Meet the choir

I've been running choirs since University, and love the fact that anyone can join in and make music this way. Most of our choir members tell me they can't sing, but if that were the case, how can we sound so amazing?!

I taught music in various schools until 2015, when I decided to set up as a freelance composer and piano teacher. I have won several international composition  competitions, including in New York, Edinburgh, Romania, London and Czech Republic. I run a website called Piano Tunes which offers hundreds of my piano pieces for free around the world, also to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.

Did you know....

I was once 'gunged' in a gunge tank by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern!

I have been a member of Seaford Sings since its inception and am delighted that choir numbers have gone from strength to strength.

I live in Seaford and my children enjoyed growing up here. However, I am a Northerner at heart but of course feel very fortunate to have the South Downs and our beautiful coastline for exhilarating walks.

I have regular piano lessons with Martin and value his patience and encouragement. I also enjoy dressmaking and gardening and spend quite a bit of time volunteering with the local community.

I have been a member of Seaford Sings since its very first meeting and have been thrilled to see it develop and grow. When I first joined, it had been about 40 years since I'd sung in a choir and I was rather nervous, but the supportive atmosphere soon built my confidence.

I am a retired teacher and the other things that keep me busy are playing clarinet - I am a member of the local community orchestra (Seaford Musicians) - and piano.

My other big love is dog activities. I have my own, very dear, elderly dog but I also borrow two others from friends to train, and I compete in Kennel Club Rally competitions.

My name is Christina but just to confuse everyone I've always been known as Tina. I live in Seaford and am a retired social worker. My son is married with two daughters and they live in Dorset while my daughter lives with her partner in Canada.

I joined Seaford Sings just three weeks after it first started. My choir neighbours would probably agree that I can't sing but I always leave choir feeling much better for going. I love being part of a community choir while raising money for Cancer Research.

My interests apart from the choir include me trying to play the piano having had lessons with the ever patient Martin for more years than are apparent in my playing!! And don't mention theory.....!

I have a dog, Phoebe, not the small older dog I planned to get in my retirement, but a boisterous large puppy rescued from Macedonia!! She gets me out every day, come rain or shine, walking in our beautiful countryside, forest and on the beaches!!

My name is Bryan Turner, I have lived in Seaford for 48 years. I was one of the first members of the choir when Martin started up. I had never sung before having been told by a teacher when at age eleven my voice broke that I sounded like a sick frog, was caned and told never to try and sing again.

I lost my wife Lizzie in 2004 after 45 years married. I have two step children, five grandchildren and a great grandson aged two. I am a member of the Wreckers Sea Shanty Band. I spent 25 years with Sussex Special Constabulary retiring as Assistant Commandant. I spent 10 years as Chairman of St. James Trust. Living on my own now I find the fellowship of the Choir and the Wreckers cathartic and I have found in singing both a hobby and a way to support two very worthy charities.

I have only recently joined the choir last year just before Christmas when my very good friends Trish and Jo told me about it. I am very pleased I joined as the music is very varied and we have a great pianist as well as Martin to teach us. There is a good crowd of people and we also have social events spending more time together. I also find it great that the choir raises money for Cancer Research.

You might recognise me from British Bookshops on Broad Street, but I have recently retired. I have a dog called Bonnie, a whippet / staffy cross. I have two daughters, aged 31 and 29 and my husband Fred is Churchwarden at St. Leonards Church here in Seaford.

I was born in 1950 in Tanzania. I came to England in 1960 with my sister and we lived with my Auntie in Croydon for two years. I was a chorister in Kings College Taunton from 1960 to 1962. In 1965 I briefly sang in an unsuccessful boy band! I went to Uni in Canterbury and then trained as an accountant. After a few years in the industry I set up an Accountancy Practice in Croydon which I ran from 1980 until 2010 when I sold the business and came to Seaford with my wife, Penny.  We have five children between us and 11 grandchildren, which keeps us busy. I'm a keen golfer, squash player and tennis player.

I really enjoy singing with Seaford Sings.

