Spirit of Salford: 1 June 2014

The hottest day of the year so far in Greater Manchester. A real garden party atmosphere. In the Victorian tea tent WI members dressed the part serve tea and traditional cakes in and on china. Inside, the vintage and craft fair tempts us to spend. There are talks about bee-keeping and growing vegetables. Plenty for the children too – including the Teddy Bears’ picnic. 

Naturally we have to sing that one. Just be warned: don’t go into those woods today.

Singing at Proof: Sunday 25 May 2014

There’s something about a Sunday afternoon in Manchester in the rain. It’s special when you’re holed up in smart cocktail bar and taking part in what is rapidly becoming a quite prestigious arts festival. So yes, there we were, at Proof in Chorlton, taking part in the Chorlton Festival.

What a repertoire: a month of rehearsals, April 2014

April has been an odd month. Easter has fallen very late this year so there have been two weeks of school holidays in the middle. Families go away but for different weeks. So, not always the same blend of voices at each rehearsal. Plus we also had a one week break and breaks always make a difference.    

We’re coming to the end of an intense period of rehearsal and heading towards a busy schedule of  performances, with just those two at the end of March to kick-start our year.   

So, it was good to conclude the month by going through virtually everything we know. What a lot there is. But: or rather two buts.

·         Despite whipping through each song very quickly and working from about 7.10 to 8.05 and then 8.25 to 9.15 we didn’t quite cover everything.

·         Some we didn’t know as well as we thought we did.

This really was a good opportunity for us to see where the sticking points are. And there were some surprises:

·         Some pieces we’ve always been very confident about – including one that’s almost become our signature piece – need tidying up.

·         One we’ve not tried for a while and have always found tricky worked rather well.  

It seems that with some pieces we can get overconfident and slightly bored. We lose concentration, start making mistakes and even reinforce those mistakes. Conversely we seem to carry on improving on something we haven’t touched for a while. Is it perhaps just a function of concentration again? We know this is going to be challenging so we really focus.

Yes, yes, we should really focus all of the time but when you’ve had a challenging day and the music feels easy, the mind drifts. Good that at that point we’re pulled up.   

Still, it was very encouraging to realise how diverse and extensive our repertoire is and to be able to pinpoint where we need some more work.   

New Year, new plans: A month of rehearsals, January 2014

It may still be winter but we don’t feel the cold. In fact, we’ve had to open the windows and sometimes the door at every rehearsal this month. There are quite a lot of us still, so that partly explains it. Also, singing makes you feel warm – in both senses of the word. Breathing and standing properly are gentle forms of exercise. Using your voice in this way gives you a feeling of wellbeing. I personally try not to miss a rehearsal. So what if I have a lot of scripts to mark? I’ll manage them better if I’ve spent a couple of hours with this choir.  

Singing for Sainsbury’s 17 December 2013

The coldest day this week. Yet neither as cold as we’ve known it nor as cold as they’d promised. Yet drafty enough as the outside doors swished open and shut as the shoppers came and went. Voices warmed up quickly enough, though, and we looked a little like traditional carol-singers, all muffled up in outdoor coats, scarves and hats. With a preponderance of purple, of course.

At The Lowry

There was a bit of a purple theme when we sang at The Lowry on Tuesday 10 December. Some of us wore purple tinsel, others wore purple hats and the collection bucket provided by The Lowry was also quite conveniently purple. The Appeal this year is about helping to build a bright future for young parents and their children in Salford. Read more here.

Light up a Life, St Ann’s Hospice, Little Hulton

This moving little service began just before sunset. And so did the rain. This is the second year we’ve provided some of the music for this event and last year we were freezing. This year we had to watch the guests almost get soaked, whilst we enjoyed the protection of an open-sided marquee.