Mood Swings Network Reg Charity no: 1077513
In his own words David Lewis-Owen was a little boy from the Welsh valley and it was song that saved him. It is this belief in the ability of music to change lives that has brought him to the Moodswings singing group.
The group, which is run by David Owen-Lewis and Pauline Thulborn, meets every Monday in a church building on Dantzic Street in North Manchester.
David has been an opera singer for thirty-five years and during that time has worked on many educational projects in prisons, schools and hospitals.
He said: “What I find so worthwhile about this is everybody in their lives has suffered from depression, bereavement or split up with a partner. We have all hit rock bottom or had dark periods in our life.”
Both David and Pauline fervently believe in the power of the group to build confidence and have seen first hand the change that song can bring in people.
For many the Moodswings singing group is a lifeline. According to Pauline: “One of them said to me the only reason I get up on a Monday morning is to come here”
Pauline, who plays piano and has spent many years as a classically trained singer, said: “The difference between them before and after is staggering. They support each other and us. There was one week where David couldn’t make it and I came and took the group. They were so supportive of me, because I had never done this before and I was finding my way. I was really touched by the way they all gathered round and helped me though my first session.”
Pauline will take over the running of the group when David takes an Opera North production to Scotland. It will be his final tour before he retires from the stage in July. He said: “I’ll be looking for new directions to go into still using my voice, still using singing, but hopefully doing something worth while”
David went on to say: “When you have been prancing around on the stage for thirty odd years you find a lot of the people you deal with have superficial worries. Our viewpoint on life is ‘this costume doesn’t fit or this wig is uncomfortable’. Directors sometimes worry about silly things and at the end of the day its just opera its not real life. This makes you more aware of peoples real problems”
The group provides a way to help people through music and David, the owner of powerful bass vocals who grew up in Wales, knows first hand the lifeline that music can offer.
On the role that music has played in his life he said: “ I was a little boy from the valley and it was singing that got me out.”
Samantha Bradley
Posted on: 22nd March 2010
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