A Day of Singing

 

My oh my. What a lot we did. Five new songs before lunch and another five after. Most of them we sang twice.

As ever there was a mixture of styles: choral pieces, arrangements of popular songs, some quirky fun ones, ones that got us all miming playing trumpets, another that made us behave like robots. Some were more intricate than others.  There were very close harmonies in some and in others more complex parts were slotted against each other.

This was the ideal opportunity to ty out what works for the choir and for other people to find out what our choir is about.

We had four people join us for the day – nicely balanced – as it was one tenor, two altos and one soprano.

It’s an important part of a choir’s business, to try out new materials and find out what works. We did that in spades.     

You don’t need to be able to read music to join our choir though we provide sheet music. There are also practice tracks to listen to.  However, even a complete novice at reading music would surely have picked up something after today?     

How can a Saturday go by so quickly? It certainly did.     

It was hard work but a lot of fun.            

Chorlton Arts Festival 24 May 2025

 

Some of us have been with the choir for many years and others have only joined recently. No matter how long we’ve been members the anticipation builds as we gather in the car park. After a month of sun and heat on a bank holiday weekend the weather has broken.  Yet it’s still quite warm and it’s not actually raining. The temperature is in fact just right for what we’re about to do.  

‘I’m feeling curiously nervous,’ says one of our members.’

‘A few nerves can be useful,’ I reply, ‘as long as you don’t let them get to you.’   

And so they are. A satisfying warm-up calms them and we’re soon in the church where we’re delighted to find a decent- sized audience.         

Chorlton Arts Festival is a wondrous event.  This year it lasted form 16 – 24 May, with a pre-festival event on 6 May, and took place in variety of venues throughout Chorlton.

Many of the events are free of charge though some you need to book for and you can donate to the festival at any event if you wish. This includes some fascinating ones like the group on just before us  - Sign Me Happy  offered a group of primary school children who signed (British Sign language) to music.

The festival has sponsors and patrons but is entirely run by volunteers.

So we were delighted to return to a venue with which we’ve become familiar: St Ninian’s Church at 4 pm on Saturday 24 May.

Our audience is a mixture of friends of the choir, friends of the festival and locals curious about who we are and what we do.

Our performance lasts one hour. We offer most of our current repertoire, including some news songs, ones that speak of peace and hope, special arrangements of popular songs and some old favourites. Some contain parts that some of us find tricky but with the care of other choir members, our warm-hearted audience and our supportive musical director we sail through them.     

We go home yet again glad that we came.  What a nice way to spend an afternoon on a disappointing bank holiday weekend.

More Christmas Goings On

Trafford General’s Moorside Unit

 

Tuesday 17 December found us not at our normal rehearsal spot but at Trafford General’s Moorside Unit. It has become a bit of a tradition that we visit this place that offers such considered care to it patients. They provide us with such a lovely audience and offer us hot chocolate and cupcakes as well.  

‘Some of your songs ae a bit cringy,’ said one a member of our audience who met us in the corridor later, ‘but they’re really good because we can see you enjoy singing them.’ I guess he was right on both counts: yes, they’re some of the good old ones that everybody knows, though some of them have a particular twist and are sung in four parts anyway, and yes we enjoy them. How lovely for our final Tuesday in 2024.

Christmas jumpers, tinsel and purple hats abounded.

 

Lancaster Castle

 

… used to be a prison which might have been useful when we demanded our figgy pudding and we weren’t going to go until we got some in that well-known sung.

It certainly didn’t have a prison-like atmosphere on Saturday 21 December and I’m also certain that our audience weren’t held against their will.

We joined with Jeff’s other choirs – Blackburn People’sChoir, Gathered Voices and  South Lakes Acappella to brave walking across the cobbles and offer a programme of Christmas music including many numbers that the audience were invited to join in with.  We even had a very young lady signing several of the well-known songs.

Lancaster Castle is just 300 meters form the railway station so getting there by train is a good option.  The station also has a large public car park and I was pleased to find several free places even on the Saturday before Christmas. There is a short cut is though the station and the castle is then only a little bit uphill.

I arrived early, in a downpour, but my phone informed me the rain would stop in twelve minutes. It did and kept mainly away from us as we sang three sets between 11.00 am and 2.00 pm.

There were short breaks between sets and plenty for us to do: visit the excellent café, be tempted by the lovely chocolate shop or take a stroll through the atmospheric town centre, which starts just a few meters away.

It’s fun singing with other choirs. We all know how much work goes into getting the songs to this standard. And we also know what a lot of fun it is, especially when we can sing together like this.

 

Buile Hill Park

 

Another tradition – we’ve been singing there on the last Sunday before Christmas now, we worked out, for six years.

This is the second time we’ve had to sing inside.

There was a very strong wind on the afternoon of Sunday 22 December. The gazebo was down and the tables and chairs stacked flat.

The atmosphere inside the pavilion though was lively. Mulled wine, mince pies, jacket potatoes, tea, coffee, hot chocolate and chocolate tarts were on offer.

We sang for just over an hour: some of our Christmas repertoire, some of our normal repertoire and our singalong Christmas karaoke.

Christmas wouldn’t be the same without our visit to Buile Hill Park.  We hope to come for many more years. Thank you for having us.

 

Busy Weekend

Yes, indeed, what a lot we did the weekend 13-15 December 2024.

Brockholes  

 

Several of us trooped up to the wild-life centre, Brockholes, near Preston to join Blackburn People’s Choir and Gathered Voices to sing at the Winter Fayre and for the lighting of the Christmas tree on Friday 13 December. .

We entered the Fayre through a tunnel of lights and a barrel organ played Christmas tunes.  We even managed to sign along to a couple of them on the way out: Feliz Navidad and Oh Come All Ye Faithful.   

