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We start again in January with an informal social on Tuesday 7th January 2020 7:30pm at The Fox North Luffenham to collect music, pay subs and catch up.  

Music:

The new music for the concert will cost – £1.85

Subs:

We have a 11 week term until Easter – therefore subs will be £22 payable at the start of term.

Music and Subs total:  £23.85

Community Choir Showcase Rugby School Sunday 29th March 2020

There is a Midlands Community Choir Showcase being held again (we didn’t go in the end last year) at Rugby School on Sunday 29^th March 2020. I will be collecting names and a £15pp fee in January for those of you who would like to attend. This is primarily a singing event so we will need to have enough of you to attend and a balance of voices. Each choir will perform a 12 minute programme to all other participants and receive friendly advice from an expert panel of adjudicators on how to enhance their performance, pick up performance ideas and join in a massed sing.

It looks like a great day to attend and I hope most of you can make it.

2020 Dates: (please make sure these go into your nice new Christmas Diaries!)

Term Starts: Tuesday 7^th January

Community Choirs Showcase Rugby School: Sunday 29^th March

Spring Social: Tuesday 31^st March  

Summer Term Starts: Tuesday 21^st April

Summer Concert: Saturday 16^th May Uppingham Parish Church

There may be other events (fetes etc.) throughout the year – watch this space!

Thank you so much to everyone for your hard work at the Christmas Concert  – I think we can safely say it was one of our concerts best yet!! The amount we raised on ticket and bar was actually £1268.69 and with the money from Empingham and other donations over the year we so far have £2064.87 for AMMF! Carols at the Castle and The Fox will top that up a bit too 😊 I’ll post a final total in the Near Year. As you know with it being my choice of charity this year it means a lot that we have raised so much.

Thank you also for my voucher (and sparkly plant!) – I shall be booking in for a destress massage and new nails as soon as the silly season is over I can assure you!! 😊

You are all brilliant! What a fabulous concert yet again last night. The final total was in the end £1541 raised for Shine!!

Thank you for all your hard work and patience over a trying term – I told you we could tackle The Musicological Journey – lots of positive comments specifically about that piece 😊

Sad to see Roger retire but we wish him every happiness in his travels with Ruth in their motorhome.

Thank you to all of you too for the voucher for my favourite salon and the flowers you gave me last night. I shall be booking in for a very welcome massage as soon as I can. A few more carol singing events left then a well earned break for Christmas.

Well done everyone!!

Due to the owners of Welland Vale Garden Centre cancelling this event we are no longer singing

This is a document I have put together outlining expectations for the choir.

I think it is important to almost state the obvious and it has not come about from a need but more due to discussion I was involved in on my choral directors course over the summer (yes, in Leeds Malcolm!! 😊 ) to clarify – so members old and new are all ‘singing from the same song sheet’ !!

Conductor and Singer Responsibilities
My responsibilities include choosing the appropriate repertoire for this group, teaching the musical components of the pieces, helping you with vocal productions and techniques, leading rehearsals, providing you with resources for learning your music, and preparing the group for performances.
Your responsibilities include taking individual notes, staying vocally healthy, learning your part, working within your section for group unity, making notes in your music, attending the required number of rehearsals and performances and practicing your music at home.
Rehearsal Expectations
The purpose of our weekly rehearsal is to teach the music at the ensemble level; working on techniques such as unity, blend, tuning and intonation, vocal production, musical expression and having fun. Improving your individual parts should be done outside of rehearsal (see practice expectations below).
Rehearsals will start with a combination of physical and vocal warm-ups followed run-throughs of the music all together. During warm-ups, we will focus on vocal technique and production and confidence as singers including socialising exercises. The run-through section will help with solidify your part as it fits within the overall ensemble.
Singers are required to bring their music, a pencil and water to every rehearsal. If you are unsure of how to mark your music, please ask for help.
During rehearsals, please feel able to ask questions if you do not understand a musical point or what you are being asked to do. Please do not feel your query is too trivial- it may be what the rest of the section is thinking too!
Practice Expectations
Practice doesn’t make perfect, but it certainly makes improvements! As choir members, it is your responsibility to practice your music at home. I have provided you with listening tracks on the website to make this process as simple as possible.
By putting in time to practice at home, you will begin to learn your music at a faster pace, enhance your vocal production skills, and improve the musical abilities of the chorus.
The necessary practice time depends on the individual. I recommend planning thirty minutes to one hour a week for at-home practice, but any practice time will make a difference! Set up a weekly appointment in your calendar for practicing your music to help develop healthy practice habits and hold yourself accountable. A quiet environment alone is typically the most conducive for practicing. Consider section or small group practices with your fellow singers in the week between rehearsals.
Please ask for any additional help needed.
Happy practicing!!!

