Choir’s last mass before breaking up for the summer. A few of our singers had already gone on their holidays so although numbers were down we had a really good group of singers, ready to warm up and run-through early in the morning!
This conductor was a bit tired and distracted after a difficult couple of days (many of you know about the recent loss of a dear friend of David’s, whose funeral we attended on Friday afternoon in the West Country.) Anyhow you were all superb, singing through a set of familiar hymns and even coping well with the last-minute addition of the “Holy Holy” and “Mystery of faith” which George had suggested we sing and he kindly photocopied scores for us. With great support from the Matthews family the good, choral ship was steered into safe waters! A special thank-you to a few of you: Tenor Phil for having the initiative and willingness to help out in setting up all the microphones and sound-desk as well as taking care of my music stand (very thoughtful.) Super soprano Frances for jolting me out of a reverie and reminding me it was time to sing the Gloria! Alex, our accomplished pianist, was an absolute trouper helping to guide the singers through that tricky, five-beat rest in the middle of the verses in “Here I am Lord.” By the end of the mass, the congregation were clapping along with us to “Walk in the Light” like the best of them! Thanks for all your hard work these few months everyone, I’ve really been putting you through your paces – enjoy your much-deserved summer break and we’ll see you all at the start of the new “term” in September.

We did it! A great performance at the St Joseph’s School Summer Fair, in sweltering temperatures at lunchtime. Thanks to a great sound rig by Peter Rose, the choir was heard over the loudspeakers throughout the huge playing fields. A lovely group of children joined us for the finale which made it even more special. There are two independent reports of “goose bumps” among the audience. You wowed them all and held on to the end, despite the rather noisy atmosphere in the field. Onwards and upwards everyone, really well done. I’m so very proud of your achievement. A huge thank you to Dave (May’s husband) who videoed the performance.
Pat yourselves on the back for a job well done.

Lots of fun at tonight’s rehearsal – demob happy almost – as it’s our last formal rehearsal prior to Sunday’s performance at the summer fair. Everyone was in such good spirits. We got stuck into our tunes – oh those monkeys are sounding cheeky and fab. We went through the other numbers in our set – fine tuning a harmony line here, perfecting an entry there, just some final tweaks before the big day. I was so overjoyed to hear the choir singing so well and with such enthusiasm – they’ve worked incredibly hard and all that work is really paying off. We’ll have a final run-through on Sunday morning with the children who are joining us for the finale. Then it’s show time. Can’t wait. By the way, anyone know a decent videographer who can record the performance on Sunday?

Well done all for the wonderful singing at 9.30 mass this morning and the great accompaniment (thanks as ever, Alex.) It was lively, spirited and a joy to listen to. Particular praise (not just from me but from many members of the congregation) for a superb rendition of Laudate Dominum. You nailed it and it sounded great. Thanks to all of you holding that ostinato line so beautifully – softly when the soloists were singing their verses over the top (thank you Frances and Phil) and with great gusto when it was sung on its own. I’m very pleased to say that the congregation loved it and we will be singing it again often!
There’s no choir rehearsal next Sunday 30th June as I will be running the “Race for Life” together with lots of other Mums from St Joseph’s (wish me luck!) We will be meeting on Thursdays from now on until Sunday 7th July when we’ll be rehearsing our set for the summer fair at 10.30 in the Westlake room with all the children who’ll be joining us for the finale number. Onwards and upwards singers. You should be rightly proud of all your achievements. I certainly am. Pleased as Punch!

Good to see so many singers at Thursday’s rehearsal (and so many drinks and nibbles too, yum!) Good run-through of all our pieces, including some last-minute teaching of harmonies to those who haven’t been able to attend for the last few weeks. A really good effort by all, we broke off into sections for extra practice (thanks to Alex for leading the tenors and basses) and managed to iron out any glitches by the end. A really enjoyable sing-song with plenty of laughs throughout, great atmosphere. Well done everyone, really looking forward to the next choir practice.

