Newsletter Sep06

APRIL 2007
CAROLINE FRIEND IN MEMORIAM, by Miriam Coe Wednesday evenings at the Adult College will never be the same from now on. For the past year since I retired from full time work, I have normally gone to the canteen for a cup of tea to revive myself after the journey into the depths of Essex. On most occasions I have been greeted by two cheerful ‘hellos’ – one from Bob, the tenor, and the other from Caroline. (Caroline always arrived early for choir, courtesy of ‘Dial-a-ride’.) From now on only Bob will be there to greet me. Sadly, Caroline passed away, at the young age of 39, just as we were preparing to have our final rehearsal of the Fauré Requiem on the day of the concert, 31 March. What makes this seem even more sad is that Caroline was more confident about singing in this concert than any other since she joined the choir some four years ago. She had recently joined the sopranos and was enjoying learning the melody lines with more ease than she had the alto lines; we were also singing her favourite anthem – Rutter’s For the Beauty of the Earth – which she knew very well and could join in confidently. Caroline did not have an easy life; not only was she visually impaired but had become physically impaired as the result of a suspected stroke a couple of years ago. In addition, she had just learnt that she might also have MS. She had to be dependent on her husband Paul, her friend Lucy, her mother and family as well as those around her. This she found frustrating at times. However, music was a very important part of her life. She had learnt to play the organ and had accompanied the congregation in her church in Maidenhead on one occasion as they sang ‘Abide with me’. She had a good voice and had sung in choirs from a young age, encouraged by her mother. I am so glad that she was able to gain pleasure from singing in the Adult College Choir, to be a member of a group where her disability was not always obvious in performance, where she could be part of a team as an equal member. She will be sadly missed. Our thoughts go out to her husband Paul, her mother and sister and her friend Lucy who accompanied her to rehearsals and our outings to Oxford and Folkestone. A few members were able to attend Caroline’s funeral in Maidenhead on 23 April and it is hoped that we will be able to give a concert in Caroline’s memory at her church, St. Luke’s, Maidenhead, later on this year.
DATES AND MUSIC Wed 18 April 19.15 – rehearsal Wed 25 April 19.15 – rehearsal Wed 2 May 19.15 – rehearsal Wed 9 May 19.15 – rehearsal Sat 12 May – Linda & Gary’s wedding Wed 16 May 19.15 – rehearsal Wed 23 May 19.15 – rehearsal with Pam Slatter Fri 25 May – possibly Adult College awards evening, details to follow Wed 30 May – HALF TERM Below is a list of the music you will be given as a pack this term. We have purchased this music from the funds awarded from the lottery (Awards for All). The programme for the summer term concert will be taken from this music, plus one or two of our old favourites such as Blue Moon and Over the Rainbow. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS MUSIC BELONGS TO THE CHOIR. If for any reason you are unable to continue to come to the rehearsals this term PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU RETURN THE MUSIC to the librarian, Heather Fixter. 1. Three Folk Songs (SATB), Arr. Jonathan Rathbone 2. Singin’ in the Rain (SATB), Arr. Ruth Elaine Schraum 3. Get Happy (SATB), Arr. Carl Strommen 4. Chattanooga Choo Choo (SATB), Arr. Mac Huff 5. Rhythm of Life (SAB), Arr. Richard Barnes 6. The Lion King (Choral Medley) (SATB), Arr. Mark Brymer 7. Choruses from Il Travatore, Nabucco, Aida, Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (SATB) 8. Gilbert & Sullivan Choruses Vol 1 (SATB), Edited Ronald Corps 9. Music of the World (SAB)
LINDA AND GARY'S WEDDING, Saturday 13 May at 3.30pm The wedding will take place at Dagenham Baptist Church, Chaplin Rd, Dagenham We have been invited to sing as a choir, so please support Gary and Linda on their special day. The choir knows all of the music we will be singing, apart from two of the hymns. We will rehearse the music during normal rehearsal time, so the only extra commitment timewise will be on the afternoon of the wedding. So far we have 9 sopranos, 5 altos, 1 tenor and 5 basses. Please sign on the list by the register if you wish to take part. There are two congregational hymns: Lord for the years and How great thou art We will also sing: v For the Beauty of the Earth v The Lord is my Shepherd (Vicar of Dibley) v One Hand, One Heart (from Westside Story) The final two songs will be sung during the signing of the register.
WAY FORWARD COMMITTEE EASIER PAYMENTS MAY COST MORE – Response from the College Heather has received a response from the College in reply to the letter we all signed at the end of January regarding paying College fees in smaller chunks (perhaps termly). The response says “we are aware of learners’ concerns regarding the increased fees that came into effect from September 06” and goes on to say “funding for the Adult College comes from the Learning and Skills Council via a national funding formula”. They confirm that fees for the College students will double from September 2004 to September 2010. The College go on to say “As you recognise instalment payments bring with them a number of implications for the College, for example staffing overheads… all of which will have an impact on College running costs which would still need to be met…” The letter finishes “Should a decision be made to change the current payment arrangements all learners will be notified accordingly.”
THOUGHTS FROM YOUR MUSICAL DIRECTOR I would just like to say how proud I was of you on 31 March. This was the hardest programme we have worked on in my four and a half years as your conductor and the blend of your voices was the best I have heard. Although there were problems with the intonation (tuning), at times you sang as one and were all consciously making every effort to stay in tune; your pronunciation of both the French and Latin came across very well. I know many of you were not happy about singing in foreign languages, but no one in the audience would have been aware of your lack of confidence. Thank you to Anne for our French lessons. I also admired your ability to follow me – coming in when you knew I had brought you in too early in the Fauré (sorry about that). I hope those of you who were anxious about singing in a foreign language feel more confident about it now. There is so much beautiful music in the choral repertoire that is written in Latin, in the main, that it would be a pity not to explore it. Besides, once you have sung one Latin Mass or Requiem, you have gained an understanding of the language so that the next time you sing a setting of either you will at least know the words and will only have to concentrate on the music. May I just say thank you to all of you who helped to make the concert such a success, particularly the committee and Jenny of St Erkenwald’s Church, and also the ‘friends’ of the choir Bob, Daphne, Richard and Alan. To those who had to miss it at the last moment, I hope you will be able to sing with us when we repeat the concert at St Luke’s Church in Maidenhead in Caroline’s memory. I was impressed last term by the numbers of you who did your homework between rehearsals either by making sure you knew the words or by listening to recordings of the music we were learning. It certainly helped to raise the level of your standard of performance. This term’s music is very different, easier to access in many ways as most of the programme is in English; however, please keep on practising your parts in between rehearsals – even if it is only familiarising yourself with the lyrics. It will make all the difference to the speed of learning in the rehearsals. Finally, we need new blood in the choir. We must constantly think about renewing ourselves, sharing our skills with others. If you have friends or acquaintances who may be even just slightly interested and you know they can sing, invite them to a ‘trial’ rehearsal where they can discover whether it is an interest they want to pursue or not, or, in the first instance, draw their attention to our website www.voicesinharmony.org.uk.

