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Reminder that the choir will be having a get-together for those who can make it on Tuesday 29th June from 7:30pm at 35 Deanhill Road, East Sheen SW14 7DQ. The football will be on!

Please bring a bottle of whatever you prefer to drink and maybe a few nibbles. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions – my number (Siobhan – altos) is 07887 648 422.

Dear All

Tricia came up with an excellent idea – we might not be able to rehearse together, but luckily we can all have a drink together in the garden. So if you’d like the chance to catch up with other choir members please come to 35 Deanhill Road, SW14 7DQ on Tuesday 29th June from 7:30pm.

May I ask that everyone coming brings a bottle of whatever they prefer to drink (lemonade, vodka etc) and maybe a few nibbles. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions – my number (Siobhan – altos) is 07887 648 422.

That was going to be our last rehearsal day, but it is looking unlikely that we will be able to re-start this term. Obviously if this changes we will let you know and change plans.

Dear All

Sadly, after this evening’s announcement, it’s not looking promising for the remainder of our rehearsals this term (last one was due to be on 29th June). We’ll keep an eye on guidance in case this changes. No rehearsal tomorrow.

Do write to your MP to make your feelings known and don’t forget the petition if you haven’t already signed it.

Dear All

This is your weekly reminder to hassle your MPs to try to get the guidance for choirs changed. Don’t forget to sign the petition too (two posts below).

There has been no change to guidance so no rehearsal this week (8th June).

We had rehearsals planned until 29th June so not giving up just yet and will keep you posted if things change.

Unfortunately, there has been no change as yet to DCMS guidance restricting rehearsals for amateur choirs. We did not have a rehearsal planned for this week (1st June) anyway as its half term, but we will continue to monitor the guidance and let you know if there is any change ahead of next week, 8th June.

As before, please do not give up hope! If you have not signed the petition (link may be found two posts below), or written to your MP, please do so. 

Dear All

Despite plenty of publicity around this unexplained decision by DCMS, and despite lawyers saying that we are legally able to rehearse despite the guidance, we do not feel that it is appropriate for us to meet tonight.

Please do not give up hope! If you have not signed the petition, or written to your MP, please do so.

Fingers crossed for next week. And keep singing, regardless of where you are and who might be listening!

Hello everyone

I hope everyone is doing well. You are probably wondering what is going on with the rehearsal situation. Well, so are we. Choristers across the UK have been busy writing to their MPs, signing petitions and doing everything possible to make Oliver Dowden and DCMS understand just how wrong-headed their last minute change to guidance was. If you have not done any of these things, please do! The more noise, the more our chance of getting things changed. Take a look at @ABCDTweets or the hashtag #ChoirsMatter to see the extent of the uprising.

Technically, it seems clear that we are actually able to sing together, because the law allows it. But with explicit (albeit not legally binding) guidance saying we cannot sing, we are still in a situation where we do not feel that we can meet. So, for now, Tuesday’s rehearsal is ‘pending clarification’ but, absent any new guidance, will not go ahead.

But please do not give up hope. Please keep your Tuesday evening open as long as you can, because if there is a reversal of guidance it will surely come out of the blue and with no notice. We will wait until Tuesday afternoon to confirm that the rehearsal is indeed cancelled if there is no change. And naturally if there is good news it will be posted just as quickly as the internet will allow.

Fingers crossed, keep practising at home, and we promise that Sheen Gate Choir will sing together again soon.

Dear all

First, sincere apologies for the confusion and mess of yesterday. You should know that it was not, for once, organizational incompetence, but something that affected choirs up and down the country. For weeks, DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) has been stating that singing is permitted in Step 3 of easing. There was even a moment where a junior minister said it wasn’t – and that mistake was quickly corrected 24 hours later. So choirs like us and agencies that support singing have been completely in agreement that rehearsals could restart on May 17th. Indeed, many choirs DID rehearse on Monday evening.

But then, with unreasonable stealth, DCMS issued a new statement of guidelines. It came out in the afternoon on Monday, the day the rules changed. And it states that amateur choir rehearsals indoors are not permitted. Although this is at odds with the actual legislation, which appears to allow choir practice, we felt it was inadvisable to go ahead and hence the plug was pulled yesterday lunchtime.

