Category: Choir Updates

Dear All

Great rehearsal last night. Four more until the concert so please make sure you come to them all!

TICKETS: We also need to get tickets sold. In order to cover the costs of the concert we’re asking everyone to sell at least 3 tickets each (including one for ourselves). Tickets will cost £10 each. Payment can be made by bank transfer to the choir account (NB direct payment from members only please) or cash to me (Siobhan) at rehearsal. Please could you also email me with number of tickets sold so we can keep track. Flyers will be available shortly.

CONCERT DAY (18^th June) TIMINGS: Set-up 14:00. Rehearsal start time 15:00. Concert start time 19:00. There will be a break between rehearsal and concert for everyone to freshen up and change. 

SETTING UP & CLEARING UP: We need as many volunteers as possible to set up before the rehearsal. The altar area will need clearing and seating for the orchestra arranged. Please could you let me know if you are able to arrive at 14:00 for set up. All hands on deck for clear up immediately after the concert, please!

DRESS CODE: Men- black trousers, white shirt; Women – black & white, smart-casual

Hi all, better late than never I have made practice files for the RVW Te Deum. At this point they will be useful for tidying up and making sure we have our notes right rather than learning, but worth having. Sorry it is so delayed.

The Youtube link is https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG-EA0a7_w2mk19vd9ZQjxnk2gEJNyUB-

Don’t forget that you can control the playback speed on Youtube via the settings cog. Worth using for this because the recording is at the scored tempo which rattles along.

Please don’t forget to subscribe to the channel if you have not already done so, thanks!

Dear All 

Reminder – no choir on Tuesday 10^th May. Next rehearsal, Tuesday 17^th May.

Also, please see message below from former choir member Marcia Kelson who is looking for a keyboard player to accompany the cast of one of her plays being performed at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith!

If anyone is interested or knows someone who might be, please let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Marcia.

WANTED: Performer keyboard- player who can improvise with a small cast to  produce some incidental music to perform live for a one hour play. 3- 4 rehearsals in june/early july,  performances at Riverside Studios Hammersmith 12-16 July. (Tech afternoon 12th july 13.00-17.00, performances 12-16 july, evenings). Music mainly needed for intro,  in short bursts up to a couple of minutes at each change of  scene and for end of play. Types of music include french country music (the type often played on an accordion), Egyptian gods music (think Indiana Jones), music to accompany a medieval troop of  actors! Profit share production so beer money, not paid.

Please see below message from Robert:

If you happen to be free this evening this is a last-minute call for a concert at All Saints’ Putney starting at 7.30pm. Organised by their Director or Music, Alex Turner, this is the first of three annual concerts that lead up to a 150th celebration for All Saints. Tonight’s programme includes the glorious Duruflé Requiem and a chance to hear the Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs in their entirety – the last of which is the Antiphon which you are singing at the moment – in a version for soloist, choir, piano and string quintet. Why I am named as a soloist is beyond me: I have a fairly minor role!
Should be a lovely way to spend a sunny evening and if you get in quick you might still be able to bag a ticket at the advance price.
Robert

Dear All 

SGC has been contacted by Steve Banks, composer of a new choral work which will be premiered in London on 14^th May. Details of the performance and the new work are below. Steve has said he may be able to offer the choir a guest ticket or two, so if you would like to attend please let me know and I’ll put you in touch with him. 

Steve’s message:

“I’ve composed a ground-breaking, inspirational new sacred choral work, ‘Blue Pearl: A One World Oratorio’. There is a demo recording at my website www.stevebanks.info and also a PDF of the vocal score. 

The world premiere is going to be at St Giles Cripplegate, London on 14th May, with the London Mozart Players, Excelsis and Vox Farnham Chamber Choirs, Angela Hicks (soprano), Luthien Brackett (mezzo-soprano), David de Winter (tenor) and Geoff Williams (bass), conducted by Rob Lewis. 

