My Gurus – Kate Denby

Andrew Scott

Aged 14 I joined Swing Bridge Singers, a youth choir in Newcastle led by the brilliant, joyful Andrew Scott, known affectionately as Scottee. Scottee has a simple policy: no auditions, no requirement to read music, no membership fee, no register, and absolutely no parents committee – just fun, friendship and six-part harmony. As teenagers we felt genuine ownership of the choir: if we needed to raise money to travel to a competition, we’d go busking at Grey’s Monument in our bright yellow T-shirts. It was a great lesson in self-reliance. Scottee put so much of his own time into creating this wonderful space in which we felt we truly belonged, and that sense of empowerment stayed with me long after I left to go to university. Over 250 ex-Swing Bridge Singers returned for the 20th Anniversary concert at the Sage Gateshead in 2008, a testament to Scottee’s impact on us all.