Two concerts down, three to go...

First of the seasonal offerings was on Saturday 1st December, at the village hall in Mealsgate. A smaller than usual choir (only four of us altos!) and accoustics not as good as they are in the church where we usually sing, but the welcome and the hall were warm, and at supper afterwards, Janet's meringues disappeared like snow off a dyke, as always! Last night's concert at Isel Church was in aid of the Cumbria Wildlife Trust, now celebrating its 50th year. It's a tiny gem of a church, which necessitated careful planning of 'where to stand'. But the accoustics were great, the effect of many lit candles made it wonderfully atmospheric, and the audience joined in the congregational carols with great gusto. Next week, we'll be at St. Philip's in Eaglesfield (Thursday 13th) and of course it's our own regular Christmas date at Christ Church in Sullart Street on Saturday 15th.

Rehearsal 28th November

First Christmas concert on Saturday, so tonight we went through Val's B-list to weed out the pieces that aren't quite ready to perform, and then sang the programme through. Having missed two rehearsals I've fixed a pre-concert note-bashing session with Lindy Wilson and Wendy Sanders for Saturday afternoon so as not to let the choir down... and to deserve one of Janet's meringues at the supper afterwards!! Looking forward to the first of quite a few carol services!

Rehearsal 7th November

Tonight we worked through (almost) our complete repertoire, to give Val an idea of what needs 'polishing' for our spate of December concerts. However, first, we learned one last new item, a traditional Louisiana spiritual, Poor li'l Jesus. Then Sing until Sundown, Wherever you are, Rutter's 'The Colours of Christmas', the gospel carol 'The Virgin Mary had a baby boy', the Saint-Saens motet, Douglas Cook's rather tricky 'He wishes for the cloths of heaven', and finally Rutter's Shepherds' Pipe Carol, which is initially tricky to learn, but once learnt, surprisingly easy to sing. No time for any more - just another two carols to do from our 'Red' books, and a final Rutter one, which will no doubt be squeezed in next week. Tonight's announcements: sadly, the proposed choir trip to our twin town Marvejols will not take place next year, as not enough members were able to commit. It has been suggested that those who would like to go, book on the biennial visit next autumn half-term. We could perhaps sing some barbershop arrangements during the bus journey..... Best wishes to Heather Crompton, who is stuck in Turkey for a few days with her husband whilst he recovers sufficiently to be able to fly home following a cycling accident during the half-term holiday. This will be the last blog for a couple of weeks, as I'm off to foreign parts this weekend - back on 28th November.

Rehearsal 24th October

Very happy with our work this half-term on our winter concert programme.Starting early (and ignoring those comments about carols in September!) makes for a much more relaxed second half-term, as we polish up all those new items. Tonight, it was the Saint-Saens Ave verum, then a new lollipop by John Rutter, The Colours of Christmas. Is that description 'soft porn for choirs' fair? He seems to be in the same class as the sainted Mr Malone. Audience bait? We'll do anything to fill those seats! Then another Rutter arrangement of a Welsh traditional carol, Deck the Hall. Lots of counting needed to get it right, especially at the lick our Val likes to have it sung.... but we're getting there, and actually starting to enjoy it, I think! Finally, Douglas Cook's 'He wishes for the cloths of Heaven', which is absolutely lush. Next week is the half-term holiday, so see y'all on 7th November

Rehearsal 17th October

More note-bashing tonight. Working hard at memorising the Saint-Saens Ave verum. Then to the Carols for Choirs book, from which we practised Angelus ad virginem (lots of Latin tonight!), followed by Rutter's Deck the Hall (n.b. there's only one hall...) Friday's fund-raiser with John Crouch demonstrating French provincial cookery, followed by a meal, was a most enjoyable night, and thanks are due to all those who pitched in to help - making puddings, distributing samples of John's delicious food, pouring drinks, and then helping with all the washing up and tidying away. I'm not sure how much was made yet, as there are still a couple of bills to be paid, but it was a respectable sum, and I will let you know via this forum when the final accounts are done! I did take a picture on my new phone, but have yet to learn how to upload it....