Blue Pearl conveys a *human* spirituality – a contemporary synthesis of the ancient spiritual traditions of the East with the modern psychology and science of the West. It is a radical new work; fresh and original, yet rooted in the western sacred choral tradition. The music is harmonic, tuneful, and moving; very accessible. 

Rob Lewis, Musical Director of Excelsis and Vox Farnham Chamber Choirs say: “Steve has used different styles of music to great effect to evoke the whole range of our shared human experience: from joy, humour and sexuality to the opening of our hearts in compassion, to the spiritual mystery we encounter in stillness and silence. ‘Blue Pearl’ is a wonderful and moving celebration of our shared humanity.” 

Dear All

I hope you had a lovely Easter.

Choir resumes next Tuesday 26^th April. Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Robert will be taking things a little easier this term after some unexpected health issues over Easter but hopes to be back to play for the choir in September. I know I speak for all of us in wishing Robert a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him soon.

David Terry who covered for Robert at the end of last term will be stepping in to cover the run up to the June concert.

We are all set for tomorrow night. Acceptances number about 14, so if there are any latecomers I am sure we can squeeze you in. Let me know.

Venue – Black Salt Sheen. Address – 505-507 Upper Richmond Road West, East Sheen, London, SW14 7DE. Date and time – Tuesday April 12, 8pm

Black Salt happy for us to come early for a drink, so if you want to mosey on down from 7pm, please do. Christmas regalia optional – if anyone has some old Christmas crackers knocking around, bring them along. Otherwise, the odd bit of tinsel and Christmas headwear would not go amiss.

See you tomorrow. Rog

I am happy to pass on the news that Lesley is out of hospital and recuperating at home after her emergency appendectomy. But altos, don’t expect her back for a few weeks.

She asked me to pass on the advice that you ignore NHS-111 and your GP if you have acute abdominal pain. Just go straight to A&E!

Lesley, we wish you a pleasant recuperation and a speedy return to health and singing.

Dear all

Many thanks to those who came to last night’s rehearsal – we covered a lot of material.

We started with the Faure Requiem, working backwards from the last movement. In Paradisum is mostly being sung very well, but particularly tenors and bases may need a little more familiarity with the notes, especially when the T&B parts split. This is true in quire a few places throughout the whole requiem (tenors and bases split far more than altos or sopranos do), so if you have any time this week focus on this. The Libera Me is sounding very competent and the notes are more secure – the key to this piece iOS the performance, notably at the end when we sing the main theme in unison. Follow the dynamics in the score, and exaggerate to the point of it feeling silly! Agnus Dei is sounding good, but again, could use more familiarity.

We’re then spent the rest of the rehearsal on the Vaughan Williams Festival Te Deum, note-bashing through the bits we have not done before (large 13 to the end), which generally sounded very good. We will keep going over these bits and will likely need to break them down again a few times – the notes are quite tricky at first but mostly follow patterns, which make it easier as you get to know it. We have now covered all the notes in this piece and it is already sounding convincing, but it needs a huge amount of energy to pull it off. It’s loud and high most of the way through, and even the quiet moments need a sense of drama, so it will feel like much longer than 6 minutes to perform start to finish! It will be worth it though!

Auditions

As per last week’s roundup, please let me know by next week’s rehearsal if you would like to sing for any of the solos in the Vivaldi or the Faure. We have a few so far but not enough! Details are in last week’s email.

Also please be reminded that next week, Tuesday 5th April, is the last rehearsal before Easter. We will resume on Tuesday 26th April.

Best

Dave

The long-awaited choir Christmas curry, postponed more because of reasons to do with competence than covid, is upon us. Alternatively, this could charitably be viewed as an exceptionally well-planned early choir Christmas curry.

Venue – Black Salt Sheen

Address – 505, 507 Upper Richmond Road West,East Sheen, London, SW14 7DE

Date and time – Tuesday April 12, 8pm

A table for 15 is booked. It’s in the conservatory of Black Salt, to avoid upsetting the regulars.

Let me know if you’d like to come, by email, please – roger.blitz@ft.com. If you tell me in person at rehearsal, I promise you I will forget.

Love, Rog