An assortment of musicians will perform at venues up and down the high street this weekend as part of North Finchley Music Festival.

The all day events can be seen at Café Buzz, M’s Place, Chix Chox, Toolans, The Elephants Inn and The Bohemia.

Traders from North Finchley came together with Barnet Arts Council to arrange the festival, with all events free of charge.

The N12 Community Choir will be one of the acts performing at The Bohemia on Saturday, May 20 at 1pm, and so I spoke to their musical director Jo Doré, from Muswell Hill, to find out more about them…

Tell me about your role

My role in the choir is music director but we have a brilliant team who have various tasks in helping to run the choir week to week. I value their input hugely.

What is your background in music?

I studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama (now called the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). I became a music teacher as well as doing some performing.

Why do you like it?

I love hearing people sing together and I get completely blown away by the wonderful sound of the harmonies when we’ve learned a song.

When did the choir begin singing together?

The N12 Community Choir was launched three years ago after a friend and I had the same vision for a local community choir at a similar time.

How do you join?

We don’t audition and therefore accept anyone who wants to sing. We rehearse in the Parish Hall at St Barnabas Church, Woodside Park, on Thursdays.

Tell me about the choir

Alongside having fun singing, there’s a special emphasis on community. People come to choir from all walks of life and of differing ages but friendships have been made and the atmosphere on our rehearsal nights is warm and welcoming.

Our song repertoire is a very mixed bag of styles including pop, folk, jazz, classical, songs from musicals and gospel. For a completely amateur fun choir we sound pretty good! Our strap line is ‘Soh Lah Tea & Biscuits’.

When do you usually perform?

We sing mainly for charities in various locations but do have our own concert once a year in July, tis year our concert will be on July 15 and is also a charity event. At Christmas time we sing for St Barnabas Church Carols by Candlelight as well as carol singing in the area.

What do you do outside of the choir?

I teach music, provide music for events like weddings and I’m part of the music team at St Barnabas Church. I try to go to concerts when there’s a spare moment as well.

The Bohemia, 762-764 High Road, North Finchley, N12 9QH, Saturday, May 20. Details: thebohemia.co.uk