As usual we enjoyed singing with other choirs.

The Fayre was full of artisan stalls selling all sorts of carefully crafted handmade items. Not that we had much time to look: we had a whole repertoire to get through, including all the old favourites.

The wild-life trusts do much important work in looking after nature and confronting climate change so it was good to be able to support them   

 

Memorial Service Manchester Crematorium

This was the first time a service like that had been held at Manchester Crematorium. There have been similar events at other venues in the past. People, who have lost a loved one recently and in some cases longer ago, are invited to attend and during the service leave a message on the Christmas tree.

We sang the first verse of Once in Royal David’s City and then the congregation joined us on the other verses. We sang along with the congregation on the other hymns. We ‘performed’ Silent Night and, at the organisers’ request, Holly Jolly. The latter perhaps serves to remind us that this was a celebration of life as well as a service of remembrance.

The service was just the right length and touching without being heavy. 

 

Singing on the Bee Network 

 

Oh, yes, there we were singing on the Metrolink trams. We mainly circled round between Deansgate  and Cornbrook. Note the lovely yellow Santa hats.  

Our repertoire consisted of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, White Christmas (not the four voices version – we sang in unison), The Twelve Days of Christmas, Holly Jolly and Carol of the Bells. We did manage to sing the latter two in parts.  

“They must have rehearsed that for days,” we heard someone say of Carol of the Bells. Yes and no. Most of us in the group have been singing that for several years but probably have to relearn it every Christmas.

We had a welcome pit-stop at the Costa at Media City where we enjoyed our favourite beverages, mince pies and other cakes and pastries. It gave us the opportunity to get to know the organisers a little better.

Could we tempt them to join?

“We work hard but we have a lot of fun,” we explained. “See you 7 pm on 7 January at Go Church?”         

As we got out of the tram at St Peter’s Square at one point someone who had been at the memorial service the day before recognised us. Fame at last?

Our finale was on Platform B at Piccadilly where we gave our final rendition of Holly Jolly.    

 

                      

 

Festive singalong with Stan, Manchester Museum

 

 Now then, what is this picture all about? To make any sense of it you need to refer back to our Facebook post about what we did ten years ago. See our post on 16 November this year.

The picture below is perhaps more what you were expecting. 

 

What a lovely time we had.

Manchester Museum is a glorious building, even if it does involve a circuitous route to get to dinosaur Stan.

A few of us arrived early and indulged in some of the lovely cake served in the café.

It’s a busy time of year but we were managed to put together a well-balanced group of just sixteen. The acoustics are so fantastic there that we sounded like more and we could hear each other well.

We offered a mixture of our Christmas songs and our normal repertoire.  Then we asked our audience to join in as we sang some of everyone’s favourites, including The Twelve Days of Christmas, along with actions, of course.

We had a fifteen minute interval which gave us some time to have a quick look at the museum and to chat to some of our audience. I’d shared my copy of the ‘singalong’ numbers with one young woman earlier and I made a point of talking to her in the break. She had been so enthusiastic.

“I suppose you’re auditioned, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Not at all,” I replied.

Of course we invited her and her partner to join us.  The invitation naturally went out to everyone.

We had a small but every appreciative audience. I’m sure I spotted Stan nodding along to the music.

We can’t wait to be invited back again.        

      

A Great Afternoon at Victoria Baths

 

Victoria Baths again

There was a real buzz at the Victoria Baths where we were invited to sing on Sunday at their Winter Festival.

And what a festival it was. There were over fifty stalls selling all sorts of wonderful handmade crafts. The tea room was open and doing a roaring trade. Footfall was heavy: lots of people coming to buy for Christmas and to listen to the various choirs performing that day.

We go there early and took a very circuitous route form Bury. We managed to dodge most of the football traffic: Manchester United was playing Everton at home, whilst City fans traipsed off to Liverpool. A lot of coming and going on the motorways and public transport then. That certainly has an effect on traffic in the Salford area.

But once you got to the baths it was clear that there are many people somewhat less interested in football.

This gave us the opportunity to listen to a variety of other choirs. The Bath certainly contributes to a great sound.

It was our turn to sing at 2.00 p.m. We mixed some of out normal repertoire with our Christmas titles. It was all Christmassy enough for us to don the purple Santa hats, tinsel and fairy lights.

“It’s so obvious you really enjoy what you’re doing,” said one observer.

Well, yes we do. Especially in this place where the sound works so well.

Many of us enjoyed a meal together afterwards.

It’s the beginning of a busy season. We have a few more events planned. Watch our Facebook page for details.         

 

Listen to one of our songs here.  

Buxton Aftermath

It was good to find a large stiff envelope waiting for me when I returned from holiday. And in it was this delightful certificate. The Buxton FestivalFringe just keeps on giving. 

 

Every year the festival attracts 150 -200 entries which leads to about 500 performances. Acts come from all over the world and it was quite sad to read a note pinned to the door of our first venue saying that the performer was stuck at the airport. He was due the day after the big IT outage. We of course, offer two of those performances or maybe this year it was 2.5. Sinning in the Well was magical.

Work for this festival goes on all year round. The committee meets ten to eleven times annually. Volunteers review, conduct market research, and man the information desk. 

The people of Buxton are so welcoming to the festival. We now have a regular audience there and there are always some new faces as well. Lots of businesses allow performers to leave information with them.  Many families offer accommodation to performers.

Reviewers are asked to be positive but also to give constructive criticism. They are given a good deal of advice and training. The reviews are generally 200 to 500 words so are in fact very similar to the length of these blog posts.

It’s a well organised operation and extremely positive. We’re already looking forward to next year