Category: Choir Updates

Sorry, the link to click on to reply was wrong.

Should be:

chris.hawkins2015@yahoo.com

Dear all

How is everyone? I am sure that I am not alone in that I miss seeing and singing with the choir. The joy and spirituality of shared music is painfully absent from my life.

So, who’s on for a social and fun evening this week?
I am proposing that anyone who is free joins in on Wednesday May 6th at 8pm for a musical-themed quiz.
If we have enough participants, then we will put people into small teams, who will Zoom together, and answer my fiendish questions on WhatsApp.
Then we will convene (Zoom again) at the conclusion to reveal the winners and, bandwidth-permitting, have a chance to remind ourselves of what our fellow singers look like.

Who’s interested? Replies to my email, please. Chris.hawkins2015@yahoo.com

Hope to see you on Wednesday. Best wishes to all.

Chris

Dear all

I hope you and yours are all keeping well. Apologies that I have not been in touch for a while – the wheels of Government are of course still turning and I am still working full time from home (and busier than usual!)

I’m sure this will not come as a surprise, but I have been speaking with the committee and we have to admit defeat and formally cancel the concert on 20th June. I know this will be as much of a disappointment to you as it was to me but, even if restrictions are lifted enough by then, they certainly will not be in time for us to have enough rehearsals to put on the concert we would all want. Whilst we are very sad to have to finish this term on such a note, we are very excited to announce preliminary plans for the future…

We aim for formal rehearsals to begin again on 8th September 2020 – this is of course subject to restrictions and a few potential diary issues but pencil this in your diaries now! Our Autumn concert will follow the usual format of smaller-scale pieces, this time around a theme of traditional and folk music. I am planning a varied programme featuring music from around the British Isles (I am even toying with the idea of teaching you some Welsh…) as well as further afield. Particular highlights will be some folk song arrangements by Vaughan Williams and Holst and a selection of American Spirituals arranged by Moses Hogan (if you don’t know his arrangements do see if you can find some recordings – they are such fun!)

However, the work we have done this year will not be wasted. The current plan is to perform the Mozart Requiem celebrate the 10th anniversary next Summer in 2021. I know this is a year late, but there is not enough rehearsal time in the Autumn term for a full-scale work, nor enough budget for an orchestra then and another one in the Summer, so maintaining the current cycle is important. We have not decided on the full programme yet but it will not necessarily feature the Birthday Madrigals anymore. More details later in the year…

Disappointment aside, we will of course continue to monitor the restrictions and, as soon as it is considered safe, will look into some informal get-togethers or sing-through over the Summer. I don’t want this to be a complete sign off for the next 5 months if we can avoid it – watch this space!

Thanks all and stay safe!

Dave

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Stay at home and keep singing! 🙂

Hi All, seems I should have waited for the MP’s press conference. We will not be meeting tomorrow but starting our Easter break early. Obviously we would like to pick up again on 21st April in preparation for performing on 20th June, but will be guided by whatever social distancing measures are in place then. We are a close-knit group of friends and we will find ways to keep in distanced contact and to support each other over this extraordinary period, not just passing two metres apart in the loo roll aisle. Passing on best wishes to you all from Dave. Lesley

We are going ahead with the rehearsal tomorrow evening at Christ Church NOT Tower House. All of us are adjusting our behaviours for the potential impact of Covid-19 and we know some of you have already decided not to attend choir for the time being. We would like to find a consensus tomorrow on carrying on rehearsals and if we do, under what conditions and whether we should assume for now that we will still be able to have our concert in June. Unfortunately I will not be there as I’ll be driving across France and back but Dave will of course lead the discussion. best wishes Lesley

Poor Dave has tonsilitis but Alison Hunka has bravely agreed to step in tonight. Next week’s rehearsal is expected to be at Christ Church because the school is not free – I am just awaiting confirmation from CC. I can’t be there tonight, have fun! Lesley

Dear all

Apologies for not sending a roundup last week – a combination of 3 concerts in two weeks, being unusually busy at work and a little unwell over the past fortnight meant that it slipped my mind!

On 25th April we started by working through the Introit and Kyrie of the Mozart. We have covered all the notes for the Requiem now so I will be topping and tailing a couple of movements at each rehearsal. We also bashed some notes on the Rutter numbers 1 and 2 – more on these below.

This week we moved on to the Dies Irae and Rex Tremendae of the Mozart. These are generally sung very well. Keep the pace up in the Dies Irae – it dragged a lot at the beginning, and again when the basses sing ‘Quantus tremor…’ with quavers. The Rex is only hard because of how slow it is – needs a lot of concentration to keep in time and know when your entries are!

We spent the majority of the last 2 rehearsals with detailed work/note bashing on Rutter 1 (It was a lover and his lass) and 2 (Draw on sweet night). Both have their challenges but are very singable once we have our heads around the style.

It was a lover – make sure you are confident with the rhythms, especially when the syncopation kicks in. The verses are much more similar than they seem, so be confident that even though it’s slightly different you know what you are doing! The 1st bass part is especially tricky – have a look over in your own time if you can chaps!

Draw on – main point here is simple – YOU ARE NOT DRAWING A PERSON CALLED RON. There is no R between the words ‘Draw’ and ‘on’ – please stop putting one in! Rant over 😜. Generally we are coping with this very well. In contrast to the previous piece, the rhythms are very straight forward but the notes are sometimes hard, especially the occasional semitone clashes between parts. Each part needs to be 100% confident of their own line, so they are not put off by all the others! We will continue to work on this.

Finally, just to clarify from previous weeks, we are rehearsing up to and including Tuesday 24th March. We then have 3 weeks off for Easter, starting again on 21st April.

Have a good weekend!

Dave

Hoping to see everyone tomorrow evening. Take a chance to listen to the Birthday Madrigals if you havent already! Lesley