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CHOIR NEWS and NOTICES
News, notices, musical job vacancies, achievements and items of interest
DISCLAIMER: Any opinion expressed and advice offered in this website is not necessarily that of the Federation or its officials and no responsibility can be accepted for the results of following contributors' advice. ST STYTHIANS and CITY OF TRURO MALE CHOIRS CHARITY CONCERT in HELSTON - 5 JULYThe St Stythians Male Voice Choir (Director: Ken Downing) has organised a charity concert with the City of Truro Male Choir to be held in St Michael’s Church, Helston on Sunday 5th July. The concert is in support of Marshall Janson, the little boy who suffered a meningitis attack earlier this year. The Truro Choir (Director: Paul Triggs) is giving its services, reciprocating a visit of the St Stythians Choir to Truro last year for the Precious Lives Appeal. Bruce Taylor, of Miller Countrywide, will be the compère and Miller Countrywide is supporting the concert. The St Stythians choir also wishes to acknowledge on-going sponsorship from J C Williams (Furnishers) of Helston. The two Musical Directors have assembled a programme that should make the most of the excellent acoustics of St Michael’s Church.The concert will start at 7.30 p.m. (doors open at 6.45). Tickets (£5, under-16s free) are available from J.C. Williams Furnishers and from Miller Countrywide, both in Meneage Street, Helston, also from Kathryn Baldry (01872 863008) and David Hutson (01326 319943). All of the proceeds, after minimal expenses, will be for the Marshall Janson Appeal. Sent by David Hutson, St Stythians Male Voice Choir TAMAR VALLEY MVC and JERABINKA CHILDREN’S CHOIR from Czech Republic
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Sent by Alan Dawe, Tintagel Orpheus Male Voice Choir
News items posted 09/06/2009
TINTAGEL ORPHEUS MVC TAKES TO THE SKIES
Tintagel Orpheus Male Voice Choir have returned from an enjoyable and successful trip to Ireland. Accompanist, Alan Dawe, says:
"We sang four times in all ... A concert at Killarney Methodist Church, during Mass and after the service at Killarney Cathedral, an impromtu sing at Waterville Lake Hotel on our Ring of Kerry excursion and then on the last night of the trip we were joined by the recently formed Killarney Golf Club Male Choir for a joint effort.
"Slight hitch for me .... when we arrived at the Cathedral, we found that there was no piano, so I had to use the church organ, which as you know is an instrument for two feet as well as two hands. Being one short, I had to invent a technique on the spot. My remaining leg thought it had gone into overdrive as it played both the bass pedals and the two swell pedals at the same time. Managed to get through it without disgracing myself thank goodness. Might start hiring myself out for church weddings now!"
SPONSORED 200 MILE WALK
Member of Tintagel Orpheus Male Voice Choir, Gordon Davison, is celebrating his 74th birthday by undertaking a 200 mile sponsored walk from coast to coast in June. He will start out in Yorkshire and complete his walk in Cumbria. The funds he raises will go to both Tintagel Orpheus MVC and the charity Disabled South West. See: www.disabledsouthwest.co.uk.
You can find out more details about this walk on www.everyclick.com/gordon-davison.
Sent by Alan Dawe, Tintagel Orpheus Male Voice Choir
News items posted 24/05/2009
ST COLUMBA CELTIC MVC SING WITH THE BEDFORDSHIRE POLICE CHOIR
St Columba Celtic Male Voice Choir have just returned from a very successful trip to Luton to sing with our old friends, the Bedfordshire Police Choir (which includes some of the former Luton Girl's Choir members - alas no longer girls!). The concert held in the Trinity Methodist church at the kind invitation of the minister and with our very own John Bennallick as MC was received with great approval. Included were three numbers new to our concert programme - 'With Cat Like Tread', 'The Fishermen of England' and 'Down to the River to Pray'.
During the Sunday service, the choir sang 'Down to the River to Pray' as an introit and 'The Lord's prayer' as anthem.
Our hosts could not have made us more welcome and special thanks go to our old friends, John and Margaret Mead. We stayed in the Menzies Strathmore hotel in Luton town centre - a very good venue with attractive pricing and very attentive and helpful staff.
