Another weekend in May, away, at Rydal Hall, Rydal, Ambleside

Sitting in the sun and blinking in the sun- a few words form one of the songs we’re learning and weren’t we just doing that at Rydal Hall last weekend.

  

Blinking in the sun 

Some of us managed to get there early enough to enjoy the gardens and the four o’clock tea and tray bake. Others had to contend with usual Friday night traffic, a closed A591 and actually being able to get away from work.

The view form the terrace - some of us also had this view from our rooms

Everyone got there safely eventually. Supper was a flexible feast. And there was singing in the lovely entrance hall, and then later in the bar. 

We were lucky with the weather so as well as singing there was walking and talking and getting to know each other better. At least one of us went down the rabbit hole to Wonderland. Yes, there was a performance of this story in the gardens and anyway there is also a sculpture trail there all about Alice.  

The White Rabbit was very late.  

    

We were well looked after at Rydal Hall. The food was good and nicely presented. The cake, especially the cheesecake, was divine. Cake, is of course, always important to us. The staff were friendly and helpful.

Straight after breakfast on Saturday we got to it. 

The starter for Sunday lunch 

 

The 9.45 start turned into a 9.30 one. A day and a half of singing followed. Fifteen songs, no less. My, our sight reading improved. Some pieces were a little familiar, others completely new. There was a lot of Bahs (not just form the sheep, though they made enough noise) Tums, (no problems with the food)  and Yips (no, no-one had brought their dog along – that would be the sopranos!) A lot of lovely pieces.   

  

Music and more music

                   

Saturday evening there was more singing in the entrance hall. We tried out some of the new material but also went through some of our normal repertoire. We had no audience. We just sang to each other. That was kind of nice.  

We did the same thing again on Sunday morning outside for twenty minutes or so. This was a real highlight. What could be nicer than singing in the summer sunshine in this beautiful spot?  The sheep didn’t seem to mind. Neither did the tourists.

Singing in the sun

  

These weekends away are always a success. Our confidence grows. Friendships deepen. Ideas emerge. We’ve done a few now but this has to be one of the best venues.    

It was all over too soon.

But guess what – we’re coming again next year!                

A busy musical weekend in May – two churches, two concerts

Not to mention the cake …. . Oh yes, we’re becoming as renowned for our cake as we are for our signing. Both are, we hope, good and getting better all the time. Oh, that reminds me of a Lennon-McCartney number and that’s appropriate too – we do a couple or three of those. Yes, we did both days.  

Concert number one was at St Ninnian’s Church, Wilbraham Road, Chorlton on 21 May 2016. This was a part of the Chorlton Arts Festival and this was out third year of participation. We’re never sure on occasions like this whether we’ll get audience. Last year and two years ago we offered a free concert. This time we made a modest charge.

We needn’t have worried.  We had an audience and a very good one at that. They were fun! I was very impressed with one young woman who arrived really early. “I want to make sure I get a good seat,” she said. She did. Right on the front row. She had three young boys in tow, so she’d had to pay quite a bit.  Mind you, her youngsters  really enjoyed the cake.

At both concerts the audience was invited to join in.

“It’s so interesting to watch them when he (she means Jeff, our musical director) does that,” said one of the tenors. “They look so scared to start with and then they really get in to it and enjoy themselves.”       

Yes, I thought, GPs should prescribe it. I’m sure if they made joining a choir compulsory all of the NHS’s problems would go away. Well, a lot of them anyway.

Our second concert in a church, on 22 May 2016, was entirely different. Except for the quality of the singing and the cake, of course. St Ninnian’s is an older, very traditional United Reformed church.  We performed in the evening. We had tea and cake at the beginning. St Mary and St Philip Neri, Radcliffe, is a modern, light and airy, Roman Catholic Church. We performed in the afternoon. We had a traditional interval for tea and cake. The audience was especially invited by the church and the concert was to celebrate the anniversary of the opening of the new building. A retiring collection was taken for the building fund.  

