It takes some nerve to walk through the door and join an established choir, especially if you think you can’t sing. But those who have done so will know there’s nothing else like it.”

James Beattie, chairman of Bradford Festival Choral Society, is delighted with the response to a course aimed at teaching beginners to sing with a choir.

The ten-week Learn to Sing course is led by professional soprano Sally Egan – former vocal coach to the Westminster Abbey choir – and other experts. It provides an introduction to vocal exercises, breathing, posture, harmony singing, reading music and the opportunity to sing a range of choral music, and culminates in a performance at the society’s spring concert at Bradford Grammar School.

“The course is aimed at beginners or those returning to singing after a break,” says James. “The aim is to swell membership, helping to continue the society for future generations.

“But this crash course is about more than that; through teaching ordinary people to sing, we’re re-connecting with what’s at the heart of our founding principles – education. As a charity, education and high quality music performance are our core.

“Popular TV programmes like The Choir and Last Choir Standing confirm the nation’s interest in singing, but many people don’t feel confident enough to join a choir. Many people say they have been told in the past they can’t sing, which knocks their confidence. But anyone can sing with the right tuition.

“Music cuts in education have had a negative effect. We’re losing the choral singing tradition we once had, when it was commonplace to sing in school, church and community choirs. Choral singing is closely tied with our textile past; millworkers weren’t trained singers but just about every mill and factory had its own choir. A choir of Bradford millworkers once performed at Buckingham Palace for Queen Victoria.”

The Learn to Sing course has been well attended – and has thrown up some links with the past.

“We have been delighted with the response,” says James. “Sally initially worked on posture, breathing and finding the diaphragm, before getting the group to sing a typically eclectic range of music; a song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, an African folk song and I Vow To Thee My Country from The Planets by Gustav Holst, along with some short songs to improve musical memory. At the end of the first session there was a real buzz and a sense of achievement as people, many of whom haven’t sung for years, left the class impressed by the noise they’d made.

“A couple of new members told us they had relatives in the choir; one was a great grandfather from the 19th century and the other a grandfather from the 1960s and 1970s.”

James says choral singing has a positive effect on wellbeing. “It’s good for you. It de-stresses you and releases positive hormones. It has the same physiological effect as yoga,” he says. “Singing in a group is something basic to humans.

“There’s so much focus on individualism now – it’s refreshing to be part of a choral group. It’s about harmony, connecting with people and becoming one big instrument.”

Founded in 1853, Bradford Festival Choral Society has performed at St George’s Hall since it was built. A 220-voice choir led a three-day music festival marking the completion of the concert hall in 1853. The festival was such a success that another was held in 1856.

When it was decided to form a permanent choir, the directors of St George’s Hall offered rehearsal rooms in return for two concerts a year. Samuel Smith, later Lord Mayor of Bradford and a prime mover in forming the society, was its first president and William Jackson was conductor.

The society’s first public concert was in May 1857, and a month later it took part in the great Handel festival at Crystal Palace. In 1906, its golden jubilee year, it was invited to sing with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and excited members set off on a special train from Bradford.

In 1858 the choir was summoned to Buckingham Palace to perform for Queen Victoria and her court. The concert was a success and Mr Jackson and his choir returned to a triumphant Bradford reception. The choral society also sang at a concert celebrating the opening of Saltaire, and Sir Titus Salt was a patron. The father of Bradford composer Frederick Delius served on the committee, Sir Charles Hallé was one of the first conductors and Gareth Gates sang treble with the society before his voice broke. The society has made three albums with the Black Dyke Band.

Today, the choir is an intrinsic part of Bradford’s cultural scene, performing major choral works, from the familiar to the groundbreaking.

“We’re an important part of Bradford’s heritage,” says James. “The society struggled to adjust to the collapse of the wool trade and hit hard times in the late 1990s. Now we’re on our way back, with a vibrant new leadership.”