My personal view is that it is either (a) another mistake inside DCMS and it may be reversed, or (b) a cynical trick by the government, not wanting to announce that Step 3 is postponed but instead changing what Step 3 means so that it is effectively just like Step 2.

Either way, please don’t write off your Tuesday evenings just yet. And if you feel like it, drop your MP a line and let him or her know that a vaccinated, safety-conscious, well-organised group such as us, with no interest in doing anything that risks getting any one of us ill, should not be further restricted from the joy of singing. We know that the umbrella organisations like Making Music and the Association of British Choral Directors are leading the way with representations to the government, but every additional flea in an MP’s ear can only help.

We will come back with updates as and when available, and at latest to confirm the situation for next week’s scheduled rehearsal. Until then, stay safe and stay dry and keep singing.

So I think we now understand how the government decided to do this. They didn’t want to postpone the easing of lockdown, because that would have been met with howls of disapproval. So instead, they quietly issued new clarification on what is allowed under Step 3 yesterday, at odds with what was previously indicated, and on the actual day that the easing took effect.

And sure enough, in the DCMS update there is a statement that ‘Indoor non-professional performing arts activity is not currently permitted.’ So we are on Step 3 of lockdown easing, but the rules in effect are no different to those in Step 2. And, I’m afraid to say, I suspect that this is going to be the way of things right through to our scheduled summer break. We will see what develops, as I am sure there will be some polite feedback provided to DCMS on this ruling, just as happened when the junior minister went against what was then policy, and obviously will let you know before next Tuesday.

Very disappointing, but we will sing again soon.

It’s great that we are so close to being able to meet and sing again. There are some bits and pieces you need to know. Here they are:

Covid protocols

• Please use hand gel at the entrance.
• Entrance is through the main door (NW corner) and exit is through the small door on the south side of the church.
• Seating is in alternate pews, which are marked, 3 to a pew: one each end, one middle, to keep 2m spacing. As before, please take a pew when you arrive and stay in that seat unless absolutely essential to move to another.
• Face masks are required for entry and exit but are no longer mandatory for singing. Based on reviewing the official guidance, policies of other organizations (including the choir of All Saints) and relevant research, we have concluded that it is no longer a requirement that we sing in masks. There are other points of view, of course. One is here. It is worth noting that this, more cautious, angle is from Making Music, a group that is in the business of insuring musicians, so they are logically at the most cautious end of the spectrum. If you prefer to wear a mask to sing, please feel free.
• Toilets are in the vestry, but just as at Christ Church, ideally they should be for emergency only, please. If we use them we have to clean them thoroughly.
• Please stay within the nave of the church at all times. No access to the chancel or vestry except for Robert.
• The “no mingling” rule before and after is still in force, so although there will be an instinct to embrace friends we have not seen for months, please don’t socialise inside or right outside the church. We will do that happily afterwards at the pub.

Dress code

Worth making sure you have a few layers, as we intend to have open doors to permit circulation. It’s mid-May, so hopefully it’s warm enough, but come prepared.

Parking

The best place to park is on south side of the common. Limits to Residents only are just for the mornings so there are plenty of bays on Lower Common South Side and Egliston Road. If you are approaching from Queens Ride, you need to turn in to Hallam Road as Willow Farm Lane is one-way. And if you do choose to park on the little road by the Spencer, make sure you park well clear of the bus turning circle!

Music to bring

The folk songs from last year:
Linden Lea
Battle of Jericho
Shenandoah
Ellan Vannin
Danny Boy

Plus:
Mozart Requiem
Cantique de Jean Racine

Drinks

In the past we have celebrated the start of a new term with a few glasses of wine before we start. We cannot do that this time for many reasons. But we hope that as many of us as possible can shuffle over to The Spencer when we finish. Under the rules, though, we will need to sit outside on the common. So definitely have coats, and if it is as chilly as lately, hats and gloves and scarves too. Keep fingers crossed that the rain abates by then.

Can’t wait to see you at 7.45 prompt on Tuesday. Iterum cantamus!