Rehearsal 10th October

The Christmas programme is becoming gradually populated, if that's the word, with pieces that, initially tricky, are becoming more pleasurable to sing, and therefore sounding better! Tonight, John Rutter's Deck the Hall (tricky rhythms!), David Willcocks's Angelus ad Virginem, Douglas Cook's He wishes for the cloths of Heaven, and then Wherever you are, as a bit of light relief to round off the evening. Oh, and a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday for Sadie Best, who celebrates her **nd

birthday tomorrow. And will be celebrating in style at our fund-raiser on Friday evening at the Christ Church Rooms on South Street, when we have a demonstration of French provincial cookery from John Crouch, followed by a meal. Still a few tickets left at Billy Bowman's, if you've left it till the last minute!

Rehearsal 3rd October

Tonight we worked on the Saint-Saens Ave verum (I never see that composer's name without thinking of Peter Ustinov's brilliant voice-over recording for the Carnival of the Animals, which has to be about fifty years old... "Camille Saint-Saens (pronounced correctly as a very nasal San-Son, or something like...) was wrecked with pains, when folks addressed him as Saint Sains.." I digress. Then Sing until Sundown, followed by Douglas Cook's setting of Keats' He wishes for the cloths of heaven. These last two are quite tricky, so it was a spot of light relief when we started work on 'Wherever you Are', which the sainted Gareth Malone took to the number one spot last Christmas with his Military Wives group. I think we will do it justice!!

Rehearsal 26th September

Good work on our winter programme. Val would love us to sing the Saint-Saens Ave verum from memory. It's beautiful and not overlong, so we are gradually getting there. Next, from our Carols for Choirs book, a David Willcocks arrangement of Angelus ad Virginem. Then a Rutter arrangement (take note, Wendy!!) of the Welsh traditional carol, Deck the Hall. Followed by his Shepherd's Pipe Carol, which is challenging enough to remain propped up at my piano all week for a quick sing through whenever I have a spare moment! Finally, a sing through of Sing till sundown. Some lovely numbers here, but also quite tricky! Another concert for our diaries (the Google calendar will be updated when I have a moment!). Eaglesfield church, Thursday 13th December, 7 pm. A reminder that we have a social evening organised for Friday 12th October, at Christ Church Rooms. It's an evening with John Crouch, who will be doing a demonstration of French provincial cookery, to be followed by a two course meal. Details in this month's Cockermouth Port. Tickets £15 per head, available from Billy Bowman's or choir members.

Rehearsal 19th September

First, personal news: Naomi has had twins, and Enise has also had her baby. How lovely!! Jim Stafford (Jean's husband, and one of our most faithful and long-standing groupies) has health problems. We wish him all the best, and have him in our thoughts at all times.. Tonight's rehearsal, Saint-Saens Ave Verum; John Rutter's Shepherd's Pipe Carol, which has taxed us all somewhat but is gradually getting easier; and Malcolm Edward's 'Sing until Sundown', which Wendy Sanders sourced for us.

Rehearsal 12th September

Three pieces worked on tonight: John Rutter's Shepherd's Pipe Carol, which we didn't quite get to performance standard last year - so this time we're starting early. It's gorgeous, but not simple!! This time we'll do it. Next, An Ave Verum by Saint-Saens, a medieval text for Corpus Christe. Then we worked through to the end of Malcolm Edwards' Sing till sundown. Welcome to Heather, whose first night it was. Much laughter, as always - such a great atmosphere. Are all choirs so much fun, like this one?

Autumn term begins...

5th September and back to work after our (rainy) summer hols....and how very nice to see some new faces, thanks in part to the article in this month's Cockermouth Post, and in part to Wendy Sanders, who is just brilliant at persuading people to do things they didn't know they wanted to do - like join a choir! So hello Caroline (past member), Nicola (just moved to Cockermouth from Borrowdale) and Deborah. Tonight we worked first on a Douglas Cook setting of Keats' 'He wishes for the cloths of heaven'. Then 'Sing till Sundown' by Malcolm Edwards; and finally a lovely setting of the spiritual 'The Virgin Mary had a baby boy'. Next week we will need our copies of Carols for Choirs and we will also work on a fresh number from our Six Motets by Faure and Saint-Saens. Tickets will be on sale from next week for our fund raiser, An Evening with John Crouch. This will take place in South Street church rooms on Friday 12th October at 7.30pm. John will demonstrate French provincial cookery (with tasters!) and this will be followed by a two-course meal. Tickets will also be on sale at Billy Bowman's, cost £15, and there is a vegetarian/vegan option available (which must be prebooked). More on this in later bulletins!

