Category: Choir Updates

Dear All

I hope you’re all having a lovely summer.

As promised in the message from Chris on 6^th August here is some more information on the music we will be rehearsing for December.

The provisional programme of pieces, plus downloads and practice tracks may be found on the choir website – https://sheengatechoir.co.uk/downloads/repertoire-outline-for-autumn-2020-concert/

Or go to the tab at the top of the home page labelled ‘Music and Media Library’, under the drop-down menu go to ‘December 2022 Concert – Noche/Nacht/Nuit’

We will be placing a bulk order for all pieces still in copyright (ie those with a price estimate indicated). Please could you let me know if you would like to be included in the music order by emailing me at jonezfamily658@virginmedia.com  .    In the meantime, or if anyone would like to purchase music at a later date, the pieces may be downloaded and used for rehearsal. 

You will see there are three pieces which are not yet downloadable – we will have access to them at a later date but there’s plenty to be getting on with in the meantime!

Remember to let Chris know if you can make the 4^th September.

All the best

Siobhan Jones

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

Dear all

If you are free this Sunday evening (July 3rd) I’m giving a recital of Mozart, Chopin, Scriabin and Liszt at All Saints’ Church on Putney Common. The concert starts at 6pm and lasts an hour, admission is free and you can drink as much wine as you like for absolutely nothing! The retiring collection is supporting a friend who is a medic and who has been organising the purchase of emergency medical supplies to help people caught up in the continued fighting in Ukraine. Another friend is part of a team of parents at Wimbledon High School who have been buying old ambulances, filling them to the floor to roof with the medication, bandages and other essentials, and driving them to the Polish border where the Ukranian army take them to the frontline. The first consignments went to Mariupol.

If you want any more information email me at robertdbridge@yahoo.co.uk or, if you’re on Facebook, this link will take you to the Knitting Concert page:https://m.facebook.com/events/382800643705879?acontext=%7B%22source%22%3A%223%22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D&aref=3&paipv=1&ref=page_internal

Robert Bridge

Dear All

Congratulations to everyone for Saturday’s triumph. Sounds like it was a fantastic performance and one very much enjoyed by audience and performers alike. 

For those of you who weren’t there you may have heard Dave’s very happy  (but also a bit sad for us) news that he will be bowing out after this term as there is a new, little Anstice-Pim on the way. So very exciting! We’re sorry to have to say goodbye to Dave but of course absolutely delighted about his and his family’s wonderful news. 

We will be in touch shortly about succession plans but in the meantime I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say many congratulations and the very best wishes to Dave and his family for the next few exciting months. Thank you for leading us through the often tricky last few years. It’s been great fun and we will miss you. 

Choir rehearsals have now finished for this term and will resume in September – date to be confirmed. However, we will of course have the chance to catch up one last time this term at the party on 28th June (see earlier post).

Update on the prior post –

Time and place are still:

Tuesday June 28, 7pm – whenever
6 Dungarvan Avenue, SW15 5QU

£25 (change from prior post) to cover drinks and Teresa’s outstanding food. Please pay by bank transfer:
Christopher Hawkins 60-83-71 44446694. Make sure the payment comes through with the name I know you as please so I know whose money it is!

If you have not already done so, PLEASE RSVP BY EMAIL TO chris.hawkins2015@yahoo.com BY SUNDAY 19/6/22 to confirm you are coming so that we can buy the right amount of stuff.

Morning all, Siobhan is sadly away so on her behalf, quick re-reminder of today’s events. No major changes from Siobhan’s email of earlier in the week so if you read that, stick with it.

14:00 Early arrivals to help set up. Organist may be practising and Dave may be instructing musicians so we will need to be reasonably quiet please.

14:45 Latest arrival time. Warm up starts (probably in vestry). Musicians arriving and setting up

15:00 Rehearsal begins: Vaughan Williams

15:30 Fauré

16:30-16:45 short break

16:45 Vivaldi

17:30 Rehearsal ends

19:00 Doors and Bar open

19:15 Latest arrival time, head to vestry for warm up

19:30 Concert begins

A few things to note:

WATER Bring some! And a pencil!

