Category Archives: choirs

different strokes for different folks

Posted on April 9, 2015 by vhk10

I find myself doing something I haven’t really done before – rehearsing the same piece with two different groups of people at the same time. I must have done it a couple of years back with Duruflé’s Requiem, but then … Continue reading →

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couples in the choir

Posted on March 31, 2015 by vhk10

Most adult choirs contain at least one couple, and some several more. This is usually a positive thing, but there are certain situations where it can be a liability in some ways: a) the conductor’s partner who does the choir … Continue reading →

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The wheel turns again?

Posted on February 8, 2015 by vhk10

Back in the early years of the millennium, there was a shortage of choral singers in Bristol, with choirs all fishing in the same limited pool. After some defections and outright poaching, the Brandon Hill Singers could not recruit new … Continue reading →

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a new conductor for Bath Camerata

Posted on January 5, 2015 by vhk10

It’s been announced that Nigel Perrin will be standing down as musical director of the Bath Camerata in April this year, and the choir is advertising for a replacement. I sang for a short time with the Camerata when I … Continue reading →

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Choir reunions

Posted on December 9, 2014 by vhk10

A couple of years ago I was part of the enjoyable 10 year reunion of the Exultate Singers. It was possible because my name had been kept on file as a former singer. Recently I’ve been finding out about my … Continue reading →

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How to protest

Posted on October 26, 2014 by vhk10

Regular readers may recall that a couple of years ago I went to a choral concert, but left half-way through. I’d sung with the choir in a concert a few months earlier, and had hoped during the interval to re-arrange … Continue reading →

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a super chorus for Bath?

Posted on September 9, 2014 by vhk10

I’ve just been reading a recent issue of Bath Life in which they interview Will Dawes, the director of music at Bath Choral Society. He expresses a wish to pull together various local choirs as a ‘super chorus’. ‘There are … Continue reading →

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Building an audience (1): building relationships

Posted on September 3, 2014 by vhk10

This is a perennial problem for choirs, never more so than in these times when choral singing is popular but audiences may have watch their outlay. My comments here are really about the Bath choral scene, which I know about … Continue reading →

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Did the Chantry Singers leave a gap?

Posted on September 2, 2014 by vhk10

I realise it’s a few years since the Chantry Singers disbanded. The choir was flourishing right to the end, but the founder and musical director felt she had achieved what she wanted with it, and sensed that the market was … Continue reading →

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a local première of the Glagolitic Mass?

Posted on March 11, 2014 by vhk10

@bristolchoral I’ve been going round saying that our forthcoming Glagolitic Mass is the first in the Bath/Bristol area for at least 20 years. Then I started to wonder whether it was in fact the first ever. Unless you have a … Continue reading →

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