Five different choirs from Cyprus will take part in a musical evening in Paphos next week, raising thousands for their chosen charities.

‘Voices of Cyprus’, was the idea of amateur singer, Laurence Doughty, who is the chairman of the popular Paphos-based singing group, The Paphos Zingers.

“I thought it would be a nice idea to get different choirs together for a big event and at the same time raise some money for good causes,” he said.

The five choirs all represent different genres of music, so there will be something for everyone, said Doughty.

Local performer Simone Swift will host the event and a number of surprise acts will be joining the choirs on the night.

Each choir has named their own charity and Doughty is hoping to fill the venue with an audience of one thousand which will mean €10,000 being raised for the charities.

The Zingers have raised over €60,000 over the past four years, with the majority of the funds being donated to the Paphos Cancer Patients Support Group (CPSG).

The choirs taking part are Harmony, representing the Cyprus Kidney Association, Island Blend singing for PASYKAF Limassol, The Orphean Singers supporting The Friends Hospice, The Paphos Zingers performing for the Cancer Patients Support Group/PASYKAF Paphos and the Phoenix Singers representing the Theotokos Foundation.

The ensemble are jointly known as the ‘Voices of Cyprus’.
Paphos Zingers will join forces with four other choirs

Doughty said that choir members have now formed a Voices of Cyprus committee and hope to make the venture a regular annual event. He said that organisers have already had other choirs showing an interest to join them next year.

“The ‘Bi-communal Choir for Peace in Cyprus’, are hoping to take part and we would love to have them, but they were late for this year, as all of the printing had been completed. I’m trying to jig things around and see if they can appear as guests, which would be fantastic.”

The owner of ‘The Base’, where the event will be held and which is primarily used as a Cypriot wedding venue, has offered the space for free.

“Others were trying to charge us up to € 1, 8000 for their venues, despite the fact that it is a fundraising event for Cyprus charities,” he said.

The event has taken nine months to organise, said Doughty, and that there would be all types of music for different musical tastes.

“We are all very different and it’s wonderful to all come together. We have classical to a cappella choirs, and we are contemporary choir and sing up to date songs to backing tracks,” said Zinger member Karen Roe, admitting that some of them were quite nervous.

“This is a massive event and it’s a big place to fill.“

Each choir will sing five different songs each and will all come together to sing the finale together, when there will be about 150 people on stage.

‘Voices for Cyprus’ will take place on February 27 at ‘The Base’ venue (on the Paphos Airport road).

The bar opens at 6 pm and the concert starts at 7pm.Tickets are €10 and available now.

Transport from Peyia, Polis and Limassol is available for €14 per person.

For further information and tickets contact the ticket hotline on 97666907 or 96818066.