Sent by Steve Burstow, St Columba Celtic Male Voice Choir
News item posted 16/05/2009
CORNISH TRIUMPH at the INTERNATIONAL CHORAL FESTIVAL of 2009!
Congratulations for outstanding achievement go to Four Lanes Male Choir who took first place in their section (40 voices and over) and to Mevagissey Male Choir who took second place. This is the first year a Cornish choir has won in this Festival. Congratulations also to the Cornish choir, 8 in a Bar, who took first place in their section (under 40 voices). Likewise, this is the first time a Cornish choir has won in this section.
The Fourth Cornish International Choral Festival took place from 29 April - 4 May this year, with choirs coming to take part and sing from across Europe. In addition, choirs from throughout the UK came to Cornwall and joined with Cornish male voice choirs to participate in over 40 different singing events in 30 venues during the six day Festival. In total over 60 male voice youth and boys choirs were involved!
Member of the Festival Panel and Federation Vice Chairman, Phil Taylor, has sent his thanks and appreciation to all Cornish choirs who took part.
News item posted 05/05/2009
CORNISH SINGING DAY WITH STEPHEN CLEOBURY!
Saturday 5th September 2009
West Cornwall's Laudate Chamber choir is presenting a one day come and sing workshop with STEPHEN CLEOBURY, Director of Music at King's College, Cambridge. The event takes place on Saturday 5th September 2009 from 11.00am to 4.30pm in Truro School Chapel. The workshop will feature music drawn from the O.U.P. publication 'European Sacred Music' and will be an extremely enjoyable day.
The course fee for the day is £10.00 which includes loan of the music to be used.
Further details and a booking form can be obtained by logging onto the Laudate website which can be found at The Laudate Choir. Alternatively, contact Neil Shepherd on 01736 759944. Email: neilshepherd@yahoo.co.uk.
Tell your choir members and friends about this event and ask them to come along!
Sent by Neil Shepherd, MD for Newlyn Male Choir and Laudate! Chamber Choir
News item posted 05/05/2009
NEWSLETTER FROM NEWLYN MC
Newlyn Male Choir has published their annual Patrons Newsletter in which a summary of the year is given and an outline of the Choir's interesting and successful year. Choir officers are listed and include the Choir's new Musical Director, Neil Shepherd. See earlier news item on this page dated 18 January. For full details of news sent by the Choir, click here: Newlyn MC Newsletter.
Sent by Kevin Trembath, Newlyn Male Choir
News item posted 05/05/2009
TINTAGEL ORPHEUS MVC celebrate their 80TH ANNIVERSARY!
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This year is the 80th Anniversary of Tintagel Orpheus Male Voice Choir. The Choir is pleased to present a Colour Souvenir Brochure - the cover is shown on the left. Copies can be obtained at all their concerts or by contacting the Choir's Press & PR Officer, Valerie Stephens, on 01840 770360 or press@tintagelmalevoicechoir.org.uk . Look out for their Joint Concert in May with The City of Newport Male Voice Choir. See poster on the right. For more information about the Choir and its activities, visit the Member Choirs page on the link shown at the top of this page. To find the full Concert List click on Future Concerts link or visit the Choir's own website listed under Member Choirs. |
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Sent by Alan Dawe, Tintagel Orpheus MVC
News item posted 27/03/2009
A Warm Welcome to City of Truro Male Choir
At the recent Federation meeting, members were delighted to learn that the City of Truro Male Choir has joined the Cornish Federation.
The City of Truro Male Choir has a varied and interesting history. In July 1991 two neighbouring choirs, Chacewater MVC and Carnon Vale MVC merged to become Chacewater Carnon Vale MVC, with Ann Birch as Musical Director. The new choir enjoyed considerable success. In 2002, the choir felt their traditional village base was no longer representative and due to demographic changes in the membership, the Choir decided to relocate to Truro and to change their name to reflect this. Paul Triggs had become the Choir's Musical Director in 1998. Paul has made a name for himself with his exciting and varied concert programmes. These usually include some of his own arrangements of modern pieces for the choir, which frequently involve the joint use of piano and organ accompaniment.