Last rehearsal of the season!

An early start to our autumn learning programme, following a really good concert on Saturday night. Not one of our bigger audiences, but our guests (Papcastle group players) were wonderful and played superbly. Full justice to a (difficult!!) Phil Wood composition that was premièred at the Wigmore Hall over ten years ago. Tonight we began a fresh Douglas Cook composition, a setting of Keats' 'He wishes for the cloths of Heaven'; a lovely Christmas seasonal piece by Malcolm Edward, 'Sing until sundown', and two Christmas spirituals. Val then treated us to a summer celebration Pimms (whilst the committee hammered out the boring financial details of paying for increasingly expensive music, and the new committee for the coming year; Chair, Val Leach; Vice chair, Lindy Wilson; Secretary, Liz Jackson; new members, Sue Hellier and Janet Mansfield. Still one committee member short, but Sue Cumella has promised to think about it. Val presented us with a list of music that she thought would suit our group, and members were able to vote on their preferred options. Numbers will now be collated and final decisions made during the autumn. Final events before the summer hols begin are the Marvejols planning meeting on Monday, and our end-of-season party at Sheila and Bob Harwood's in Crosby on Wednesday next.

Rehearsal 4th July

Last rehearsal before Saturday night's concert. Worked on the accompanied numbers, as we have only recently sung all the unaccompanied programme so that's much more secure!! The dire weather this summer has led to a number of members escaping ANYWHERE where there is a chance of sun for a few days... oddly, this seemed to inspire those of us there tonight to superhuman efforts and Val was very pleased with most of our work... Guests at the concert will be from the Derwent Wind Group, who will be playing a work by Philip Wood - reason enough to go to a concert anywhere, in my book! One more post concert rehearsal to come next week, followed a week later by our summer party, and then it's feet up for the summer. Possibly in a deck chair...

Rehearsal 27th June

The choir sang as part of the Cockermouth Live! event, part of the summer festival, on Saturday morning at the Kirkgate. It was good to see new faces in the audience. Quite a respectable number too! Our a capella programme worked well and there were appreciative comments, both about our singing and the summer 'black with a touch of sweet pea' outfits. Tonight's rehearsal was fine-tuning numbers from the summer programme. Only one more rehearsal before the concert. There'll just be the one rehearsal after that before the summer break (for which Val says we do NOT need to take our carol books... she worded that one very carefully...). And of course there's the summer party at the Harwoods, who hope to be dried out after last weekend's torrential rain.

Rehearsal 20th June

All of our a capella programme tonight, ready for Saturday's performance at the Kirkgate as part of the Cockermouth Live! day (23rd June, 11 a.m.) So much easier for Val H. to conduct us all when our accompanist isn't there, not to be sitting behind a keyboard! So a good and productive evening for us all. We also had our AGM. Finding members willing to be on the committee is a problem, more than it has seemed to be in the past - but maybe that's just ignorance on my part. Might have to do some arm-twisting to reach a quorum on the committee. Watch this space...

Rehearsal 13th June

Hard work for Val tonight as Ann-Marie is rehearsing elsewhere for two weeks, and she had to combine conducting with accompanying. We did some note-bashing on items to be included in the summer concert; The Long and Winding Road, the two Ave Marias (Faure, which is so high it's in the squeaky range for some of us; and Saint-Saens); and the Gwyn Arch Latin American arrangements, The Girl from Ipanema, River of Babylon and Gauntanamera. Next week's rehearsal will begin at 7pm as we have the AGM. It will be totally a capella, in readiness for our performance at Cockermouth Live! on 23rd June, at the Kirkgate (11 o'clock). We will not now be singing at Isel Hall on 23rd in the afternoon, but have been asked to sing at Isel Church in early December. It's a little gem! The group photos that were taken some weeks ago are now ready. Audrey will have a list of prices for members who'd like to buy one, next week. Janet Mansfield is collecting for the raffle. For the summer concert, where refreshments will now be served in the church instead of the church rooms, members have been asked to arrive at the pre-concert afternoon rehearsal with a packet of either savoury or sweet biscuits.

