Choir's FA Cup performance 'surreal and beautiful'

Performing Abide With Me at the FA Cup final in front of about 90,000 people left members of a Bradford choir with "a spine-tingling sense of tradition", one of its members has said.

The Bantam of the Opera community choir performed at Wembley Stadium on Saturday as part of the big match between Manchester City and Chelsea.

The choir, which was formed by BBC Radio Leeds as part of the Bradford City of Culture celebrations last year, also saw Bradford City's new team kit unveiled.

Michelle Buchan, co-chair of the choir, said their experience at Wembley was "surreal", adding: "It sent chills through us all and it was just a really beautiful moment."

"Walking out of the tunnel was just an absolutely extraordinary experience," she said.

"There's the emotion and there's the real pride representing not just our choir, but Bradford City as well."

The Bantam of the Opera choir is made up of Bradford City fans from a range of different ages and backgrounds who were brought together to learn how to sing.

Since forming, its members have performed at a number of high-profile events, including at the 40th anniversary memorial service for the Bradford City fire tragedy.

A documentary charting the group's 10-week journey to their first performance was aired last year.

However, Buchan explained that the crowd at Wembley was the choir's biggest yet - though its members were unaffected by nerves.

"What was really beautiful was when we were on the pitch together, it was very much around about the choir and feeling connected to each other," she said.

"It was just a beautiful moment, so you forget there are thousands of people listening to us."

The opportunity to perform at Wembley arose after the choir performed at BBC Sports Personality of the Year and was then contacted by the Football Association.

After finding out they had landed the gig, the choir's members spent two months learning a four-part harmony under the direction of choirmaster James Sills.

On the day, member Ian Moorhouse also performed the first verse of the song solo.

Two days earlier, Bradford City's dream of League One promotion ended with a 1-0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers at home.

"Obviously, we were all absolutely gutted about that," Buchan said.

"But what was really special was that we managed to take Bradford City to Wembley anyway."

Buchan said she was "really proud of every single member of the choir".

"It's such a diverse group of people and we are ultimately one big family," she added.

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