Category: Choir Updates

On Tuesday we made great progress on Kyrie as well as looking at Placido è il mar, Lachrymosa and Magic Flute. Rebecca was really pleased with how we were listening to each other during the rehearsal and enjoying the rhythm of the music. Keep in mind her tips to support our voices from the abdomen (resistance ball), keep the momentum going through the notes and commit to the vowel on long notes. 

Ben will be back with us next week when we’ll be revising what we’ve covered over the last two weeks and, if time allows, adding the Sanctus from Mozart’s Requiem

Reminder that Tuesday 13th Feb will be half term break.

Music for next week:

Music / practice tracks may be found under Music & Media Library tab / Repertoire Spring/Summer 2024:

• Mozart, Requiem 

-Kyrie

-Lachrymosa

-Dies Irae

-Sanctus

• Ireland, Greater Love
• Mozart, Titus -Che del ciel
• Mozart, Magic Flute – Finale
• Mozart, Idomeneo – Placido è il Mar 
• Mozart, Ave Verum  

Availability:

Please could everyone advise availability for the two SGC events this term (thank you to those who have already let me know):

• Come & Sing – Sat 9th March, 10:30-16:00, Christchurch
• Passiontide – Sun 17th March, early evening, Christchurch 

Come & Sing – Sat 9th March:

Barbara has very kindly said she will be organising the refreshments at the Come & Sing. Expect LOTS of cake (you’ll be baking some of it….). Barbara would be grateful for some help – please can you email her at barbarabrown5@virginmedia.com(even if you spoke to her after rehearsal) to offer your services.

Spread the word – flyer here

 Cost is £20. Guests can pay via link on flyer. Please could members pay direct to choir bank account (see below under ‘Subs’) to avoid ‘Sum-Up’ app fees.

Passiontide – 17th March

SGC has been invited by Tom Coxhead, Christchurch Music Director, to join the church choir for their Passiontide service on Sunday 17th March (time 17:00 tbc). We will sing Ireland’s Greater Love at the service. It would be a great way to build community relations as well as supporting our hosts and we hope as many of the choir as possible will be able to attend.

Subs:

Reminder that subs are due for this term (thank you to all those who have already paid);

Subs are £80 per term payable to Sheen Gate Choir – bank details as follows:

Account Name: Sheen Gate Choir

Account Number: 47107324

Sort: 60-01-39

Best Regards

Siobhan

Dear All

Message from Ben:

Really excited about Sunday(see attached programme for running order)

 Remember, don’t hide, have the confidence to sing out, open your mouth and commit right to the end of the note.

Really thrilled with what everyone is doing, time for the last push now. 

See you all for 3pm on Sunday! 

CONCERT 3/12:

15:00 – 16:30 Rehearsal

18:00               Bar Opens

18:30               Concert starts (running time approx. 1 hour)

• Please could anyone who is able arrive at 14:30 to set up

• Running order on attached programme.

• Concert dress – black with a splash of Christmas colour (red, green or white)

• Folders – put music in black folders except for Carol book & Messiah score book if you have them 

• Sell tickets!

It’s not too late to promote the concert – Ben’s been working on the Twitter site and asked everyone who is on Twitter to follow @sheengatechoir . Instagram to follow!

3/12 TICKETS:

£10 on the door or 

£8 for online advance payment.  Under 16s free. 

For advance tickets, pay into choir bank account putting name + tickets in reference and email me to let me know how many you’ve bought. I’ll email you a ticket / receipt which guests should bring with them

As usual we ask everyone to sell at least 3 tickets each.

AVAILABILITY FOR CC PASSIONTIDE 17/03/24:

Ben mentioned that Tom Coxhead, Christchurch Music Director, has asked whether any SGC members might be available to join the CC Passiontide Evensong service on 17th March next year. It would be a great way to build community relations as well as supporting our hosts.

Further details to follow, but in meantime could anyone who thinks they might be available let me know. 

MUSIC FOR 5/12:

Please bring the three pieces we’ll be singing at the Holly Lodge Concert:

Handel’s Messiah – Hallelujah 

Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine 

Mozart, Ave Verum Corpus

CURRY:

We’ll be having a choir curry on Thursday 21^st December 20:30 at Black Salt East Sheen. Everyone welcome. 