Rehearsal 30th May, and the Loweswater Concert

The week started with a wonderful evening singing to the members of the 77 Club in Loweswater (our second visit). What a magical setting! What a wonderful evening! The accoustics in the old school hall were terrific, the audience were appreciative of our programme, and the glorious weather was just the icing on the cake. The camp followers sat outside chewing the cud and maybe talking about disappearing to the Kirkstile; I'm pleased to report that they didn't. The sound of our singing must have filtered out through the open windows, so they stayed. Afterwards, we were treated to drinks and cheese and mingled outside, enjoying the views towards Crummock, and the warm evening, or stayed inside, listening to the calling out of the raffle prize-winners, for those who'd splashed out on tickets. Tonight, an excellent rehearsal, with very detailed work on three of the items to be in our summer concert. Faure's Ave Maria, The Girl from Ipanema and The Long and Winding Road. Half term next week. See y'all on 13th June. By the way, there's an extra rehearsal scheduled for 11th July, after our summer concert. Christmas carols this early??? And Sheila Harwood has kindly offered to host our summer party at her home in Crosby on the following Wednesday, 18th.

23 May

Been in South Africa since my last post... made tonight's rehearsal a bit scary, as we have a concert tomorrow night. Will have to squeeze a bit of time into tomorrow's busy schedule to learn 'The Long and Winding Road' (OK, all you 60's buffs, you know it. But not the alto part of this particular arrangement..)

In the meantime, here's a picture of my very first sighting of a kingfisher. Not one we have here in the UK, but thrilling nonetheless!!

Rehearsal 2nd May

Last week's rehearsal (25th April) began with a photo session. It's a long time since we had a formal photo session, and Audrey Evans organised a photographer from the U3A to do the honours. He was very thorough, and I'm looking forward to seeing the results! I'm afraid I can't report on the following rehearsal, as I was at the 'no-voice' stage of a cold, so hot-footed it back home for a toddy as soon as the session was over. Made it to this week's rehearsal, albeit a little late, and dressed in Georgian Fair gear; came straight from a dress rehearsal for the Street Theatre. I missed the work on Guantanamera and The Girl from Ipanema, but caught the end of work on Faure's Ave Maria, which are part of the summer concert programme. Then we went through all of the programme for this Sunday's Georgian Fair concert at All Saints Church. We're opening the event at 2 pm; the grand finale is the Papcastle Phil, playing the specially commissioned arrangement of - well, it's hard to describe, but the title is '1812 in Cockermouth', so there could be some references to Tchaikovsky, and we've been promised special effects... can't wait!!

18th April rehearsal

Georgian Fair concert getting very close! Programme order now sorted, and tonight we went through most of it: Douglas Cook's Oh, love it is pleasing and The wild mountain thyme; Oh, won't you sit down; Azikatale; the Agnus Dei from Faure's Requiem, and Bobby Shaftoe. Note to all members: photo session next week before we start singing. Please be there at 18.45 wearing black (not necessarily what you'd wear for a concert) with your summer and winter touches of sweet pea and red, respectively, so we can have two official photos. The Marvejols trip will go ahead in summer 2013: we have a critically small but 'do-able' number of members who'd like to give it a go. Once the Georgian Fair is over, we'll have another meeting to further our plans. Meanwhile, Pat Tolley will write to Dominic Juive in Marvejols (who issued the invitation) to tell him the good news!!

Rehearsal 28th March

Last one before Easter. A night spent polishing up our a cappella repertoire ready for Cockermouth Live! and Isel Hall, both on 23rd June. Douglas Cook's arrangement of The Wild Mountain Thyme, which is at its best performed at quite a lick; the spiritual Wayfarin' stranger; Bobby Shaftoe, fun, showy & with a touch of humour; Zoltan Kodaly's Hippity-Hoppity (very glad we don't have to sing it in the original Czech!) William Cornysh's Ah, Robin, gentle Robin; a traditional South African piece Azikatal; Oh, won't you sit down, and Douglas Cook's Oh, love it is pleasing. We started off with two of our old South African favourites, Siya Hamba and Amen Siyakedumisa. Wow, busy night!!

