SINGING strangers will meet for the first time on Saturday – before going on to perform together this summer.

The group will become Haddington Community Choir, and hope to take to the stage by the end of June.

The ambitious project is being supported by the Lamp of Lothian, with music teacher Kenny Hutchison leading the group.

He said: “I teach around the Haddington area and have done so for years.

“I have links with East Lothian and thought it sounded quite interesting, especially at a time when a lot of choirs died a death because of Covid. A lot of them have not resurrected themselves yet.

“These things are good for everybody as community ventures.”

Already, more than 25 people have signed up for the choir, which will meet each Saturday from 2.30pm to 4pm in Haddington’s Bridge Centre.

Mr Hutchison, who teaches music at Yester Primary School in Gifford and at Belhaven Hill School, was keen to see the numbers swell.

He said: “We are going to steer ourselves towards a performance at the end of the nine weeks.

“We will do what we can in that time and in the final week we will give a concert in Haddington and have some guests on the bill.”

Mr Hutchison, who was previously involved with Radio Scotland and Radio Forth, will be choir master. However, it remains to be seen what style of music the group will perform.

He added: “Until I meet everybody who is there, I actually don’t know.

“It is going to be pop music, perhaps some jazz standards, but the reason I am being so vague is that, until I turn up on the first day and find out the shape and size of everybody and what age range and ability levels we have, then I am not going to know exactly.

“We are going to have

a fun workshop on the

first day and that will determine the way forward and what repertoire I am going to settle on.”

Email admin@lampoflothian.org.uk for more information.