APRIL 2007

CAROLINE FRIEND IN MEMORIAM, by Miriam Coe

Wednesday evenings at the Adult College will never be the same from now on. For the past year since I retired from full time work, I have normally gone to the canteen for a cup of tea to revive myself after the journey into the depths of Essex. On most occasions I have been greeted by two cheerful ‘hellos’ – one from Bob, the tenor, and the other from Caroline.

(Caroline always arrived early for choir, courtesy of ‘Dial-a-ride’.)

From now on only Bob will be there to greet me. Sadly, Caroline passed away, at the young age of 39, just as we were preparing to have our final rehearsal of the Fauré Requiem on the day of the concert, 31 March. What makes this seem even more sad is that Caroline was more confident about singing in this concert than any other since she joined the choir some four years ago. She had recently joined the sopranos and was enjoying learning the melody lines with more ease than she had the alto lines; we were also singing her favourite anthem – Rutter’s For the Beauty of the Earth – which she knew very well and could join in confidently.

Caroline did not have an easy life; not only was she visually impaired but had become physically impaired as the result of a suspected stroke a couple of years ago. In addition, she had just learnt that she might also have MS. She had to be dependent on her husband Paul, her friend Lucy, her mother and family as well as those around her. This she found frustrating at times.

However, music was a very important part of her life. She had learnt to play the organ and had accompanied the congregation in her church in Maidenhead on one occasion as they sang ‘Abide with me’. She had a good voice and had sung in choirs from a young age, encouraged by her mother. I am so glad that she was able to gain pleasure from singing in the Adult College Choir, to be a member of a group where her disability was not always obvious in performance, where she could be part of a team as an equal member.

She will be sadly missed. Our thoughts go out to her husband Paul, her mother and sister and her friend Lucy who accompanied her to rehearsals and our outings to Oxford and Folkestone. A few members were able to attend Caroline’s funeral in Maidenhead on 23 April and it is hoped that we will be able to give a concert in Caroline’s memory at her church, St. Luke’s, Maidenhead, later on this year.

