Soprano Helena (and others from NCS) ventured out on a soggy Sunday for an uplifting afternoon… Rufus the swan is well-known to social media followers of Sir John Rutter. An affectionate ‘Ah’ came from hundreds of singers when John pulled a cuddly Rufus out of a bag! John has run workshops in the city forContinue reading “Sir John Rutter comes to Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall”
Tag Archives: Nottingham Chamber Singers
The health benefits of singing in a choir
Soprano Rachel Bacon explores how belonging to a community that sings together can be transformative… If you sing in any sort of a choir, you know it’s a big commitment and comes with expectations: travel time for weekly rehearsals, learning the music, drumming up an audience for concerts, performing in concerts, and many other activities.Continue reading “The health benefits of singing in a choir”
Inside out or outside in?
Bass Jonathan Lupton reflects on being in the audience rather than the choir for one of our performances. Do you ever wonder what you sound like? We all hear our own voices as we sing or speak, but not in the same way that other people hear us (mainly because the sound gets to ourContinue reading “Inside out or outside in?”
Cecilia McDowall’s Piano Music
We sang Cecilia McDowall’s sparkling Music of the Stars in last November’s concert. In this postcard, bass John, who is also a pianist, explores some of the composer’s piano works. Though McDowall has written many pieces for choir, I first encountered her music through her Four Piano Solos (1999). These are a marvellously varied collectionContinue reading “Cecilia McDowall’s Piano Music”
Carols we love
Our NCS ‘choiradmin’ asked members to name their favourite congregational / audience Christmas carol. A lively discussion ensued. Two postcards were planned from the contributions but as there won’t be an #MfEMondays on 22 December we’ve gone for something resembling a concertina of postcards. THE MUSIC Demi: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (minor key carolsContinue reading “Carols we love”
The most beautiful sound
If you were at Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall on Monday 1 December for Tenebrae’s concert, you might have bumped into many present and past members of Nottingham Chamber Singers. The evening’s performance inspired soprano Annie to pen this week’s Postcard from the Choir. It can be very intimidating joining a new choir where everyone seemsContinue reading “The most beautiful sound”
Sharing the love of music making
Jules, one of the altos of the Nottingham Chamber Singers, writes this week’s postcard: When I tell my two-year-old daughter that I’m heading out for rehearsal, she always says, ‘Mummy, you going singing with your friends?’ And she’s absolutely right. After more than ten years with this choir, these voices have become more than just fellow singers – they’reContinue reading “Sharing the love of music making”
Charles Hubert Hastings Parry
John pens a second postcard from time spent in Gloucestershire… Parry’s big three pieces are ‘Jerusalem’, I was glad (sung at many royal occasions) and ‘Repton’ – the hymn tune used for ‘Dear Lord and Father’ of mankind’. In our next concert we are singing Parry’s Songs of Farewell, a collection of songs generally quieter in nature andContinue reading “Charles Hubert Hastings Parry”
National Musicians’ Church
Nottingham Chamber Singers’ soprano Helena goes to London: I’d never known such a place existed! The name of this London church appears in many forms, but I’ll stick with the one used on its website, Holy Sepulchre Church. Located diagonally opposite the Old Bailey and near St Paul’s Cathedral, its north and south side chapelsContinue reading “National Musicians’ Church”
Connections
John Hobbs, bass and sometimes pianist of the choir, explores the connections between a composition and two composers living and working in Gloucester. 1910 – what a year to be alive! A time when Elgar, Richard Strauss, Vaughan Williams, Sibelius, Debussy, Ravel, Mahler, Bartok, Poulenc, Stravinsky, Copland, Schoenberg and many other famous composers were addingContinue reading “Connections”