teca Hilton on Thursday, September 26 at 7pm. Tickets are available for £10 per adult and £7.50 for concessions. Click here to buy.
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