A warm wewlcome is offered to City of Truro Male Choir and members of the Federation look forward to working together with them. Details of the choir will soon be included on the Member Choirs page on this website. Meanwhile you can find more information about them on www.cityoftruromalechoir.co.uk.
News item posted 18/02/2009
Contributions sought for a Pub Song Book!
Nankersey Male Choir is hoping to create a "Pub Song Book". Fred Bidgood of Nankersey states he is sure other choirs will have experienced the older hands performing songs in pubs and at "afterglows" whilst the newcomers can only mouth what they think are the correct words!! He suggests that should any choir already have a songbook which they could share with Nankersey it would be most appreciated. It is not the Choir's intention to pinch everyone's songs and in due course they would be pleased to circulate what they have gleaned to others should they wish.
If you would like to contribute to this collection of songs for a Pub Song Book, please contact Fred Bidgood (01326) 373984.
Sent by Fred Bidgood, Nankersey MC
News item posted 11/02/2009
Nankersey Male Choir hold Open Evening at Penryn College
Nankersey Male Choir held an Open Evening/practice session recently at Penryn College. As usual the session was open to any aspiring singers who were able to sing along with the choir. Among those who turned up was a College pupil aged 16 - and he and two others have since come to subsequent practice evenings.
Nankersey with Imerys Mid Cornwall are appearing together on May 31st at the College - for College funds. It is hoped to foster more of the young male singers at the College and the Choir has invited the College to perform with them on the 31st May.
Sent by Fred Bidgood, Nankersey MC
News item posted 11/02/2009
LOVENY MVC TAKES TO THE WING!
Two Exciting Tours for 2009
This year Loveny is taking to the wing with two exciting Tours planned, one of long standing, and the other which only came as a surprise invitation in September.
EXMOOR WEEKEND
A long weekend tour to Exmoor in March has been planned where we meet up again with the Barnstaple Choir. Loveny will be staying in Lynton for the weekend and will be singing with Barnstaple MVC on Saturday 21st March in Pilton Church. On Sunday afternoon a concert in Lynton Town Hall has been arranged with all proceeds going to The Calvert Trust who arrange riding for the disabled. On the Monday after a trip over Exmoor a further short concert in Exeter Cathedral has been organised. As you can imagine there was an overwhelming response, and the keenness of the choristers augured well for more ambitious tours in the future.
TOUR TO ITALY
That future arrived sooner than expected. In September, the MD of the City of Soave Choir, Professor Rinaldi, wrote to Loveny in his capacity as Festival Director, inviting “your notable choir” to participate in the European Choral Festival hosted by the City of Soave, in the North of Italy. Soave is mid way between Venice and Milan. It was a very attractive package, but the worry was, would the choristers be happy to take on two tours in the one year, one a major tour? However, the invitation was put to them, the programme outlined, and it was instantly clear that a good sized, well balanced choir would be delighted to take up the invitation.
And so on Thursday 25th June, a party of 53 will fly from Bristol to Venice. Flying to Venice a day early offered more convenient flight times, and also, as a bonus, will allow the party almost a full free day in Venice before catching their flight home on Monday 29th June.
Professor Rinaldi and his Festival Committee have proposed a most wonderful programme for the weekend. By arriving a day early, the Loveny party can also enjoy a free day in Soave, before meeting all the other Choirs for an evening meal together on Friday, when the other Choirs and their Musical Directors will be introduced. There will be four Italian Choirs and four foreign choirs, and during the meal, each choir will entertain the assembly with one welcoming song of their own choice.
The first Concert is in the great church of San Bonifacio, a nearby town. At each Concert every Choir will sing and then all will join in singing a specially composed Festival song in Italian, with a different MD each night. No doubt there will then be some unofficial socialising before bedtime!
On Saturday, after breakfast at the hotel, all will depart for a morning visit to the city of Verona with its many delights, before enjoying a restaurant meal at Lake Garda. The afternoon will be spent at the historical centre of Sirmione, known as the ’Pearl’ of Lake Garda, famous for it ancient Medieval Village and thermal baths. Then it is back before the Concert in another great Church, the Dome of Soave.