Let me know if you can make it.

Siobhan

Concert jpeg flyer

Dear All

Don’t forget to sell tickets – discount for online sales in advance!

Recap following 21/11 rehearsal:

I hope you all enjoyed the rehearsal with Rebecca Outram. Rebecca took us through The Holly and The Ivy as well as re-capping Jingle Bells, Messiah 4&44 and Once in Royal David’s City and Hark the Herald.

Next week is the last rehearsal before the concert so we’ll be running through everything done so far plus looking at the two remaining carols (In the Bleak Midwinter, Darke version, and We Wish you a merry Christmas) both from 100 carols book. 

All music is now on website under Music and Media Library / Repertoire – Dec 2023.

MUSIC FOR NEXT TUESDAY 28/11:

1.Thomas Tallis – If ye love me

2.Handel’s Messiah –

And the glory of the lord

Since by man came death  

Hallelujah  

3. Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine 

4. Mozart, Ave Verum Corpus

5. Carols (all from 100 Carols except Holly & Ivy & Jingle Bells)- 

The Holly and the Ivy (Gardner version not in 100 Carols)

Jingle Bells (Sheen Mount’s arrangement from last week)

Once In Royal David’s City

Hark Herald Angel’s Sing 

In the Bleak Midwinter (Darke version)

We Wish you a Merry Christmas 

JPEG version of Flyer:

Concert flyer in jpg format attached (thanks again to David Corless).  This is better for sending on whatsapp – for all those friends you’re inviting! – as it shows whole picture.

Concert jpeg flyer

3/12 TICKETS:

Tickets for 3^rd Dec will be £10 on the door or £8 for online advance payment.  Under 16s free. 

For advance tickets, pay into choir bank account putting name + tickets in reference and email me to let me know how many you’ve bought. I’ll email you a ticket / receipt which guests should bring with them

We’ll have flyers available hopefully next Tuesday plus in pdf form.

Bar will open at 18:00 so encourage your guests to arrive then

As usual we ask everyone to sell at least 3 tickets each.

CURRY:

We’ll be having a choir curry on Thursday 21^st December. Everyone welcome. It will be in East Sheen – details to follow.

Please let me know if you can make it!

CONCERT DATES:

December 2023: 

Sun 3^rd Dec, SGC                       18:30 start, rehearsal from 15:00

Thu 7^th Dec, Holly Lodge          19:00

Summer 2024:

Saturday 22^nd June              pm rehearsal, evening concert

MAKATON SIGNING FOR HOLLY LODGE:

New Makaton training video from Clarendon school:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LgJv2YAT48

. 

Siobhan

Dear All

Reminder to place your order for Seeing the Star & let me know about Summer concert date:

MUSIC ORDER:

Ben plans to add Ben Ponniah’s ‘Seeing the Star’ to our programme. As this is still in copyright we will need to order copies for the concert. Please could you let me know whether you would like me to order you a copy – cost £2.75

SUMMER CONCERT DATE:

Remember to let me know which date(s) you can make for summer concert: 

Saturday 22^nd June 2024 or

Saturday 29^th June 2024

Also, Rebecca (not Tricia as I said earlier) has put together a spotify playlist of our concert music so far for anyone who might find this helpful (& has spotify!). Thank you Rebecca!

Siobhan

Dear All 

Recap from Ben Thapa following 24/10 rehearsal:

Great turnout on Tuesday and very productive rehearsal. I was really encouraged by the way people took to the Tallis: I felt that people were really invested in it, and the speed of learning was also very promising! 

As well as the Tallis we worked on The Messiah’s Since by man came death & And the glory of the Lord. Remember look up ahead of cues, crescendo through long notes and get the scaffolding set up when approaching the high notes.

Next week I’d like to focus on the Hallelujah chorus please, plus recapping things we’ve looked at up til now! 

MUSIC FOR NEXT TUESDAY 31/10 (no new music):

Please bring the following music to next week’s rehearsal:

1.Thomas Tallis – If ye love me

2.Handel’s Messiah –

And the glory of the lord  

Since by man came death 

Hallelujah  

3. Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine 

4. Mozart, Ave Verum Corpus

BRING PENCILS!