“We had a hundred leaflets made,” said one of the ladies who helped with the tea, “and we asked people to take one if they were interesting in coming. They all went.”

Tat would seem about right. We had quite a packed church.

There was one awkward moment. “We’re now going to do Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” No we’re not. We’ve only just started that. It’s in my folder which I’ve actually decided I don’t need with me here. Phew! He meant Somewhere after all, minus the rainbow, and just with “a place for us”.

Yes, “Acappella and Cake” is becoming quite our trademark. It reminds me of the Koffikonzerts my family and I used to enjoy when we lived in the Netherlands. For the price of cup of coffee and a slice of apple cake in a café you got a cup of coffee and a slice of apple cake and a first class concert by gifted amateurs or rising professionals in a church. Kind of similar?

Oh, my, but it wasn’t just apple cake this weekend was it? Lemon cheese cake, lemon drizzle, coffee and walnut, artistic cup-cakes, healthy (yes, healthy) brownies and Guinness and chocolate cake. Amongst others.

And musically? We’re consolidating I Will, Royals, and I Know Him so Well. We performed Groovin’, on Sunday afternoon, for the first time. There are the old solid favourites of course.  Kum Ba Yah went down well in both venues and Viva la Musica tested the solidity of the new build in Radcliffe.

“I love these busy musical weekends,” said one of the altos as we left. Yep. Have to agree.                     

     

DEBRA Ball 23 April 2016

The Palace Hotel is undergoing some refurbishment. We enter now from the side. An already complicated building has become even more puzzling. Yet it retains its dignity and purposefulness. It is elegant and about to become even more so.

We gather in a room just off the temporary entrance. We’re only expecting eighteen members today. It is Saturday, St George’s Day, Passover, two days after the Queen’s 90^th birthday and there’s a lot going on. We count parts as they come in. More sopranos than any other group but that is perhaps the way it should be. There’s a good balance of the other parts. It’s also wise to remember that all the people who have rehearsed with us but who can’t be here tonight are still part of what happens.   

 “Come on. Let’s go sing,” says Jeff at 6.20, just five minutes after our meet-up time. We make our way into the bar. There are only a few people there so we are heard. A few listen as well. We’re fine with that. We were only ever meant to be ambient music and we know we’re better than muzak.        

More and more of the ball guests arrive. They’re offered a glass of champagne on arrival. That’s nice to watch but we’re a tad envious.

Half way through an old  favourite, Love is the Sweetest Thing, Jeff disappears. Huh? No matter. We remember to quicken up and then slow down again in the final part. He returns just as we end.

“Okay, folks,” he says. “Let’s move into the foyer. It’s quieter there. We can sing to them as they arrive.”

Other hotel guests are bemused at first and then appreciative. Our rendition of  Viva la Musica seems to impress and we get those lovely echoes in this high-ceilinged and tiled environment  

Twenty minutes or so later the DEBRA guests start moving from the bar to the room where they’ll eat dinner. We serenade them with I Know Him so Well, a new one for us but that we now know quite well.

“It’ll put them in the mood,” says Jeff. “They’ll be generous later.”

We hope so.

We’ve now sung solidly for an hour and ten minutes. We’re tired but pleased: despite being only eighteen strong we made a good sound. As we gather our coats and bags we’re ushered back into the bar by the hotel staff. They set out tables, chairs and champagne glasses. A pleasant young waitress fills up the glasses.

“I think that’s everyone, now,” says one of the sopranos.

“Well my boss said to do twenty glasses.” She carries on pouring. 

Relaxing with a glass or two of bubbles

We were only ever eighteen and some have sloped off: other commitments and run-out parking beckon. Some people therefore get a glass and half. We are grateful. It’s a nice gesture and gives us a chance to be sociable for half an hour.

We hope our efforts have helped DEBRA with the important work they do. DEBRA is the national charity working on behalf of people in the UK with the genetic skin blistering condition Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB).

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.