Rehearsal 21st March

Worked tonight on two pieces to add to our unaccompanied repertoire. Kodaly's Hippity-Hoppity and Douglas Coombes' arrangement of Bobby Shaftoe. More work on Guantanamera, which dare I say it is approaching performance standard... finally!! Then the last few minutes on the introduction to Lennon & McCartney's Long and Winding Road. Doesn't bear any resemblance to that old Beatles recording of mine. I wonder who arranged it...

29 Feb, 7th & 14 March rehearsals

Bumper edition tonight!
Here's what has been rehearsed during the last three rehearsals.
7th March
Faure's Agnus Dei; He Ain't Heavy; Douglas Cook's 'O love it is pleasing' and an arrangement by Philip Wood of the Fenham College Song... there must be a story there somewhere....
29th Feb (sorry, dates out of order!)
The Long and Winding Road; Girl from Ipenima; Guantanamera
14th March
Emphasis on unaccompanied works tonight. William Cornysh's Ah, Robin, gentle Robin; O won't you sit down; both our Douglas Cook songs, Oh love it is pleasing and The wild mountain thyme;a spiritual, Wayfarin' stranger, and a traditional South African song, both arranged by Peter Hunt, Azikatale.

Choir Social at Victoria Hall

Friday 24th February, a social evening, to talk through what would be involved in taking the choir to our twin town of Marvejols for a week's 'singing holiday' in 2013. But also, a smashing evening - something our choir seems to be particularly good at; possibly because of the friendships and camaraderie engendered by earlier visits to Marvejols, as Chris Albon pointed out... men bonding over copious amounts of wine... who would have believed it??
It was hard to find a suitable venue for a Friday night event. Victoria Hall ticks all the boxes! Lovely, cosy and  intimate, perfectly equipped (proper kitchen, plenty of tables and chairs, ). Thanks to all the washers up, and to Bob Harwood whose experience in organising these trips is second to none.

As always with our 'party nights', there was a terrific provision of food and drink. My first attempt at making Aligot might not have been perfect - scissors weren't necessary to cut off portions, which I'm told is the traditional method; but it was delicious and, thankfully,  not a scrap left. (Mind, I won't be tempted to mash six pounds of potatoes again in a great hurry... )

Rehearsal 22nd February

Welcome back after half term, and welcome back Val H., who isn't quite 100% yet but sounds much healthier than at her last rehearsal! Please don't overdo it, Val!!
Lovely rehearsal. Finished Guantanamera, which seemed terribly long whilst we were learning it, but suddenly quite short once we got to performance stage!Then work on two of our unaccompanied numbers, Oh won't you sit down, and Azikatale, a traditonal  South African melody.
Reminder to all: we are having a social on Friday night at Victoria Hall, to talk about a possible visit to twin town Marvejols in summer 2013. Bring a plate of something to eat for supper (aligot provided, hope my recipe works!) and Bob Harwood will talk about what a trip would entail.

Rehearsal 8th February

Another rehearsal without MD Val Hetherington, who is struggling to shake off a chesty cold. As it's last week before our half-term break, here's hoping she crawls back into bed and lets Pete nurse her back to health!!
We are blessed in having Anne-Marie Kerr and Phil Wood to take over  on such occasions, and so a very good rehearsal. Began with a (not quite) performance standard He Ain't Heavy, followed by Guantanamera AND WE CAN NOW SING THE CHORUS WITHOUT LOOKING AT OUR MUSIC!! Phil took over for a very thorough session of Faure's Ave Maria (including some swapping of lines between sops and altos - Faure was very optimistic thinking altos could get up to F sharp without screeching!  Finished with work on the Agnus Dei from Faure's Requiem, which almost reached its full lush and gorgeous potential! Half term next week, next rerhearsal 22nd (two days before our Marvejols social evening).

