Singing at the Ideal Home Exhibition, 13 November 2016

Event City, Manchester, near the Trafford Centre.  We have an early start for a Sunday: 10.00 a.m. and we need to be at the bandstand by 9.30. For some reason my sat nav always drops me a couple of blocks away and then I can’t quite remember where it is from there. 

“Just along there and under the bridge, and to your left,” says the man tidying up the trollies in the car park.   

Yes, might have it fixed now. 

Most of us arrive early.  There’s always a concern about parking and they’re not letting ordinary folk park immediately behind the venue. Many of us are quite canny and park further away where we can get out easily afterwards. 

It’s out first official Christmas gig. Lighting the Legend, Bonfire Night, Remembrance Day are all done now. It’s time to get out the fairy lights and the purple tinsel. Artificial snow on our boots and strings of lights round our necks get us in the mood.

The visitors to the event have to file past the bandstand before they get to the stalls. Various choirs have thirty minute slots. There are choirs that are bigger than ours and choirs that are smaller than ours. Tenor Colette sings immediately before us and after us with another choir. A couple of friends of tenor Bev perform immediately after our final slot. 

It’s a joy to sing these songs.  We offer:

• the jolly -  Holly Jolly Christmas, Watcha Gonna Bring for Christmas
• the soft and gentle – Hush Be Still, Coventry Carol, Sleep My Child, Gabriel’s Message  
• the energetic – Merrily Sing, Heard About a Baby, Going to Bethlehem, Carol of the Bells, Hail Blessed Morn
• the traditional – Away in a Manger, Silent Night  

and beautiful Basque carol The Infant King that doesn’t quite fit into any category.   

We’re amazed and delighted that the general public actually stop and listen on the way in. They even clap. Other choirs watch and support and we hope we do the same for them, too.     

We have three slots:  10.00, 12. 30 and 3.00. So, there is plenty of time for socialising, shopping and watching the other performances. First mince pies of the season are consumed.   

Savvy alto Sue suggests Café Valerie as a suitable place to get lunch before our final set. It works beautifully. The talk is of horses, dogs and flowers. Naturally. Why wouldn’t it be? 

What’s not to love about belonging to a choir? Hard work, yes, but such fun singing and socializing.                         

Christmas Mash-up

At Dunham Massey

That’s how they described us at Event City for the WinterWonderland . That is a good description. Winter Wonderland is a noisy affair and even the heavily miked main acts were difficult to hear unless you were close up. Yet, with, for once, a backing track and a bit of mime and dance, we were delighted to find some children following us avidly with one young lady making a bid for Jeff’s job: she conducted us beautifully. Maybe for this event we should have renamed ourselves the Dark Elves. The stage lighting and the “snowy” back ground did a good job in showing off our black uniforms with purple hats, purple tinsel and white fairy lights.  This isn’t quite out usual sort of thing, but you know what: it was fun and we discovered new talents. We can mime and dance too! 

It’s been a bit of “mash-up” few days.

8 December Carol service at St Clements Ordsall

11 December Event City

12 December Dunham Massey

13 December Light up a Life, St Ann’s Hospice 

14 December Event City.

We have another appearance at Event City on 20 December and a very special private event on 23 December.

So many gigs, so many contrasts.

“Do enjoy the music,” says Reverend Sandra Kearney of St Clements. “They’re semi-professional.” Wow! Really? We just enjoy singing and always do the best we can. Anyway, there was a great little Christmas Fayre beforehand and some of us were able to sort out some last–minute Christmas shopping. So we were delighted to have been invited.

Singing for the Light up a Life ceremony is always special. This year we sang Sleep My Child. It worked well. It rained – which it has every year except one and that year was exceptionally cold. It didn’t deter folk though. It’s really moving as everyone lights their candle from another and then thinks of people who can’t be with us as we sing. The rain was only gentle so the lights held.    

Dunham Massey is special too. Christmas music in a beautiful old house – what could be more Christmassy? We had to be limited in numbers here. However, that is actually good for us sometimes. We have to work a little bit harder and then we bring that extra effort back to the main group. Win, win.

Two final rehearsals 15 December and 22 December and we’re already looking forward to 2016, which promises to be another busy one. We have just one week off this Christmas break.   

We wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of our friends, fans and followers.  And to members too, of course.