MACC 2016

So here we are again. As usual there’s an air of excitement and anticipation as coaches pull up outside the Royal Northern College of Music for the MACC and the choirs pour in. Barbara, our flower girl, sits near the entrance. No one will get past her without picking up their purple flower. 

Chairman Chris spots the café opening and several of us manage to get our extra caffeine shot before the queue builds. 

“There’s a lot of black,” says Barbara.  Well yes there is. It is a popular colour for choirs. It neutralises us. The last thing a choir member wants to do is stand out. Anyway, the black is often accompanied by something else. A pink scarf, a yellow tie, a lapel-less jacket in a bright colour. Not to mention the purple flowers. There are even daffodils for the Welsh choir.  St David’s day is tomorrow, after all. The few choirs who don’t wear black do have a uniform. 

The pre-performance rehearsal is almost as exciting as the performance itself.

“Something just clicked,” says Jeff s we’re part way through Somewhere. I think we all felt it.

Soon we’re performing. Lullaby, our first number, seems to go down well. We take the judges by surprise and possibly delight them by moving down from the risers to be nearer them and the audience for Royals and Buttercup. Are we trend-setters? Virtually all of the choirs seem to do something different for their third and fourth songs.

All too soon our performance is over but then we can relax and go to the auditorium and listen to the others. An old friend, Steve Campbell, a former bass, sits just in front of us. “Congratulations,” he says. “That was superb.”

Late, when the judges pronounce, they say that the entries were better than ever this year. I have to agree. We watch for six hours and don’t notice the time. It is so clear that every single choir has worked hard, are really disciplined and love what they do. This is familiar territory.

The Chanterelles, a group of young women from Leicestershire win. We can’t complain about that. They are technically superb and very disciplined yet entertain as well. 

Whip-cracking Away with Family and Friends 16 January 2016

So, what better to do on cold January evening than come along to our Friends and Family concert held at Brunswick Parish Church, which several choir members attend?  Oh, yes, the sleet began to fall just as we all set off but the church was warm and cosy and a friend or two or three or four came along. 

This is now the third Friends and Family concert we’ve offered.  Always free and always with cake. We’re torn. At Brunswick Parish Church, it's easier to stay longer, lots of room, but it will probably have to be a Saturday or Ordsall Hall, very Ordsall, rather romantic, we have to leave promptly and it can only hold a smaller audience but we can use it easily enough on a Tuesday.  Let us know what you think by adding a comment here.         

My goodness weren’t our top-up acts something?  Daisy, also one of our talented young sopranos but an established artist in her own right, offered two fabulous solos.  Ella presented some lesser-known Ralph McTell numbers. The Mad Donnas were as professional as ever. John (aka Elvis, Clint, Superman and many others) told his stories of RALPH and other dog-turd lifting machines.  (Yes, that’s right). Not to mention the whip-cracking cow-girl, Marilyn, who turned our musical director into a cowboy, our secretary into a show-girl and one unsuspecting bass – we think actually our chairman had been the target – into an Indian Chief.

We enjoyed singing and we think our audience enjoyed listening. Naturally we paraded the four – five songs we’re entering for the ManchesterAmateur Choral Competition (MACC). “I got a bit bored,” said Jeff in our rehearsal on Tuesday, “of being told how much people liked R …..” So, that’s a big thumbs up for  R …. then. (Aha, under wraps until after the MACC --- unless we’ve put you in the know.)        

We also trotted out parts of our older repertoire some of which we’d not touched since November and we were pleased to note that we still know these pieces. 

It all felt very good.

Then, of course, there was the cake.

If you were there, and /or you’ve been to one of our other Friends and Family concerts, don’t forget to let us know what you think! Post a comment here.   

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.         

                 

            

            

‘In Remembrance’ Concert with Ashton-on- Mersey Showband and Honour Choir, 7 November 2015

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.”

(Poem by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), published in The Times newspaper on 21^st September 1914.)

These words are so familiar to many of us and spoken a lot at this time of year. They are, of course, particularly familiar to members of the Honour Choir and form part of Honour 4, a poignantly appropriate addition to this concert and beautifully performed by Honour.

There were several solemn moments: singing the national anthem, the two minute silence and the British Legion parade by two veterans. The concert ended with another show of national pride that resembled the Last Night at the Proms. The band led us in renderings of Jerusalem, Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia, not to forget clapping to the Hornpipe.

There were lighter moments too: the band brought us a medley of Disney tunes, Honour sang  Viva la Musica and, going for Disney again, we offered Kiss the Girl.

There were a few surprises. We’d not been expecting Kiss the Girl or I Will but it doesn’t matter: it worked. Anyway, we were pleased to join Honour for Hail Smiling Morn, Blue Skies, Wonderful World, Bring Him Home and Viva la Musica. They joined us for Kiss the Girl.  

It was all about harmony. We’d been reminded at the beginning of the evening that we are here today to be able to join together this way because of the sacrifices made by others earlier. So we wore our poppies with pride – on the left for the men and on the right for the ladies.  And with the leaves pointing to eleven o’clock. Something else we learned.               

A pleasing concert in a very nice venue.