Rehearsal 1st February

 Tonight we worked on Ah, Robin, gentle Robin, which will be one of the a capella numbers for our Georgian Fair performance that we can also sing at Cockermouth Live! and at Isel Hall, if that event is confirmed - should have an update on that by next week; and another a capella number, Oh, won't you sit down, which some of us have sung before. After the break we did more work on the Agnus Dei from Faure's Requiem, and finished off with a performance of Guantamanera.
We have finally managed to find a venue for our Marvejols Planning Evening. It will be held at the Victoria Hall in High Sand Lane, on Friday 24th February. Choir members are encouraged to come along and enjoy a good social evening, irrespective of whether or not they plan to join our mooted trip in summer 2013. Bring something nice for supper to share! I would like to try to make some aligot (a cheese and potato dish that is often served with sausages) - Janet Mansfield has offered to lend me her jam pan. I've been researching recipes on line, but I'm sure there are plenty of people in town who've already sampled the real thing in Marvejols who will be able to point me in the right direction! Bob Harwood is to be asked to come and tell us what would be involved - he undertook all the planning arrangements for previous trips.

Rehearsal 25th January

Choir happy to see MD Val Hetherington back from her sick bed tonight for rehearsal. Still coughing, but not quite as badly!
Four numbers worked upon tonight: Ah Robin, gentle Robin, an a capella number that looks rather Elizbethan; He Ain't Heavy, which we seem to be getting quite comfortable with; a quick look at the Agnus Dei from Faure's Requiem, which the choir performed quite some years ago and would LOVE to perform again! and finally, Guantanamera, which isn't far off 'done' either.
Announced that secretary Pat Tolley will be standing down after eight years in the job, and would like to help ease a replacement into the post over the summer. No immediate response so it might have to be plan B (behind the scenes arm-twisting..)

News for week commencing 13 january

Lots to report!
Friday 13th was the night we had our 35th birthday celebration at Hundith Hill Hotel. 65 guests were booked to attend - members, partners and friends, old members who'd kept in touch, and some very special guests. Richard Bennett started the choir all those years ago (he must still have been at junior school to judge by his photo!!). Doctor Philip Wood, the choir's second MD and favourite composer, was also there - which meant that all three of the MD's the choir has had in its whole history were present. Also there were founder members Doreen Wilson (first chairman of the choir) and Daphne Banks (previous secretary), and David and Anne Buckley. David was once accompanist, and accompanied the choir to Marvejols on their second visit.
After a delicious buffet meal, we had a quiz, organised by Carole & Arthur Ruffe. Challenging and fun! Finally, a spot of music, with an acapella  (did I spell that right?) version of The 12 Days after Christmas, which formed part of our winter programme.
Tonight, 18th, rehearsal held by Anne-Marie (He Ain't Heavy), and Phil (Faure and Saint-Saens). Val Hetherington has a wicked cough and is taking time off to recuperate. We wish  her all the best, and hope she will soon be back to strength and fit to face us all again!

Now for some photies from the party.

Rehearsal 11th january

Worked on four pieces tonight.Gwyn Arch's arrangement of Guantanamera, which we began last week; He ain't heavy, he's my brother, ditto, which we have now been right through; and, from Six Motets for Upper Voices, Saint-Saens' Ave Maria, which long-standing members will remember from Phil Woods' day; and Faure's Ave Maria, which is new to us.


Next week's rehearsal will begin at 7 and end at 9, to allow for the committee meeting held afterwards.

The keyboard connecters are gradually getting more adept at setting it all up in time for rehearsal, now that we have given up using the Music Society's piano for our rehearsals (thereby saving a substantial amount of precious income).

Lastly, Friday night is the 35th Anniversary Dinner, taking place at Hundith Hill Hotel, to which a number of old members are coming, and some very special guests. More next week (plus photies too, I hope).

Spring Term started today

Not very spring-like weather yet, but we live in hope. A good turn out and we worked on two new numbers in preparation for our next concert, whenever that might be! Val would dearly like us to learn some of them by heart. Mixed reception from members! He ain't heavy, he's my brother, and Guantanamera were tonight's pieces. Those of you who missed tonight's rehearsal can do some work on that second one at least, so you don't fall too far behind.
All our pre-Christmas performances went well. A good and appreciative audience for our Christ Church concert; a repeat visit to Portinscale WI, who particularly enjoyed our version of 'The Twelve Days after Christmas', and Christmas Eve at the Castle Inn.
Win has asked members to hunt out old choir photos - possibly of Marvejols trips - to take along to our 35th anniversary dinner at Hundith Hill on Friday 13th. Lots of old members coming along too - looking forward to a fun night.