Practice tracks links on Repertoire page  https://sheengatechoir.co.uk/downloads/repertoire/  

SUMMER CONCERT DATE:

Remember to let me know which date(s) you can make for summer concert: 

Saturday 22^nd June 2024 or

Saturday 29^th June 2024

MUSIC ORDER:

Ben plans to add Ben Ponniah’s ‘Seeing the Star’ to our programme (not for next week). As this is still in copyright we will need to order copies for the concert. Please could you let me know by Monday 30^th Oct whether you would like me to order you a copy – cost £2.75

Many thanks

Siobhan

Dear all

I have had the chance to speak to a few of you over the summer – thank you to those who reached out to me – but many of you I have not seen since the June concert, so I wanted to send a farewell.

I am very grateful to you all for giving me the chance to lead the choir for this last 12 months. I loved doing it, as I hope you could tell. From where I stood, you sang wonderfully, across a wide range of different musical styles, and you sang like you were enjoying yourselves – most of the time at least… I confess that I am disappointed not to be asked to carry on, but I understand the committee’s decision that a trained, professional Musical Director is in the best long-term interests of the choir. It bodes well for the future that you have plenty of new faces in the choir, and still have singers who were at the first rehearsals way back when. 

Rather than returning to the back row to sing bass, I think I will take this as a hint from Life that, after a dozen years at SGC, it is time to move on to the next musical challenge. So for now it’s Farewell, so long, auf wiedersehen and adieu, but I am sure I will see you in the Plough or at a concert some time in the not-too-distant future. And if you didn’t already have my email so you can stay in touch, you can find it below.

Best wishes for the coming season, and whatever else you do in your busy lives, keep singing!

Chris

chris.hawkins2015@yahoo.com

Dear All

I hope you’ve had a lovely summer and are looking forward to singing again. 

Following on from the marvellous year with Chris at the helm, we have another very exciting term ahead of us. As you know we are in the process of recruiting a new Musical Director to lead Sheen Gate Choir. We’ve had a fantastic response to our advertisement and are planning to hold auditions for the short-listed candidates to take place during the first three rehearsals this term. All choir members are then invited to meet on Tuesday 3^rd October to make the final decision including holding a ballot. 

We were fortunate to have a good number of excellent candidates interested in the post which made the task of drawing up a shortlist a difficult one. In the end we decided to invite six candidates to audition (two per audition date), this way the choir will have as wide a choice as is practical and will have the opportunity to experience different styles of direction which will be a useful exercise in itself, and hopefully great fun.

Dates for Auditions (Tuesdays 19:45-21:30):

12^th September 

19^th September

26^th September 

3^rd October (ballot)

It is obviously important that as many choir members as possible attend the auditions both as a courtesy to the candidates and to allow everyone involved to reach the best decision.

Please could you let me know which dates you can attend.

All Autumn Term Dates 2023 (Tuesdays 19:45-21:30):

12^th September – 1^st audition

19^th September – 2^nd audition

26^th September – 3^rd audition

3^rd October – discussion & ballot

10^th October – first full rehearsal with new MD

Then every Tuesday until 

12^th December – last rehearsal 

Best Regards

Siobhan Jones

Dear All

Firstly, I would like to say a huge thank you to Chris following Saturday’s concert. It was a joyous event and wonderful to see everything come together after all the hard work put in by everyone, no-one more so than Chris. Preparing us for such a wide-ranging and challenging programme is no mean feat and wouldn’t have been possible without his tireless work in both directing us through the months of rehearsals, and behind the scenes producing all that fantastic practice material.

I was delighted when Chris stepped into the breach as acting Music Director last September, when David was unable to continue, and hope he has enjoyed it even half as much as we have. It has been a special year for our choir,  being directed by such a committed member and talented musician.  Highlights include the wonderfully successful late addition of the Holly Lodge concert to our programme, and singing with our amazing guest Choir, Ad Libitum. These were only made possible by Chris’s endeavours.  The magical, and most moving experience, I’ve had with the choir was singing together with Sheen Mount and Clarendon, a school for children with special needs, which was at his instigation.