The singers had already warmed up their voices singing at 9.30 mass so (just for today) we dispensed with the warm-up. Straight into the run of hymns we’ll be singing at mass next Sunday and then some more work on Laudate Dominum. Dropped one of the solo verses as I felt the while thing was a tad long. After singing through this beautiful ostinato chorale with psalm verses over the top, we worked on nailing those entries and finally it all came together beautifully (gave me goose bumps to hear it sounding so good.) It’s now ready to unleash on the congregation next Sunday! Rounded off rehearsal with a spirited, uplifting rendition of “Walk in the Light” complete with a clapping chorus at the end (it sounded very gospel choir and was tremendous fun.) Get ready for some clapping next Sunday folks!

What a great laugh we had at Thursday evening’s rehearsal when we were singing through the “Monkey Song” from the Jungle Book which we’ll be performing at the summer fair. The tenors and bases had us all in fits of giggles with their interventions during the chorus (ee-ee ooh-ooh) and we sang through it a few times to familiarise ourselves with the song.
The choirnalsonlearnt the final chunk of harmonies for “Rule the World” and they sounded fab. A great evening rounded off with a run-through of “Sing” our finale song for the summer fair (which is now just over 3 weeks away.) We’ll keep practising and practising and hopefully will wow the audience at our first performance outside mass.

I’m still buzzing from a great rehearsal tonight.  Everyone really focused and learnt their new harmonies easily and quickly.  Very impressed.  Enjoyed a lovely sing-song at the end too with “Perfect Day” (as suggested by Ben and Rachel) and that “travelling at the speed of light” Queen number “Don’t Stop me Now” (which is used as the backing track for a great tribute to Concorde by the way – look out for it on YouTube.)  Great fun was had by all and to cap it all, my chocolate and hazelnut pastry whirls were a big hit.  The effort, on every level, is truly worth it.  Thanks everyone, you’re sounding great.  (All together now: “Don’t stop me now, cause I’m having such a good time, I’m having a ball.”)  Hope you are too!

http://youtu.be/HgzGwKwLmgM?t=5s

(Here’s “Perfect Day” for you to enjoy too – such a fab BBC promo, no I’m not biased really I’m not.)

http://youtu.be/WJpQJWpVJds?t=15s

After a short break over half-term it was great to see our singers raring to go at rehearsal on Sunday. While I got the music stand and choir folders from the cupboard they’d already started warming up by singing through some of the parts of the pieces we’ll be performing at the summer fair. Great to see so many enthusiastic smiles! We’re looking ahead to the next children’s mass on 23rd June and ran through some of the hymns we’ll be singing then. There were some lively vocals and a really good effort when we tackled “Laudate Dominum.” Once again we got through it from start to finish with the solo lines over the top of the ostinato (and all in key and tempo which was fab.) We’ll keep on fine-tuning a couple of things but should be ready to sing this at children’s mass in July! Really chuffed with the great progress everyone’s making, thanks for all your hard work and dedication.

Another great evening rehearsal with two new choir members joining us, Anja and Ulrika (welcome ladies, it was very good to have you with us.)  The wine flowed, the nibbles were nibbled and after a short but energetic warm-up, we went over the “Sing” parts learnt the previous week.  I was very happy to hear that the soprano 2 voices remembered and held onto their lines really well after just learning their notes a week ago, well done! A fantastic effort from everyone and we sung through the piece several times with the use of backing tracks and our piano.  There were a couple of tiny sections that the men needed to learn in this piece and they did a sterling job as ever, with great concentration (a great bonus to any choir.)  We then moved on to a sing-through of “Rule the World” which is the next piece we’ll be learning for our summer fair performance.  Most were familiar with the melody and we had great fun singing through it in unison with male voices shining in verses for this particular number.  It’s going to sound great once we learn it in parts with all the harmonies.  We’re taking a break for half-term week – next evening rehearsal will be on 6th June.  Enjoy the break and keep singing everyone! It’s good for body and soul.