Woman from Banbury hopes to raise money for charity through role in classical group Ida

All proceeds from downloads of the single on iTunes will go to Help Musicians. This UK charity looks after professional musicians of all genres, and all stages of their career, supporting them at times of crisis, but also at times of opportunity.

One of the group's members, soprano Jasmine Faulkner who is from Banbury, knows first hand the importance of the charity, Help Musicians.

Jasmine Faulkner said: "We've had an overwhelming response in just 24 hours and would love to keep up this energy over the next weeks so our single is heard as far and wide as possible.

"Our aim is to not only lift people's spirits (at a much needed time,) but to also raise as much money from iTunes downloads as possible for the charity.

"Help Musicians have been crucial to the four of us and thousands of other professional musicians, especially during the pandemic. They paid a month of my rent at the beginning of lockdown. The single costs just 99p to download and the proceeds go straight to Help Musicians.

"We have so far been featured on BBC Radio Oxford, ITV Channel TV, BBC Radio Jersey, What's On Stage, London Theatre, Broadway World, Playbill, Theatre Weekly, Theatre Fan, Love London Love Culture and the video of our single was premiered on the prestigious Official London Theatre's YouTube channel (with over 4.7 thousand views in 24 hours).

"The four of us who make up the group come from Scotland, Ireland, Jersey and Banbury (two of us currently are in London) and we hope to spread the word in each of the places where we grew up."

The Ida Girls – Georgi Mottram, Wendy Carr, Jasmine Faulkner and Sarah Vaughan – originally created and performed Stars for a fundraising concert at Leicester Haymarket Theatre.

This is the first time they have released it more widely. The singers recorded their parts of the video individually during lockdown from their homes in Aberdeenshire, Jersey and London, and then produced the video in-house. Musical arrangement is by Wendy Carr.

The video for Stars intersperses performances by Ida with beautiful photographs of much-loved theatre venues and concert halls where musicians would normally be performing. These images were kindly provided by The Theatres Trust, the national charity that campaigns to protect theatre buildings for current and future generations.

Georgi Mottram said: “Everyone is feeling the impact of Coronavirus in some way, including musicians. Communities all over the UK have come together to raise money for the NHS and charities.

"Their generosity is humbling and it inspired us to give something back. With our live performances postponed for the foreseeable future, including shows at King’s Theatre Portsmouth, Aynhoe Park, Buckingham Palace and further afield in Japan and Australia, we felt moved to use our voices for good.

"We hope that by releasing Stars in aid of Help Musicians we can not only lift spirits but also raise funds for the charity’s invaluable work.”

The Ida Girls’ impressive versatility within these musical genres have seen them performing their mesmerising show across the continents, from the West End to headlining Australian Festivals (Noosa ALIVE).

Having trained at some of the world's leading conservatoires, the girls' classical flare brings a unique quality to every song.

Within the UK they performed at West End LIVE in Trafalgar Square to 40,000 people in consecutive years, The Other Palace and performed on BBC One. Ida were Classic Brit Award nominees in 2018 and also released their critically acclaimed Christmas album Believe, which achieved success in the official classical UK charts.