Dear WMC singers

Firstly, thank you all so much for your lovely comments and compliments about my new CD ‘A Country Suite’. Many of you seem quite taken with the folk song ‘Tymhorau’ which is a real surprise – but a very lovely one!

I want to ask you all a big favour. I know how busy you are but do you think you could find the time to contact Classic FM for me? Tuesday is Valentine’s Day and Track 4 ‘A lad and a lass’ would be the perfect request for this special day. You can make requests by e-mailing them through their website by typing in www.classicfm.com then scrolling down to the bottom of the page (or go straight to it by clicking here). You will see Music and Playlists FAQs (Frequently asked questions) so click on this link and you’ll see several ways of requesting a track. You can e-mail through their requests page, you can text them on 61812 or you call call them on 0845 7 49 1812. The main requests programme is Jamie Crick’s show in the afternoons but if you’re going to do this for me, I would appreciate it if you could e-mail as I think seeing my name a few times might help promote the CD. The best wording would be ‘A lad and a lass’ from ‘A Country Suite’ by Fiona Bennett.

I really don’t know whether this is going to work but I have put such a lot of effort/time/money into this project, I have to try every possible way to get it played. I won’t see you on 24 February as I am celebrating my 50th birthday the following day and will be away for the weekend but I do hope you can help.

Thank you all in advance!

Fiona x

FAB Music Publishing
www.fionabennettmusic.co.uk

There are lots of new concerts or talks in the Events Diary: Nick’s Monteverdi Vespers, Jamal’s Tallis Lamentations, concerts by both Romsey and Basingstoke Choral Societies, An Evening with Dame Harriet Walter and a WEA study day on British Light Music.

If you are interested in taking part in, or finding out more about, Henrietta’s oratorio ‘Spirit’, then click here.

This is an exciting prospect for the choir, but it is an expensive concert to put on, so we’re asking you for any possible sponsorship contacts or other fund-raising ideas you might have. Please report them to your representative: Alison Wood (sop2) for the ladies, Ian Taylor (bass) for the gents. (If you’re not sure who they are click here for their mug-shots and indeed those of the rest of the comittee.)
In addition Sue Webb announced a Sponsor-A-Note scheme – details of this will follow.

Nick would like us to have some additional rehearsals in the summer term to prepare for what is a challenging work. These will be on two Fridays: 29th June and 6th July.

We will be using the Boosey and Hawkes score. These will be available to hire. If you would like to buy your own copy please note that there are two (possibly confusing) options: the vocal score and the choral score. We are using the vocal score which has the entire work including accompaniment and solos; the choral score only shows what the choir actually sings so the page numbers will be different throughout.
The vocal score is expensive, ranging from £34.49 at Amazon down to £30.50 at Choraline. I haven’t made an exhaustive search, so if you find a cheaper source do let me know, but taking into account post and packing, Music Exchange seems the cheapest option at £30.99 including p&p.

Finally, if you’d like to attend a performance of the War Requiem, there is one by Lorin Maazel and the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday 25th March. Click here for details and tickets, but hurry as tickets are close to selling out. Thanks to first sop Jenny Jenkins, who’s singing in the concert, for this info.

For help to save your own copy of the poster, click on more

There are various ways to save the poster; here’s one, described for each of the three most common browsers:

Firefox: Click on the link to display the poster, click on ‘File’ (top left), click ‘Save Page as’, accept or change the file name shown, click ‘Save’.

Internet Explorer: Click on the link to display the poster, click on the cog Tools icon (top right), click on ‘File’, click on ‘Save as’, accept or change the file name shown, click ‘Save’.

Chrome: Click on the link to display the poster, click on the spanner Tools icon (top right), click on ‘Save Page as’, accept or change the file name shown, click ‘Save’.

If Windows shows you a list of downloaded files (your poster will be at the top) you can safely just close that window by clicking on the red box in the top right.

Neil is an experienced conductor, having recently been appointed Head of Choral Conducting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and is also Musical Director of both the Cardiff Polyphonic Choir and Wimbledon Choral Society. For a full biography see his website.

For those of you who might have missed the original announcement, ‘Spirit’ is a 90 minute work for choir and orchestra written by one of our altos, Henrietta Wentworth Stanley. She is giving members of WMC the exciting opportunity to participate in its premiere.

Rehearsals will be on Tuesdays in September and October .
There will be an initial workshop day on Saturday July 14th. You are welcome to come along and try out the work without obligation, only signing up for the rehearsals and performance if you like it.
The workshop, rehearsals and concert will all take place in central Andover.

Click here for full details.

Please could you help her by sending the name of your parish magazine and the contact details of the editor or producer – either email or phone number. Thank you.

Email your replies to elaine.biddle@btinternet.com . (I’ve already done Community News for Badger Farm and Olly B)

Please note that Choraline is now out of stock of Beatus Vir for the next 6 weeks. We’ve suggested another source, but if you’ve ordered one from Choraline recently but not yet received it, it might be worth chasing them up. Thanks to David Rees for the info.

I wish to draw to your attention that Bob Chilcott, one of the country’s leading composers and choral conductors, with a reputation only slightly less than that of John Rutter, will be giving a Day Long Choral Workshop (Come and Sing) at the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Twyford on Saturday 11 February 2012 from 10am to 4pm.

Tickets to attend the entire day will be £12, which includes lunch and all music.

The day will consist of choral singing, singing exercises and learning music composed by Bob Chilcott and led and taught by him. At the end of the day will be a brief performance for family and friends to conclude the workshop. Those of you who know Bob Chilcott’s music will know that it is fun to sing and listen to, is accessible for even the most inexperienced singer or listener and is readily engaging with beautiful sounds and melodies alongside a sense of fun.
More information on Bob Chilcott can be found here: http://www.bobchilcott.com/

The day is open to all comers. It is a “Come and Sing” day so no prior knowledge of the music is required for the day and anybody, irrespective of their singing ability or experience is welcome to come. All music will be provided on the day and is included in the costs.
Children are particularly welcome – many of the activities are particularly suited to children and the day has been specially design to appeal to children.

Booking
If you wish to come, please let me know by Monday 6th February, either by
email – pcm.harvey@gmail.com
telephone – 01962 843090 (there is an answerphone to leave messages on if I am not in)
post – Mr Colin Harvey, 20 Braxton House, Winnall Manor Road, Winchester, SO23 0LX
with the names of the people coming. Payment can be made by cash or cheque on the day, payable to the RSCM Winchester Area.

Since Nick wants us to really interpret the words of Beatus Vir, anyone using a score without an English version might be interested in seeing the translation kindly provided by Jan Lloyd.

Romsey Choral Society are holding a workshop in Southampton on January 21st, just under two weeks, see more about it in the Events Diary.