A visit from ReChoired 19-22 October 2017

Enjoying good food and good company

It was quite fabulous that Greater Manchester did its best trick: it poured with rain and we got quite damp. No problem. It can be exactly the same in Copenhagen. We all say: no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.  So we set off for Ordsall Hall in raincoats and with umbrellas. Quite fabulous too that these lovely people stayed just on the edge of the Ordsall estate where it all began for the Ordsall A Cappella Singers.

ReChoired sing both a cappella and accompanied. They have 22 members. Their repertoire includes jazz, gospel, pop, motown, soul and well-known Danish songs. Conductor Peter Bom often arranges the songs for them.

They came to sing and be with us from 19 to 21 October. 

Yes, we became tour guides. One of our lovely sopranos, Helen Taylor, coordinated all of this beautifully and they quickly felt at home. Others chipped in and helped with the guided tours, tea, lunch, directions and much more. Thanks to everyone who helped make this a smooth and fun trip.

Ordsall Hall was a-buzz with a school group, another big party and ourselves. Yet we also spoke of what the acoustics were like, where we stood to sing and how we "closed down" the hall before it was restored. You have to know about Lowry if you come to Salford and Lowry gives us a good impression of what the old Salford was about. It was too wet for a walk around the sculpture trails that gives the full story of the Ship Canal but we had a good view of the Manchester United Stadium, the Imperial War Museum and the canal itself from the Lowry.

We also toured the city centre on Friday, getting very wet but having a great time anyway - ReChoired were particularly taken with the Town Hall, which was described as ‘magical’ and led to much 'bee-spotting’ around the rest of the tour. We also spent time at the Central Library, Royal Exchange Theatre (for a coffee and cake break naturally, and to get dry before going out in the rain again!) and the Cathedral, ending up with lunch in the Corn Exchange. 

We thoroughly introduced ReChoired to the Manchester tram network, which delighted them as Copenhagen ‘only’ has buses, underground trains and ferry boats between islands. They were steadfastly cheerful in the teeth of Storm Brian and very generous with their appreciation of our own music. 

Yes, quite right that they saw Salford first. Quite right too that we introduced them to some of the bars: Elnecot on Thursday and Kro Bar on Friday. Then there was http://www.refugemcr.co.uk/ after Kro closed. Vapiano was the venue for a meal on Saturday evening, followed by The Briton’s Protection  where ReChoired delighted everyone in the pub with a mini concert and then, after they collected some new Canadian fans who were in Manchester for a music convention, they went on to Via. 

We might have even said that we offered them a tour of the local churches: St Ninian's for our rehearsal on Friday, St Peter's Chaplaincy for our joint concert also on Friday and Brunswick Church for our joint workshop. Did this tour bring miracles? A ReChoired voice that was lost came back in St Ninian's. Some fabulous sounds happened in St Peter's. There were more good sounds the next day in Brunswick and a delicious spread, including freshly made pizza, for lunch, all of which seemed to come from nowhere. Maybe it was the hot tea, the enthusiasm of both choirs and that uncanny way that those sorts of meals always work. Maybe those are miracles anyway.  

Rehearsing together at St Ninian's

Of course the music was the main point. ReChoired brought along a delightful repertoire.  It was great to sing Kiss From a Rose with them and have them join us for One Day Like This at the concert.

Singing together the next day was really special. We enjoyed two slightly different warm-ups form Jeff and Peter. Jeff taught us (Everything I Do) I Do It for You, arranged by Kirby Shaw with whom we are so familiar and Peter introduced us to Riverside, his evocative arrangement of an Agnes Obel song. Then it was time for Christmas songs with bright arrangements of Sleigh Ride and Jingle Bells. Both directors emphasised brightness, communication and finishing off phrases together.     

Sure, there are differences between the two choirs. ReChoired auditions, we don't. Their average age is lower than ours. They deliberately keep quite small whereas now we are quite big. Actually, though, as always with these international exchanges, there is more that is similar than is different. Goodness, we even both rehearse on a Tuesday evening and have cake in the break. Naturally we all love to sing and we both benefit from a musical director who is strict but motivating and has a great sense of humour.     
  

ReChoired perform for us at our workshop

Our workshop finished with a lovely surprise. We were presented with copies of ReChoired's CD. I'm listening to it as I write.   

