Our director

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Delicious Sounds is run by its musical director, Fiona Funnell.

Fiona says,

“I love singing! According to my Mum, I sang ‘Away in a Manger’ age 4 unaccompanied in my infants school and there wasn’t a dry eye in the hall. I sang in the school choir, and had some lessons with an inspiring teacher called Mrs Madigan. At my first lesson she asked me to sing ‘Some Enchanted Evening’. I remember opening my mouth and this really big sound came out… I didn’t realise I had such a powerful voice!

After college I moved to Southampton and didn’t sing for nearly 10 years. I then came across an monthly drop-in singing group for women that met at the Edmund Kell hall led by an Australian woman. We sang songs in a myriad of languages with scrunchy harmonies. She then went back to Australia, and Maggie O’Connor took the group on. Maggie is the founder and leader of Blue Sky Choir.

One evening Maggie wasn’t well and I offered to teach a song. Oh what fun! I loved it! After a few months I asked Maggie would she mind if I started a separate weekly singing group so that I could sing more regularly and do more teaching. Her response was,”the more singing the better, Fiona”. The name of that group was ‘Delicious Sounds’.

10 years later, it is with Maggie’s blessing and encouragement that I have revived Delicious Sounds Choir.

 

Here’s my interview with Julian Clegg on Radio Solent in March 2015: