By comparison to last week, we had a large and enthusiastic audience,and the choir responded accordingly.Andrew makes a big difference to the tenors, and the whole sound was very different to last week.”Memory” went well,as did “Agnus Dei”, and it is good to see “new” pieces being incorporated into the regular repertoire. Pieces like”Nirvana” and “Shall we gather”, seem to split opinions with our regular listeners, but I thought we performed them as well as we have ever done.

The big surprise of the evening came from the solo’s where Andrew, Steve, Mike and Jade excelled-special thanks and congratulations to Andrew and his mandolin playing, after only a few weeks-fantastic!!

Onward to the recruitment evening on Thursday.7.30pm., Idsall School. What we would give for a few new tenors and basses.!!

We are holding a “Sampler” evening at Idsall School in Shifnal, on Thursday, November 20th at 7.30pm. It should provide an opportunity for anyone who has wondered about what it is like to sing in a choir like ours, to have a go. We will be looking at a new piece together for the first time, so we will all be in it together!!

Please come along and be assured of a very warm welcome, and a drink and a chat afterwards.Just give it a try!What have you to lose??

We sang a wide range of songs,and had fantastic solos from Ron and Jade.Unfortunately the church was absolutely huge, and the audience was small. However, after recent events,it was good to be singing and performing together again. We focus now on Kemberton on November 15th, and Wombridge on December 13 th, along with a joint concert with St. Andrew’s School on Dec.6th, and carol-singing on14th Dec., at Blist’s Hill-all are welcome!!

Many thanks to the volunteers who are scaling the heights of the Wrekin over the next few weeks in order to raise money for Prostate Cancer.

After the recent concert inTettenhall, we were short of £150 to reach the total we had decided on seven people kindly donated £5 each to get things moving, and the remainder has to be reached by a sponsored walk up the Wrekin.
Ged, Steve ,Viv and Mike did it last Saturday in scorching heat, Ged and Pete Sidgwick, a lifelong friend and supporter of the choir, did it yesterday, in a rather humid gloom. However, Pete kindly donated £50, so the total stands now at £125. Well done to all concerned, and much encouragement to others who are completing the task in the next week or so.

Onwards!

Another spectacular concert at St John the Evangelist Church, Bishops Wood, Staffordshire last Saturday 28th June 2014. It was packed with entertainment and what is just as important, the audience was fantastic! The choir sang sixteen songs from their varied repertoire producing rousing and sensitive music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, interspersed with solos, some extremely rhythmical and foot tapping African, New Zealand music plus McCartney, Queen, Andrew Lloyd Webber and more. Four of the pieces they performed to the public for the first time. Anne Clark, the Musical Director accompanied Steve Taylor and Mike Ward who sang duets ‘Take a Message to Mary’ by the Everly Brothers and ‘Old Friends/Bookends’ by Simon and Garfunkel. This was Mike’s first public duet and we hope to hear more from the two of them in the future. Andrew Mann-Ray sang the poignant song of mourning. ‘Empty Chairs at Empty Tables’ from Les Miserables. The choir’s accompanist Jade Harris, gave a splendid performance of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, 3rd Movement (presto agitato) and had a standing ovation.

This concert was the last one for Fred Phillips who after thirty-eight years of service to the choir, is moving to Oswestry. Words of thanks were given to Fred and he said how wonderful it has been to belong and sing with them, adding that having a pint with the lads after practice was a great bonus!

The church gave a very warm reception to the choir and during the interval, produced an array of tasty food and a glass of wine. This certainly was a concert to remember!

On 12th June we performed alongside Haydock male Voice choir at St Michales Church in Madeley.

Glad to be able to say the choir is optimistic after some difficult times. We have had two of our best ever concerts, our annual concert in Madeley, shared with Haydock Male Voice Choir, and last week our concert at Bishop’s Wood. In both cases the choir was coming together to overcome missing personnel.

In both cases the reaction from the audiences was absolutely fantastic !!!!. We introduced new and difficult pieces which were enthusiastically received, and the feeling within the group is now of renewed confidence going forward. Well done to all concerned, and to Anne and Jade for their patience and perseverance.

Now we need new members, and, once they come through the door we need to KEEP them .

ONWARDS!

Ged Heyes, Chairman