Dear All
I hope you are enjoying your summer break.
I am so excited that the committee have offered me this opportunity to take the choir forward in the short term, to cover the gap after Dave’s departure.
The ethos and spirit of the choir is something that I have personally enjoyed for many years. It is special and I want to make sure that it endures, regardless of any changes of MD. So don’t expect major alterations to the way things have been done in the past.
That said, one logistical element that we have been thinking over is the tendency we have had to run rather concert to concert without a clear plan. We felt it was something we could improve on. So a small group of us (and please stick your hand up if you’d like to be included next time!) had a call a couple of weeks ago to discuss a plan for the coming year. We concluded that we would do a concert in December comprised of shorter pieces, and a summer concert incorporating a major work.
The winter concert is on the theme of Night, scheduled for Saturday December 17th (close to the longest night of the year – please put it in your and your friends’ calendars now). We have some pieces we have sung before in the program, so hopefully we can revive those easily, and some stuff we have not done before.
We will kick off formal rehearsals on Tuesday September 6th. That rehearsal and the one following will be as sectionals. You will be contacted by a member of your section beforehand with details. The thinking is that the process of learning notes can be done within sections alone, as a better use of time. Thanks in advance to those hosting and leading those sessions. Our first group sing will be September 20th.
Ahead of those first rehearsals, I wanted to invite you all to reconnect after the summer, have a glass of wine and to listen through and talk a little about the music we are taking on. Purely optional, but it would be lovely to see anyone who can spare an hour or two. The idea is that we have a sense of what each piece is about before we first pick it up in rehearsals. That is on Sunday September 4th, 3pm, 6 Dungarvan Avenue. If you would not mind letting me know whether you can come, it would be helpful to have an idea of numbers.
In terms of music, Siobhan will be in touch soon with details so that you have copies ready for rehearsals.
As far as the major work in the summer goes, that is still TBD. We are investigating the possibility of a tour, and if that comes together we hope that the tour work would be our summer concert work also. We will keep you informed on that, of course.
So for now, I wish you all a very enjoyable rest of summer, and I look forward very much to singing with you all again in September.
Best wishes
Chris