The Firebirds choir group has played in New England for more than 25 years

Musician Chris Purcell was the original choir conductor and still runs the Firebirds at Armidale.

The group sing everything from Neil Young to Sinead O'Connor and have been active with a number community performances this year.

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"It's a great community group and we certainly never leave anywhere in a bad mood," Chris said.

"I put my hand up to be the conductor after we had a workshop with a group from Bellingen.

"We had enough people who wanted to stay on and we formed under the name of the Vocal Chords.

"In 2011 I thought I'd call it quits and I actually went overseas for a few months.

"They found a new director and in that time the name had changed to Firebirds.

"The name stuck and I still wanted to be involved as a member of the group.

"After a couple of months I ended up back directing and I've been doing it ever since."

Chris has a teaching studio at the New England Conservatorium of Music and plays 1950s rock and roll music with a band.

He sets Saturday afternoons aside for the Firbebirds.

They get together informally with members taking it in turns of hosting at their houses.

The group usually makes an annual trip to Hungry Head for a long weekend and workshop where they come up new material.

This year they opened for Kerry Young at Uralla and recently performed at Black Gully Festival in Armidale.

"Whenever we do a performance it generates a bit of interest in the group," Chris said.

"Twenty is probably a good number to have at any given time.

"If we end up with many more we won't be able to fit into people's living rooms.

"I think that's part of the appeal that we can easily get together in our homes."

In July, Chris and his songwriting partner Helena Pastor received funding from Orana Arts to stage and record a concert of their original songs involving the choir and individual singers from the group.

Arts North West also provided a $1000 grant to help Chris compose two new choral works for the choir to be included in their performance repertoire.

Other Arts North West Quick Response Micro Grants recipients were:

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