MUSIC Don’t forget it, in a black folder if possible

CASH     Please ask guests to bring CASH for bar or if they are paying on the door.

Ticket List    We will be ticking off the guest list at the entrance

Bar        Opens at 19:00, interval and end. Donations bar – there will be a recommended donation list

Programmes      Marta’s daughter Gala will be helping hand out programmes at the door 💕

Dress      Black and white

Set-up We have a few volunteers arriving at 14:00 for set up. If anyone else can join them please let me know or come on the day. More hands, lighter  work etc

Clear-up All hands on deck please

See you this afternoon.

Obviously the concert is the number one priority, but a close second is the end of year party.

Date: Tuesday June 28th
Time: 7pm until late
Venue: 6 Dungarvan Avenue, SW15 5QU
Cost: £20 per head, covering food and drink in abundance

We hope that as many of us as possible will be there. To help with planning, could you please let me know if you are planning to come? Email to chris.hawkins2015@yahoo.com Thank you!

Dear all

Fantastic rehearsal today! All the pieces we covered today are sounding great, and we are really starting to shape it into a great performance! Well done to all present!

We started with a working run of the VW Te Deum. Each phrase is now sounding excellent, but a lot of them only sounded excellent the second time through! We really need to make sure we concentrate all the way through this piece, especially during the organ interludes, so each entry is powerful and effective. Make sure you note in your own scores where there are awkward page turns and rhythms you are not expecting (eg at the bottom of the penultimate page).

We then went through select bits of the Faure (Offertory, Agnus Dei and Libera Me). These are all sounding very good now and the dynamic shapes of the phrases are coming through really well. Especially tenors, watch tuning at during the unaccompanied bits of the Offertory. In Libera Me, please try not to slide around the jumps in the tune at the end!

Finally we spent 5 minutes on the Antiphon. Dynamics are key here, especially the big crescendi up to each “My God and King”. Everyone should make sure they know the “And above all the heart must bear the longest part” section, as this is always the hardest bit!

With only one rehearsal left before concert day (!) a few reminders:

1. Everyone should be at the church ready to sing at 3pm on Saturday 18th June. We will rehearse with the small band and organ until 5.30pm latest.
2. Free time from 5.30pm but please be back at the church, dressed and ready to start by 7.15pm. Doors open at 7pm and we will start at 7.30. We should finish by 9pm.
3. Dress code: Black and white
4. Volunteers still needed to help behind the bar I believe!

Thanks all, see you next week.

Dave

Details to follow

Dear all

Huge apologies that these roundups have been few and far between this term – life has well and truly taken over!

Well don to all for the last two rehearsals, both of which have been extremely successful.

Last week (17th May) we sang through the concert repertoire in order. For those not there, this order is:

Vivaldi Gloria

Vaughan Williams Festival Te Deum

Faure Requiem

Vaughan Williams Antiphon

We identified the bits that needed most work and will focus on them in the remaining 3(!) rehearsals.

Today, we sat in the positions we will perform from and were accompanied from the organ, which really helped get into the concert mood! We focused mainly on the two Vaughan Williams pieces, especially the Te Deum, which is now starting to sound really secure. Please use the rehearsal resources available to learn this more thoroughly (Chris tells us that the basses have used these more than any other section… and it showed!)

We also took apart the Antiphon a little, which was really useful and this again is sounding very confident now. Enunciating the words as clearly as you can is the key to getting this piece across convincingly.

Before these two, we also sang through some of the Faure and Vivaldi, to get used to the organ behind us. In movement 2 of the Faure – keep the tempo steady through the unaccompanied sections (altos and tenors mainly) and sopranos – when you enter at the end keep it string but not too loud.

The next 2 rehearsals will finish at 9pm so I can work with soloists until 9.30.

That’s all for today – see you next week!

Dave