Looking to the future, we will now be seeking to recruit a professional Choral/Music Director to take the permanent role and will keep everyone updated on process, progress and timings as we go forward.

In the meantime, have a lovely summer and I’ll see a few of you on the tour.

Siobhan

Congratulations! I think all of you who took part last night know just how well you did. In true SGC fashion, you saved your best for the big day and produced a wonderful sound, full of passion and contrast. The feedback from all quarters was full of praise. Every single one of Stephen, Louise, Henry, Ben and the orchestra said how much they enjoyed working with us. One quote, from Ben Thapa: You’re such a fantastic choir, with heart and energy and commitment.

Last night we said in person thank yous to the performers, to our new amigos and amigas de Merida. Marta gave me a lovely note, from choir to choir, after the concert. Unfortunately the website is refusing to let me upload any photos, so you can see it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KF1p1sEjI15yU2T5-erznm6eQZqMDwlg/view?usp=sharing

There are many more internal thank yous that I need to say.

First and foremost, to you all for the immense effort you have put in over 6 long months. Through the cold, dark February Tuesdays when the notes were unknown and the words impenetrable. People who knew they could not make the concert still came on Tuesday nights and helped the rest of us learn. It is arguably the hardest piece we have ever taken on. There is more technical trickery in the Bach Magnificat perhaps, but in terms of sheer physical effort, this was a biggie. Kudos to all of you for pulling it off so well.

To Robert, for his vital part in getting us ready – sorry that you were not able to be there to hear the fruits of your labours, Robert.

To Caroline for organising the soloists, including a late-day replacement, and Teresa for helping us find the orchestra.

To Simon and David for the excellent programme.

To Douglas and the bar crew for managing to serve a hundred glasses of wine in 15 minutes flat. And to all who provided food for the after party, which was the perfect end to the day.

To everyone, too many to mention, who helped with set-up and recombobulation afterwards. Bex Slack and various family members pitched in even though they were not singing. And indeed thanks to those who regularly get to rehearsals early to allow us to start practices on time.

To Hannah and Camilla, who ‘volunteered’ for the seemingly small but very important job of making us look sharp and professional through the Haydn, and took that worry out of Stephen’s head.

Especially to Siobhan, who took on a massive chunk of logistical work and ran the whole day brilliantly. Please don’t underestimate how much thought and planning has to go into a day like yesterday. Both rehearsal and concert ran on time to the second.

And finally, to Marta – and Jose and Gala too. It was Marta’s idea to make this a combined concert, and while I know that the date change it required meant that a couple of people could not sing the concert – I am very sorry for that – I think everyone who was there genuinely enjoyed it. I think I speak for us singers, for the audience, and the professional musicians who complimented us after not just on our singing but on how much fun it was.

I will let Lesley tot up the figures in due course, and answer the question a few of you asked afterwards about numbers in the audience and how much we brought in.

Some of the audience took recordings of parts of the concert. I am hoping that we may be able to view these soon. Bex Slack’s husband Will took some excellent still photos – you can view them here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/198604581@N07/sets/72177720309315994/

A couple of notes for the future:

No. We are not going to be putting on flat caps and performing dance moves in our next concert.

Yes. We will definitely be exploring the possibility of a return trip to Merida at a future date.

And our next concert will be determinedly simple music, for the most part at least. You have earned the right to sing stuff that won’t challenge you or take as much learning effort as this one. The question of what goes into the next concert is still up for grabs. If you have ideas, now is the time to speak up. I hope you have the intended date, Saturday December 16th, in your calendars already.

So that’s it for our 2022-23 season. With the small exception of the 15 of us that will be doing it all again – with all the bits we cut out added back in – in Vienna in 2 weeks’ time. I will see those of you at Heathrow. And the others, have a good summer, keep singing, and I look forward to seeing you in September.

Congratulations!

Chris

Hi all.

NEWSFLASH – tomorrow is going to be hot. WIth 200 people in the church (choirs = 50, orchestra = 10, audience =140, perhaps?) the concert will be very warm. Please dress appropriately. Not passing out takes priority over being in long sleeves or being colour-coordinated.

And please, bring plenty of water to both rehearsal and concert.

As they say in Merida

Manana!

CH