Sunday will be a very special day, and will probably live for ever in the memories of those taking part. After breakfast, the Mayor of Soave will officially welcome us all before we travel some 70 km to the town of Breganze, whose Mayor will be on hand to greet everyone. This will take place in the main square of the town, with all the church bells ringing out a mighty welcome to their visitors. And it gets better, for their local tradition is to invite their guests to a traditional Venetian Lunch, and the visitors will be shared out in groups of not less than 2 to local families. In Professor Rinaldi’s own words, “They will be accommodated with cordiality by the families of Breganze. It is wonderful tradition, that Breganze feels honoured to maintain and it allows the foreign guests to meet the people, enter their houses and taste the traditional cuisine. The time you will spend with the families will be about 2 hours, and the great feeling of the hospitality of the families of Breganze will be guaranteed!" What a wonderful experience!
At 3.00pm we travel a short distance on to Bassano del Grappa, famous among other things for its wine distillery, the home of Grappa Nardini.
The final Concert of the Festival will be in Breganze, where each choir will have a room in which to change, and even a facility to take a shower before changing into uniform after the day's adventures. This concert will take place at 8.30PM, and will be by the visiting foreign choirs and the City of Soave Choir only, after which there will be a Grand Farewell Buffet Supper before returning ’home’ to Soave. On Monday, after breakfast, all choirs will leave to make their way home, but Loveny, of course, will be able to enjoy a full day in Venice before having to board the plane to Bristol.
And how did Loveny come to receive this wonderful opportunity? Well, Professor Rinaldi had not ever had an English Choir to come to any of his Festivals, and he sought the advice of a friend who lives in Paris. As it happened, this friend had holidayed in Cornwall, where he had heard the Loveny Choir sing, and reported that it was “an interesting choir,” and so the invitation was offered to us. You never know who is in your audience!
There are no silver cups to be won at this Festival, only friends, and Loveny will determine to win as many of them as possible, and also to popularise the Cornish Male Voice Choir tradition to a new audience.
Sent by Jack Roberts, Loveny MVC
News item posted 11/02/2009
CORNISH MALE VOICE CHOIRS
ENCOURAGE CHILDREN TO DISCOVER THE JOY OF SINGING
At the recent Federation meeting new initiatives on making contact with local schools were discussed. Angela Renshaw spoke to the meeting about a new government funded initiative Sing Up. She encouraged male voice choirs to make contact with their local primary schools where they will find willing support. Sing Up provides free materials for members of the community who take part in the project to encourage children to sing. Information about Sing Up can be found on the website: Sing Up. More information about this project as it affects male voice choirs will be posted on this site.
Newquay MVC working with Treviglas Community College
Newquay Male Voice Choir has been running a successful project working with Treviglas Community College. A short report on this was delivered by Rob Spowart to the meeting and a copy of the report is attached here. Newquay/Treviglas
News item posted 31/01/2009
NEWLYN MC WELCOME NEW MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Newlyn Male Choir are delighted to welcome their new Musical Director, Mr Neil Shepherd BA (Hons) ALCM. Neil Shepherd moved to Cornwall from Lancashire at the end of December. The Choir has already enjoyed practices with him and are looking forward to working together.
Sent by Bryan Marshall, Newlyn MC
News item posted 18/01/2009
AN INVITATION TO JOIN NEWLYN MALE CHOIR
The Newlyn Male Choir will resume rehearsals on Monday 5th January 2009 in the Chapel, Royal National Mission of Deep Sea Fishermen, Newlyn, Penzance, commencing at 7.30pm. Hopefully we will have a new Musical Director and will start a fairly new programme of music. So we will all be in the same boat. Starting from scratch.
If you were thinking of joining a Male Choir this is the ideal time to do it. We are a friendly bunch of chaps, with a good sense of humour who enjoy our singing. So if you are interested come along on the 5th. Have a listen to us, and if you like what you hear give us a try. You will be made most welcome. Nervous of an audition? Don't be. All you need is a reasonable voice and able to pitch a note, and that will be between you and the Musical Director only.