As we have done before I have organised the first week back to be a ‘collect music, pay subs and catch up evening’. This will be on Tuesday 4th September at The Fox in North Luffenham.  I have organised a team of minions 🙂  who will be in the room upstairs for you to pay for music and pay subs then it’s an opportunity to have a drink and catch up with all your choir buddies!

I have now organised all the Christmas music – it has been quite a task with music unavailable in the UK to buy or hire and the usual issues with ordering in bulk.

All the pieces are traditional Christmas carols but set to a different tune! The main piece is a version of the 12 Days of Christmas that journeys through different music genres from 6thC plainsong to 19thC American marching anthems and is quite a piece to tackle but I know you will enjoy the challenge!
One of the pieces is in 100 Carols for Choirs – if you do not have a copy please let me know so I can order some – we will use these for any carol singing events too so it’s useful for everyone to have a copy.

Important Dates:
Admin evening Tuesday 4th September The Fox North Luffenham from 7:30pm
Autumn Term Starts Tuesday September 11th 7:30pm includes website tutorial from Nigel

Christmas Concert Oakham School Chapel Saturday December 15th 7:30pm

Spring Term Starts Tuesday January 8th 2019
Spring Concert for Empingham Church Saturday April 13th 2019 7:30pm

As of yet I haven’t been asked about Christmas Fayres or Carol singing but I would hope we would also take part in any events during the Autumn term as they come up.  If any one has any suggestions of places to offer entertainment then please let me know.

As discussed last week there will now be a rehearsal next week ( June 12th ) – Nigel will take the men and altos and sopranos can use the music room and community room to practice as they have done before then come together towards the end to sing through things all together with Roger. I think it’ll be useful to keep the momentum going as the concert approaches.

Many thanks to those of you who have responded to the request to sing at the Whissendine fun day on Sunday July 8th. We will be performing at 1:30pm – it will be with backing tracks and I will confirm a little nearer to the time exactly what.

Just a reminder that the Tuesday rehearsal before the concert ( July 10th) will be in the church in Uppingham.

North Luffenham Fun Day –
On May 20th I’d like to sing:

You Raise Me Up
59th Bridge Street Song
Speed Your Journey
Top of The World
Close To You
Hallelujah
California Dreaming
Let the River Run
Fields of Gold
Do You Hear the People Sing
Rhythm of Life

We will run all of these next week albeit with backing tracks although we will have Roger on the day.
We will also be continuing with the summer concert programme so please still come even if you are not taking part on May 20th.
We will wear our polo shirts (and hopefully not raincoats!). Please assemble at the Cricket Pavilion on the Oval at 1:45pm.

Circle of Life –

I have taken the decision to drop The Circle of Life for the summer concert, but we will be returning to it in Spring 2019.

Whissendine Fun Day July 8th –

We have been approached to perform at the Whissendine Fun Day on Sunday July 8th – the day is on 10-4 but I would look to perform around 1:30pm maybe.
Could you please let me know if you are UNAVAILABLE to perform on that day so I can confirm our availability.