I'm relatively new to the choir as I joined in January 2025 but am delighted to be able to support a very worthy charity while enjoying myself. I've always enjoyed singing and over the years I've sung or even 'trodden the boards' in Saudi Arabia (Jeddah Light Opera Society), The Gulf (Abu Dhabi Choral Group where I also had a dabble in handbell ringing), Herefordshire (Hitchin Thespians) and now Seaford Sings. Here I'm thoroughly enjoying this chance to sing all sorts from Christmas Carols I've sung all my life to brand new compositions written by Martin or Daisy - such talented people. Despite the photo, I'm not an emergency bike rider, just someone who had the chance to sit on such a mode of transport when visiting two of my four grandchildren in Grantham recently. My other two grandchildren live in America so with this far flung family I'm lucky enough to do lots of travelling to see them all as often as I can. Thank goodness I'm retired!

Music has been a big part of my life since senior school when I was given my first guitar. As a youngster I played in local bands touring Cambridgeshire, my home county. Over the years I've performed and sung with musical societies and choirs, performing in George and the Dragon, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Carousel, many Gilbert and Sullivan productions and pantomimes.

Now I'm delighted to sing under Martin's talented guidance with Seaford Sings and help raise money for Cancer Research. Rehearsals are a highlight of my week.

My name is Kirsten Hyland  and I joined Seaford Sings in early 2025 together with my husband, Ken, who has dementia. Sadly he is now in a care home.

I grew up in Denmark and when I finished school I came to England as an au pair. I met Ken and we were married in Copenhagen in 1968. We have two sons and two grown-up grandchildren. We lived in London until 2004 when I took early retirement and we decided to move down to Seaford. We very much enjoyed walking and went on many walking holidays around the world.

My interests are golf, walking, and meeting up with friends and family. Seaford Sings has been a lifeline for me, both while caring for Ken at home and now when I'm alone. Everyone is welcoming and friendly and it's a great way to unwind and relax. I wouldn't want to be without it! Supporting Cancer Research at the same time is fantastic.

I qualified as a Structural Engineer in my 20s and pursued a career in Local Government. I have been a member of various bands over the years, playing guitar mainly. From a young age I've developed an interest in classic motorcycles, which I have owned and ridden throughout my life. I have been married nearly 50 years, having two children and four grandchildren.

Originally I did secretarial work in London and then locally. I have a daughter who lives nearby and I help with home schooling my two granddaughters one day a week. My son lives in Taiwan with his wife and two daughters. After having my children, I retrained to work with hearing impaired primary children and later became a SENCO before retirement. My hobbies are reading, crafting and gardening.

I live in Seaford, and enjoyed a career as a teacher in various schools and colleges.

I live in Seaford, and I'm a former nurse and Practice Manager.

I live in Seaford with my husband and our dog Buster and have lived here for 35 years.

I started singing 20 years ago when I was recovering from an illness and advised to sing because it's good for our health and wellbeing. I've been singing in community choirs ever since and joined Seaford Sings about three years ago.

When I retired I started learning to play the flute and a few years on, play with 'Seaford Musicians Community Orchestra' and 'South Downs Flute Choir'. Through singing and playing music I have made good friends and met lots of interesting like-minded people. Rehearsals and performances are always fun with the added bonus of contributing to raising money for charity.

If anyone was thinking of joining a choir or learning an instrument, I would say 'Go for it, you won't regret it!'

I'm David. A quarter of a century ago, I came across an adult education course entitled 'Can't Sing, Won't Sing!' I did wonder whether I could, so I tried it out for the next four years in a Lewes-based a cappella choir named 'Angels With Attitude'.  Back then, my vocal range had reached countertenor / falsetto!

After a 17-year hiatus, I made a return to singing with 'Seaford Sings'. This time singing in the tenors and basses (choir two) section. I'm enjoying the repertoire of songs and performing in the Summer and Christmas concerts.

My hobbies include writing/reading poetry at open-mic nights; pub quiz nights and playing snooker socially; drawing/painting and walking/cycling.