DATES AND MUSIC

Wed 18 April 19.15 – rehearsal

Wed 25 April 19.15 – rehearsal

Wed 2 May 19.15 – rehearsal

Wed 9 May 19.15 – rehearsal

Sat 12 May – Linda & Gary’s wedding

Wed 16 May 19.15 – rehearsal

Wed 23 May 19.15 – rehearsal with Pam Slatter

Fri 25 May – possibly Adult College awards evening, details to follow

Wed 30 May – HALF TERM

Below is a list of the music you will be given as a pack this term. We have purchased this music from the funds awarded from the lottery (Awards for All). The programme for the summer term concert will be taken from this music, plus one or two of our old favourites such as Blue Moon and Over the Rainbow. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS MUSIC BELONGS TO THE CHOIR. If for any reason you are unable to continue to come to the rehearsals this term PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU RETURN THE MUSIC to the librarian, Heather Fixter.

1. Three Folk Songs (SATB), Arr. Jonathan Rathbone

2. Singin’ in the Rain (SATB), Arr. Ruth Elaine Schraum

3. Get Happy (SATB), Arr. Carl Strommen

4. Chattanooga Choo Choo (SATB), Arr. Mac Huff

5. Rhythm of Life (SAB), Arr. Richard Barnes

6. The Lion King (Choral Medley) (SATB), Arr. Mark Brymer

7. Choruses from Il Travatore, Nabucco, Aida,

Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (SATB)

8. Gilbert & Sullivan Choruses Vol 1 (SATB), Edited Ronald Corps

9. Music of the World (SAB)

LINDA AND GARY'S WEDDING, Saturday 13 May at 3.30pm

The wedding will take place at Dagenham Baptist Church, Chaplin Rd, Dagenham

We have been invited to sing as a choir, so please support Gary and Linda on their special day. The choir knows all of the music we will be singing, apart from two of the hymns. We will rehearse the music during normal rehearsal time, so the only extra commitment timewise will be on the afternoon of the wedding. So far we have 9 sopranos, 5 altos, 1 tenor and 5 basses. Please sign on the list by the register if you wish to take part.

There are two congregational hymns: Lord for the years and How great thou art

We will also sing:

v For the Beauty of the Earth

v The Lord is my Shepherd (Vicar of Dibley)

v One Hand, One Heart (from Westside Story)

The final two songs will be sung during the signing of the register.

WAY FORWARD COMMITTEE

EASIER PAYMENTS MAY COST MORE – Response from the College

Heather has received a response from the College in reply to the letter we all signed at the end of January regarding paying College fees in smaller chunks (perhaps termly).

The response says “we are aware of learners’ concerns regarding the increased fees that came into effect from September 06” and goes on to say “funding for the Adult College comes from the Learning and Skills Council via a national funding formula”. They confirm that fees for the College students will double from September 2004 to September 2010.

The College go on to say “As you recognise instalment payments bring with them a number of implications for the College, for example staffing overheads… all of which will have an impact on College running costs which would still need to be met…”

The letter finishes “Should a decision be made to change the current payment arrangements all learners will be notified accordingly.”

THOUGHTS FROM YOUR MUSICAL DIRECTOR

I would just like to say how proud I was of you on 31 March. This was the hardest programme we have worked on in my four and a half years as your conductor and the blend of your voices was the best I have heard. Although there were problems with the intonation (tuning), at times you sang as one and were all consciously making every effort to stay in tune; your pronunciation of both the French and Latin came across very well. I know many of you were not happy about singing in foreign languages, but no one in the audience would have been aware of your lack of confidence. Thank you to Anne for our French lessons. I also admired your ability to follow me – coming in when you knew I had brought you in too early in the Fauré (sorry about that).

I hope those of you who were anxious about singing in a foreign language feel more confident about it now. There is so much beautiful music in the choral repertoire that is written in Latin, in the main, that it would be a pity not to explore it. Besides, once you have sung one Latin Mass or Requiem, you have gained an understanding of the language so that the next time you sing a setting of either you will at least know the words and will only have to concentrate on the music.

May I just say thank you to all of you who helped to make the concert such a success, particularly the committee and Jenny of St Erkenwald’s Church, and also the ‘friends’ of the choir Bob, Daphne, Richard and Alan. To those who had to miss it at the last moment, I hope you will be able to sing with us when we repeat the concert at St Luke’s Church in Maidenhead in Caroline’s memory.

I was impressed last term by the numbers of you who did your homework between rehearsals either by making sure you knew the words or by listening to recordings of the music we were learning. It certainly helped to raise the level of your standard of performance. This term’s music is very different, easier to access in many ways as most of the programme is in English; however, please keep on practising your parts in between rehearsals – even if it is only familiarising yourself with the lyrics. It will make all the difference to the speed of learning in the rehearsals.

Finally, we need new blood in the choir. We must constantly think about renewing ourselves, sharing our skills with others. If you have friends or acquaintances who may be even just slightly interested and you know they can sing, invite them to a ‘trial’ rehearsal where they can discover whether it is an interest they want to pursue or not, or, in the first instance, draw their attention to our website www.voicesinharmony.org.uk.