Buxton Fringe Post Script

 Look what we got! 

We were nominated for an award. Four other "large ensembles" were nominated as well.  See full details of all awards and nominations here.

And here is our review. You’ll have to scroll down I’m afraid. But maybe that’s no bad thing; you may be tempted to read some of the other reviews and get a flavour of what the festival is like.

Yes, it’s competitive and yes it is growing, offering around 500 performances this year. Yet everybody supports everyone else and wills competitors to succeed. The reviewers look for the positive.  The town’s people support the event. Many of the shops, cafés and other businesses are happy to display leaflets and posters.

Just look at what was on offer this year. Buxton Fringe 2023.   

Certainly there is a lovely atmosphere as the Fringe event and the main festival take place over three weeks in July.

Will you give it a go in 2024?         

A Cappella and Cake back on the menu at Buxton Fringe

 

Yes, it’s official. The “and cake” is back in our repertoire.  And what a spread it was at St Mary’s yesterday in Buxton. It all looked lovely and certainly the piece of ginger cake with lemony icing I enjoyed was delicious.   

We’ve been going to the Buxton Fringe since 2010, though of course we were unable to visit in 2020 and 2021.

We usually have glorious weather but yesterday it rained pretty well all of the day.  I was reminded of that very first time, back in 2010. In earlier years we used to busk at The Palace Hotel, and a little around the town, then have the concert at St Mary’s in the afternoon.  We were not very well known that first year, though our efforts around the town were appreciated.  Then just before three o’clock there was a cloud burst. The carnival and fun fair were taking place just around the corner and people rushed to the church for shelter …. And we had an audience.

Yesterday, by contrast, I began to worry that we might overfill the church.

Our morning concert was still Simply A Cappella. Another performer was coming in at 12.00 so there wouldn’t be time to do cake and tea. We actually wanted o tome to Buxton on 16 July but were unable to book the United Reformed Church. Note to self.  Book venues for 2024 next week.  

The Purple Room at this small church, a short walk from the High Street is a very pleasant space. It can actually seat 85 but a smaller audience doesn’t look lost.  We didn’t have to worry about that though; there were only a few seats left.  And the seats are very comfortable.  

St Mary’s is a completely different sort of space, with a different but equally effective acoustic.   We’ve are always very  welcome and we are grateful to our friend s from St Mary’ who yesterday  helped us set up, made the tea, set out the cakes and helped to clear up at the end.  A great joint effort.

Naturally, the music is even more important than the cake, or whether or not we have an audience,  and we certainly enjoyed singing in both concerts.

We split our repertoire into loose themes this year: blessing, peace, ones we know and love and new material. Various choir members said a little about each section. One of our members reminded us that one of the reasons we enjoy coming to this festival is because of the gorgeous scenery we see on the way. Yes, it was lovely even in the rain.  

Then, the magic happened again.  There really is something rather special about working with another twenty or so other singers to get as balanced and as beautiful a sound as possible. You’re suddenly grateful for all the hard work Jeff puts us through every Tuesday.  It is hard work, but it is also a heap of fun. That ratchets up on both counts when we have the privilege of performing in such a lovely festival.   

We Invented the Weekend 4 June 2023

 

Well, we didn’t, but we certainly enjoyed quite a chunk of this last one at the event of the same name held in and around Media City and Salford Quays. Deckchairs by the Ship Canal? What would those activists, who in 1843 launched the campaign for work to finish early on Saturday, have made of that? Job done?

We were blessed with good weather, so as well as taking part in three workshops and three performances we had time to wander around and see what else was going on. There was plenty: street food, sports, arts, dancing, acting. Goodness, you’d need several weekends to do all of that.

We had fun. We were joined by some of our friends from Blackburn People’s Choir  and of course the whole point of the workshop was to involve members of the public. The workshops lasted forty-five minutes and were followed by a fifteen minute performance. The performance consisted of the song we’d just learnt with everyone singing and choir members then offered two or three songs from our repertoire.

Okay, so the songs we learnt in the workshop were ones that the choir may have learnt some time ago. But it was really a long time ago and newer members won’t have met them anyway. And yet.  Within forty-five minutes we were singing in parts and without music or words. And we hadn’t skimped on the warm up.

We learnt three songs in total; a South African lullaby, a romantic ballad and an African activist song.

We mixed up parts a little; a couple of altos and tenors sang bass and a bass sang soprano. All good fun.

It was great to see members of the public join in with gusto and becoming confident very quickly.

And they don’t need to wait until the next “We Invented the Weekend” to do it again. We rehearse at GoChurch on Tuesday evenings at 7.00 pm. It’s near the Broadway Metrolink station.  And we don’t audition. Read more here.                    

Chorlton Festival 2023

 

There’s something about Chorlton. It has a Bohemian feel. Restaurants and bars abound.  It’s a leafy suburb to the south of the city. A group of us gathered in one such establishment opposite the church where we sang. Some decent coffee and cake fortifies you for an hour’s singing. And the drink in a nearby pub afterward is also most welcome.

There is a strong sense of community in this place. It has some fine buildings and it holds a fine festival . yearly in fact, since 2002 with a couple of years off because of the pandemic.  One aim of the festival is to being some of Chorlton’s finest buildings and some fine creative practitioners together.

So we felt privileged on the afternoon of 27 May 2023 to be part of this vibrant festival. Wilbraham St Ninian’s is a pleasant church with nice acoustics. We’ve been there several time before and it was good to be back.

It was lovely to have some of our newer members sing with us for the first time. Congratulations to our soloists, Sally and Victoria.  We sang for an hour. Our songs were vaguely organised into themes: unrequited love, requited love, joy, hope and peace.

“Open the doors and let this stream out to the world,” said Jeff, as we started on Grant Us Peace.

Why We Sing says it all of course. The main event of course is singing together                  

Back in Spades

 

We’re back.  This blog is back.

We’ve had two new homes and now rehearse at GoChurch, Media City – so still in Salford, after spending some time at Buile Hill Academy near Buile Hill Park, still Salford. So we’re still very much the Ordsall A Cappella Singers, singing from the heart of Salford.

We’ve won a couple of awards:  

Buxton Festival Fringe Large Ensemble category in 2022

Alderley Edge Festival  Winning the Community Choirs class and coming second in the Mixed Adult Voices class in 2023.

 And we have plans:

Chorlton ArtsFestival 27 May

We Invented The Weekend  4 June   

Summer Concert: 17 June 

Prestwich Carnival24 June  

Buxton 2023 Fringe  22 July  Cake is back - for the second concert at least.   

 

See more on our web site under Events for details.

 

Our new home is nice …. And right by a Metrolink stop. Handy as well for all of the cafés, restaurants and bars at Media City. We have a huge space so we can spread out. There are also comfy chairs to sit on during the break. Cakes aren’t quite back on the agenda yet, but we’re working on it. Biscuits, chocolates and a brew are.

We Zoomed our way through the pandemic and what a gift that was.  A bright spot to look forward to weekdays.

 

Our room in Buile Hill Academy was also huge and the choir is slightly smaller than it was. We’ve learnt to sing louder. Personally I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing last year at Buxton at our first concert in the United Reformed Church. The sound seemed to bounce around the walls and fill the room right up to the high ceiling.  

“Is it my imagination,” I said to Jeff, “or are we singing louder?”

“You’re singing louder.”    

Loud, of course, has to be balanced with quiet and this is a huge feature of our rehearsals, as is taking deep breaths, standing correctly and opening mouths wide, in addition to getting the words and notes right and in the right order. But it is good to be back and to feel that music coursing through your body.   

Care to join us? You’d be very welcome. We don’t bite or audition.