Passionate singing teacher Sue Capes-Bunnett is thanking superstar kids from her choir for making life after cancer great again
The young stars of Singing Sue's Vocal Academy
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Passionate singing teacher Sue Capes-Bunnett is thanking superstar kids from her choir for making life after cancer great again.
Vocal coach, choir mistress and piano tutor “Singing Sue” is on cloud nine after her choir group excelled for the third time in The Darlington Festival for Performing Arts.
Billingham mum Sue, 43, was inspired to create her “wonderful” choir Singing Sue’s Vocal Academy - SSVA for short - after her battle with breast cancer in 2009, which saw her undergo gruelling chemotherapy treatment and a full mastectomy.
Of the 33 classes they entered, which included solo and group entries in different age categories, the choir achieved an impressive haul of trophies including 23 first places, merits, distinctions and commendations from the judges.
Sue, whose choir members are aged from six to 18, said: “The kids successes give me a reason to keep going. It’s everything I’ve worked towards, thrived to be, and lived for.
“To see the kids faces light up when we win is just incredible. The week before the competition I went in to a bit of depression because I thought the children weren’t performing their best. But they pulled it out of the bag on the day and completely blew me away. That was when I realised I need to start believing in myself again.
“Being with the kids lifts me and gives me a reason, a drive and a passion to succeed and, most importantly, live.”
Sue married Paul in August 2008, months before being diagnosed with cancer. She still has to take tamoxifen - a hormone pill treatment which helps prevent cancer from returning - every day and sometimes suffers anxiety.
But her outlook on life is now much more positive - thanks to the choir she set up in November 2010 and her work as a one-to-one vocal coach to both amateur and professional singers.
Sue said: “I finished my last treatment in December 2009.
“A whole year of my life had been spent in and out of hospital, then it took me about a year to bring myself back to some sort of normality.
“Since setting up the choir, I can’t believe how much they have come on.”
Sue also runs a multi-award winning junior choir, a fun daytime women’s choir dedicated to non-singers, with a second group due to launch on Monday.
For more about the choir or Sue’s vocal coaching, visit http://ift.tt/1lDXCbo email susan.capes@hotmail.co.uk or call 01642 885409.
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