London Forest Choir newsletter January 2012
March concert
Our next concert is on Saturday 17 March at 7.30 pm in St Michael and All Angels' Church, Northcote Road (corner of Palmerston Road), Walthamstow, E17 6PQ. There will be a rehearsal in the church on the evening of Thursday 15 March, and a rehearsal on the afternoon of the concert from 2.30 to 5.30. Once again, we will need people to help with putting up staging, moving chairs, etc., from 1.00 pm onwards.
Quiz Night
Before then, we have our quiz night, which is on Saturday 18 February at 7.30 pm in the church hall at St Michael and All Angels. Tickets are £8, which includes a fish and chip supper; bring your own drinks. Bring your friends and take a table (maximum eight people), or come in ones and twos and join up with others on the night. Tickets can be purchased from Barbara Humm on Monday evenings, or e-mail Ann Hunter at annhunter58@hotmail.com.
Choir walk
We have two events planned for March in addition to the concert. On Saturday 10 March, David Pomfret will be leading a choir walk in Epping Forest. Meet up outside Chingford Station at 10.30 am for a walk arriving at the Owl pub in time for lunch, and back again afterwards.
Henry Maynard School
On Thursday 22 March, we've been invited by Henry Maynard Infants' School (who sang with us at the Winter Wonderland in Coronation Gardens before Christmas) to perform in an "International Evening" at the school. We await further details, but the performance is likely to be in the early evening. On the same evening, the Fitzwilliam String Quartet will be performing as part of the "Music in the Village" series at St Mary's, Walthamstow, and it could be fun to go on to that after our performance, with a stop for refreshments en route. It's the week after our concert, so we'll be able to run through on the previous Monday evening whatever we decide to sing at the school. That will also mark the start of rehearsals for our Brahms Requiem concert with the Forest Philharmonic (conducted by Jonathan) on Sunday 27 May at Walthamstow Assembly Hall.
Choir tour
37 of us - choir members, their friends, choir associates, and of course Jonathan and Leo - are off to Malta, for the 2012 Choir Tour (6 - 10 June). As well as one shared concert with the Maltese St Paul's choir, who sang in Chingford with us last September, we will be performing a concert in the beautiful parish church of Siggiewi, and touring some of Malta's palaces, temples, scenery - and hopefully fitting in a quick swim or two, and lots of relaxation and chat. It's not too late to join us, if you're willing to make your own travel arrangements - for details, contact Ruth (ruth.kaufman@btinternet.com)
Other offers, events and news
David Brain piano recital
Chopin First Scherzo in B minor, Op.20
Second Scherzo in B flat minor, Op.31
Third Scherzo in C sharp minor, Op.39
Fourth Scherzo in E major, Op.54
Schubert Sonata in C major, D.840 (completed by Brian Newbould)
Dat: 26th May 2012
Venue: John Savage Centre, Fencepiece Road, Hainault, Ilford, Essex 1G6 2NB
Nearest tube: Hainault (15 minute walk) Parking is available in adjacent school car park
Tickets cost £10 (£7 concessions) and will be available on the door
Free interval refreshments
Forest Philharmonic concert, Sunday 19 February, Walthamstow Assembly Hall
STRAUSS Der Rosenkavalier Suite
MOZART Sinfonia Concertante for violin &viola, K364
ARNOLD Symphony No.5
Mark Shanahan conductor
Liz Partridge violin
Natalie Taylor viola
Mark Shanahan's 20th season as Artistic Director continues with a concert that is classic Forest Phil. Richard Strauss Der Rosenkavalier provides a virtuoso start to the evening, before strings principals Liz Partridge violin and Natalie Taylor viola take to the stage as soloists for Mozart's popular Sinfonia Concertante. Malcolm Arnold's Symphony No.5 is a welcome addition to this year's Best of British theme and for the uninitiated it's a symphony well worth hearing. Arnold's work has been compared to both Mahler - the beautiful slow movement is his most significant nod to Mahler's symphonic work; and Dickens - both of them great entertainers but both well aware of the human predicament, unsettlingly revealed in Arnold's remarkable series of symphonies. Not to be missed!
Concert tickets are now available online at www.WeGotTickets.com (search for 'Forest Philharmonic'). Visit www.forestphilharmonic.org.uk for more information.
Run By Singers break
Run By Singers' programme of singing weeks and weekends for 2012 is now bookable online at www.runbysingers.org. Highlights for this year include Mozart's Requiem in Vienna, a week in Florence and a long weekend in Rome. Run By Singers is a small concern run by a bass and an alto from Saffron Walden but has already been listed as a top 100 holiday provider by the Sunday Times. For more information, see www.runbysingers.org/aboutus.htm
Chamber Choir Week at La Maison Verte, Languedoc (LFC tour destination in 2010)
We’d like to invite you to participate in a week’s singing at La Maison Verte in Southern France from 25 August to 1 September 2012. This is a week for people who want to sing... a lot! The repertoire will be taken from 600 years of great choral music, from the early Renaissance to the present day, and will be tutored by Joel Thomas and Francis Steele (owner of La Maison Verte and formerly the bass sound of The Tallis Scholars and The Sixteen).
The week is designed for people already singing in choirs to get together for a fantastic holiday with others who have the same interest. Although the week is primarily about singing, we place emphasis on the holiday element of things; good food, good wine, getting out and about, and above all, having fun.
You couldn’t work with more sympathetic and talented tutors than Joel and Francis, who are both skilled at encouraging people to achieve more as singers than they ever thought they could.
Don’t just take our word for it; this is what some of the participants in the 2011 course said:
“This is a beautiful place, and has been a great experience. Thank you for your inspiration and help.”
“Great music, great musicians, great patience, great organisation, GREAT WEEK”.
If you would like more information, contact Emily (emslondon@gmail.com) who can forward you the email.
Loughton Festival
The Loughton Festival programme, which takes place this March and April, includes two months of events, including history events, two art exhibitions, concerts and other fundraising events for Haven House Children's Hospice. The full programme is now up on the website:www.loughtonfestival.org
Choral Favourites concert – special offer
On Wednesday 14 March the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing a powerful selection of choral favourites at the Royal Albert Hall in collaboration with the Royal Choral Society, Goldsmiths Choral Union and the Brighton Festival Chorus. Choir members are offered a £10 discount on top priced tickets (ranging from £20 - £40). They can experience the full-blown sound of three choirs combined with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for only £10. If you are interested please contact Marelize de Beurs at mintern@rpo.co.uk.
RCO Haydn singing day
Saturday 18 February 2012 sees us at the fine church of St Paul’s Knightsbridge, London SW1 for a day devoted to rehearsing and performing Haydn’s impressive Nelson Mass. Those of you who attended our ‘Sing Mozart!’ day at St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol earlier this year will be pleased to know that Adrian Lucas will once again be conducting. His enthusiasm, energy and musical insight, earned him many admirers. Those of you who attended ‘Sing Messiah!’ at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in 2010 will enjoy hearing Ed Grint again as our baritone soloist for the Haydn.
Copies of the booking form can be downloaded from www.rco.org.uk/download.php (once there scroll down to the RCO Academy section). Hard copies are available on request.
Deadline for next newsletter
Please send all items for the next edition of the newsletter to Emily Morrell (emslondon@gmail.com) by Friday 24 February. Newsletters will hopefully be more regular in 2012.
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