Roz McLeod owns a local vocal studio, The Ultimate Voice, which focuses on training young voices through singing exams and regular performances. Initially, in an attempt to balance her working and family life, Mrs McLeod ran a small music group for younger children. This grew and grew, until, as she quotes, children started coming up to her, asking ‘please can I have a music lesson with you!’ So after training to become a vocal coach, Mrs McLeod started teaching a small number of students, and as this too grew rapidly, ‘The Ultimate Voice studios’ was born. I questioned why she decided to choose a career in training young voices:

‘In years gone by, children have been taught to keep quiet, but in my opinion, it is very important to make sound, and to explore the sounds you can make. This instrument is with you permanently, so for a child to be able to find their voice, they can express themselves day in and day out. With a world out there of happy, sad, fun and even angry songs, everyone alike, especially children, need to be able to explore their feelings and the power they have through music.’

As well as conducting singing lessons, Mrs McLeod runs an adult community choir, The Heart and Soul Choir: ‘I can tell you that adults simply love to come together on a regular basis just to sing as a community, and forget their working lives, even just for a short period.’

The Heart and Soul Choir regularly holds charitable events in local areas to raise money for the group’s selected choir, Winston’s Wish. They have given several memorable performances at locations such as Ewell Court House, The Ashley Centre, Mayfield Lavender, The Barely Mow pub and more than once at the Royal Albert Hall. Earlier this year, the community choir collected just over £1000 in only a week by holding multiple events, including solo performances. I asked why Mrs McLeod decided to set up her choir, whilst still managing many singing lessons every week; that must be quite a lot to handle right? Why did she feel the need to teach adults as well as children?

‘The difference between children and adults singing-wise is that through school and activities, children have to do a lot of things together, giving them a chance to socialise and have fun. Adults however don’t get all these opportunities to spend time with other people. Therefore being able to spend this time together allows adults just to sit back and have some fun for a bit.’