Category Archives: choirs

choirs go away again

Posted on November 8, 2020 by vhk10

Just getting into a routine with various choirs when there is a second lockdown and they all go away again. I managed to fit in a second visit to Gloucester just in time, in the process becoming aware of some … Continue reading →

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Choir returns: (3) Gloucester

Posted on October 26, 2020 by vhk10

The last to return of the three choirs I sing with that are currently functioning was Gloucester Choral Society. It looks as if auditioning for this choir was one of my best decisions of 2020 (not, admittedly, a year in … Continue reading →

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how to return

Posted on October 20, 2020 by vhk10

Before I post an account of my third return to choral singing, I’m going to reflect on some of the difficulties that have had to be faced and the questions to be answered. Firstly is there a place where rehearsals … Continue reading →

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Choir returns (2): Bristol

Posted on September 28, 2020 by vhk10

Bristol Choral Society has in one sense had less of a break than in many years. Very often we’d do nothing after the concert in June until the AGM at the beginning of September, but this year we carried on … Continue reading →

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tentative returns

Posted on August 28, 2020 by vhk10

September approaches and with it the normal start of the choral season. Three choirs I sing in have indicated that they are making moves to resume rehearsing around the middle of the month. In each case, it’s not clear yet … Continue reading →

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when does a performance become professional?

Posted on July 16, 2020 by vhk10

Gradually the lockdown is thawing, churches are opening and organs being played. The jury is still out on the dangers of singing but outdoor performances by professionals are permitted in certain circumstances. Possibly similar criteria will be applied in due … Continue reading →

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a letter to my MP

Posted on July 4, 2020 by vhk10

[The following is the text of a letter to my MP, Wera Hobhouse. It is mostly my own words, though I have used some wording that was suggested to me by a choir I sing in. I have lightly edited … Continue reading →

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a place for visiting choirs?

Posted on June 26, 2020 by vhk10

All choral singers must be wondering just what will be left when their choirs are allowed to perform again. One sector I am reasonably sanguine about is that of the Cathedral visiting choir. These choirs are essentially self-funding. Of the … Continue reading →

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mental health in choirs

Posted on May 22, 2020 by vhk10

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week, and I have been thinking about how mental health issues can play out in choirs (under normal circumstances). Not so much mental health benefits to choir members in general, but to what extent choirs can … Continue reading →

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in praise of … choir committees

Posted on April 3, 2020 by vhk10

I’ve not spent a lot of time on choir committees, or ever had one of the more demanding posts. It’s a truism that they deserve lots of gratitude for what they do, and only if you’ve been behind the scenes … Continue reading →

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Shostakovich’s afternoon in Corpus

Posted on June 3, 2019 by vhk10

Still in Cambridge on the Monday, I had the Rare Books Room of the University Library almost to myself while I consulted back numbers of the Letter of the Corpus Association for information about Corpus chapel choir. I am trying … Continue reading →

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a new chapter for the South West Festival Chorus

Posted on January 26, 2019 by vhk10

I used to sing quite regularly with this choir, which puts on ‘all-comers’ concerts preceded by intensive rehearsal twice a year. But I haven’t done so since 2013. I dropped out partly because various friends no longer sang in the … Continue reading →

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