A lovely occasion all round.         

                                   

 

Lighting the Legend, 4 November 2016

Back again in our spiritual home, and singing just outside of where we normally rehearse, we were again pleased to take part in this yearly event. Though we now sing in a variety of places and our members come from all over Greater Manchester and even beyond, we are the Ordsall  A Cappella singers, and we owe Ordsall.

There was a magical atmosphere again as people gathered with their beautifully fashioned lanterns ready for the parade up to Ordsall Hall.

This year Lighting the Legend kickstarted a week of events celebrating Salford TUC’s 150 year anniversary.

Yes, our songs reflected that sentiment exactly:

“Until nations cease to be,

Unison in harmony.”  

And “Drops of water turn the mill, singly none”. Definitely trade union spirit in those words.

Outdoor events and Greater Manchester are always bit of a risk; it poured. But we were well equipped with umbrellas and hats and it would take more than a few drops of rain to daunt Ordsall spirit. We tried to defy the weather by also including a rendition of newly learnt Here Comes the Sun. You know what?  The rain did stop for a very brief period after that.

Something else is very clear too: Ordsall rocks.  

Great fun for the choir again. And thank you for the sandwiches, Ordsall.  

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.   

Civic Sunday – singing for the Ceremonial Mayor of Salford 31 May 2015

By 9.30 we are all gathered in St Clements Church Ordsall and Salford Quays. We’re in our home parish and in the place from where we get our name. It’s raining gently outside and it’s cold for May. Yet, as we’re reminded later, “It’s a glorious day, despite the weather.”  

The warm-up goes well and a few folk who have arrived early are appreciative.

At ten on the dot the Mayoral party arrives and enters the church with due ceremony. Peter Dobbs looks splendid in his robes.

Ordsall Hall Family and Friends Concert

“Our spiritual home,” Jeff calls it. Quite right too: in fact, the day I joined the choir was the very first time it rehearsed in OrdsallHall. And haven’t we come on since then? In those days you worried that you might be the only one in your section. Now we think we’re hard done by if there are only three.

It’s a lovely place to sing in. It was beautiful before its renovation. Now it is gorgeous. It’s good to see the more natural colours of the wood. The displays are enticing and it’s clear that a lot of interesting activities go on for people of all ages. And there are the ghosts, of course. They didn’t seem perturbed by our performance. The atmosphere was warm and friendly.

This was a private concert. Guests were the friends and family of choir members. There was room for seventy audience members and there are over forty of us in the choir, most of whom were there last night. So, it was by invite only.

Singing for the Mayor

Ordsall A Cappella Singers at Ordsall Hall with the new Ceremonial Mayor, Cllr Alan Clague.

Singing for Alan Clague, Ceremonial Mayor of Salford, at Ordsall Hall

We continue to get to sing in some delightful places. Ordsall Hall was always beautiful but after its massive refurbishment, which was completed in 2011, it is truly splendid. The Victorian veneer has been removed and it now looks as it probably did when it was first built. The garden has been restored too and how fabulous that the purple of the flowers in front of the main entrance to the hall match our outfits.  

The very first time I attended a rehearsal was also the first time the group rehearsed in Ordsall Hall. Ah, those were the days, when I used to be an alto and sometimes worried that I’d be the only one. Those days are long gone: today there were seven tenors and goodness knows how many altos and sopranos – though we could do with a few more bases. I remembered those early days as I drove in today.

We are immensely touched and honoured that Cllr. Alan Clague invited us to sing at his ceremony. He’s been attending some of our rehearsals too and that has felt very supportive. As the new Ceremonial Mayor and his parade arrived in the Great Hall we welcomed them with Deep River and Wonderful World. It was so good to sing in that fine acoustic space again. We didn’t see any of the ghosts, though, but they may have been listening. Who knows?    

Later, we sang outside, including:

Kiss the Girl

Nellie the Elephant

How much is that Doggie

Memories

Blue Skies

Imagine  - solo by Louisa Park       

The weather was kind to the new Ceremonial Mayor, to his guests and to us. it was good to be able to sit outside in the lovely garden. And we felt a little as if we had come back home. Ordsall Hall is an old and revered friend.