See you there? Enquiries to Bryan Marshall, tel: (01736) 361189.
Sent by Bryan Marshall, Newlyn MC
News item posted 22/12/2008
MARAZION APOLLO CHOIR TRIP TO GRASS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
FOR CORNISH FESTIVAL, 19th-31st JULY, 2009
Marazion Apollo MVC has accepted an invitation to visit Grass Valley, California for the Cornish Festival on the weekend of 23rd - 25th July. Alun Howells, Secretary, says: "We will be hosted by local families and are planning to do four concerts and various trips while we are there. Apart from spending-money, we estimate the cost will be around £1000 per singer.
"We are urgently looking for more tenors (1sts and 2nds). Would you like to join us?
"We will subsidise any singer to the tune of £500! This means that you would have a trip to California for much less than the air fare! The unsubsidised cost for your partner would be £1000. We will arrange for practices to enable you to become familiar with our repertoire. Some pieces we will sing at Grass Valley you will know very well already.
"This is a great opportunity to join Timothy Hosken and the members of the Marazion Apollo Choir on a very special trip to America. Several Cornish choirs have enjoyed this Festival in recent years. Rest assured that we will be looked after very well by our Grass Valley hosts. Our members will be very grateful if you are able to join us.
"As the booking of flights is crucial we need to set a deadline. If you would like to come, please let me know by Saturday, 24th January, 2009".
Contact Alun Howells, Secretary of Marazion Apollo MVC tel: (01736) 360618 or 07761823858 or email alunhowells@msn.com for further details.
Sent by Alun Howells, Marazion Apollo MVC
News item posted 20/12/2008
LICENSING ACT 2003 - how it affects Choirs
Choirs have made enquiries about where they stand with performance rights and licensing under the 2003 Act. Attached is a copy of National Association of Choirs' Advice Sheet 803 prepared in 2006 as a result of problems reported from Cornwall. The Act is currently the subject of a Parliamentary Review Committee to assess its impact among the population.
This information has been provided by Fred Bidgood of Nankersey Male Choir, who kindly made enquiries of the National Association of Choirs on behalf of Federation members. It is pointed out that The Trustees of the National Association of Choirs offer advice to their members in good faith. Those who follow the advice given do so at their own risk and judgement. The Trustees accept no responsibility for any harm, physical, financial or to reputation, occurring to those who follow the advice given.
News item posted 03/11/2008TRURO CATHEDRAL OLD CHORISTERS ASSOCIATION
We have received an update on a previous news item, with revised contact details. Truro Cathedral Old Choristers Association is open to ex-choristers from any Cathedral. There may be old choristers who are not aware they would be eligible to join the Association and some may be singing in Cornish male voice choirs. Once a year, usually the third Saturday in September, members of the Association sing Evensong in the Cathedral with the present choir, followed by a dinner.
If there are any people who used to sing with any Cathedral choir the Association would like to welcome them to join in.
Please contact The Association's Chairman, Andrew Pool email: office@andrewpool.co.uk, or write to him, c/o Truro Cathedral Office, 14 St Mary's Street, Truro TR1 2AF. Or if anyone would like a quiet word, just phone Andrew on (01326) 374433.
Sent by Andrew Pool, Nankersey MCSOUVENIRS TO SELL ON BEHALF OF YOUR CHOIR
Cat Laminates, a small business run by Trevor Walker of Mousehole MVC, produces a variety of small gifts which can be personalised with the name of your choir and can include an illustration, provided by you. There is a variety of items available, including jotters, self stick notes, gift cards and fridge magnets; each can bear the logo of your choir and a photo or illustration. These are souvenirs that you may wish to sell at your concerts or other events in order to raise funds. The items can be purchased in sets of 50 and are offered at reduced rates for Federation members. For more information contact Trevor Walker, email: twpzchoral1@btconnect.com or tel: (01736) 731096.
Sample cover page of a Self-Stick Notes pad
This page last updated: 01 July 2009 - Linda Jones