Good afternoon everyone, I hope you’re all well and had a lovely half term break. It was strange not seeing you on Wednesday, but nice to have an evening off in the sun!
Below is an update on the term in case you’ve missed anything, as well as my new schedule, some learning resources, and some exciting events coming up.
What we’ve done so far
It’s been a really good start to the term; 5 rehearsals down, 4 to go! We’ve really delved into the notes of each piece, ensuring as much confidence as possible with each piece and difficult section of the music. We’ve done a bit of work on the pronunciation, covering the basics, especially with the trickier bits of Italian, French, and German. Over the next 4 rehearsals we’ll build on both the note-learning and language coaching to ensure everyone’s as happy as possible for the concert. I’m also looking forward to putting some performance into the pieces, so the sound we make works brilliantly with the orchestra.
June Schedule
Here’s the schedule for the next 4 rehearsals. These are the final 4 rehearsals before our concert, so please make every effort to come to the rehearsals prepared. A reminder that the rehearsal on the 25th June will be in Deddington church, the concert venue, so we have a chance to get used to the space.
Learning Resources
There are plenty of learning resources available online, but as with my previous Conductor’s Notes for this term, the file below contains links I could find to help with learning the notes.
Susannah has very kindly found some other resources, which I urge you to check out below. She’s also put together a pronunciation guide which is absolutely excellent; we hope it helps!
Pronunciation guides on YouTube:
Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves
Brindisi
Anvil Chorus
Spotify Playlist
I realise I never shared my Spotify playlist for this concert with you all! Please check it out if you want to listen to the pieces, or you can find them all on YouTube.
Posters and Tickets
You’ll have all hopefully picked up posters at the last rehearsal – they’re available each week now, and I expect to see them plastered all over Chippy and the surrounding area! You can share the digital poster below.
Tickets are also available HERE. Please share the link far and wide, it’ll be great to have another sell-out performance like the Bach!
Other Events
Lots of exciting things coming up, so check them out below:
1. Our Summer Social – this is on Wednesday 2nd July, and we’ll be joined by Hazel Gould, our librettist for our commission. She’ll be chatting to us about her work with the commission and launching some things for us to be doing. As well as this, it’ll be a fun evening of socialising.
2. Come-and-Sing – We’ve got our Come-and-Sing choruses from Haydn’s Creation on Saturday 12th July. One for the diary, and the tickets are live now! Make sure you book your space soon, and share with everyone you know!
Come-and-Sing Tickets HERE.
3. Dartington Festival – The annual Dartington SingCircle Weekend, led by Edward Caswell & Peter Hunt, is on October 10th-12th. Peter has asked us to share this as it’s always popular with CNCS. I know quite a few people go each year, so if you’re interested and haven’t been before, there are plenty of people to talk to.
4. Dean and Chadlington Festival – A fantastic series of concerts, competitions, and events as part of the local music festival in Dean and Chadlington. Some of you may recognise Craig Ogden from the Chipping Norton Music Festival. Some exciting things there, so check it out below.
5. The Sherborne Summer School – Places are open to join the Sherborne Summer School this year. They got in touch with us and it looks like a great course to be on. If you’re interested, check it out HERE.
6. Chipping Campden come-and-sing – Chipping Campden Chorus are doing a come-and-sing of Vivaldi’s Gloria – a fantastic work! If you’re interested in going along on the 21st June, check it out HERE.
7. A Shameless plug... I want to end by sharing the Events Page of my website. Often people ask what other events I’ve got on, and this is the best way to keep in touch with what I’m doing. It’s a busy term and my first proper concert of the season is on Saturday. For more info, check out my website HERE.
See you all later this week, I really look forward to the rest of the term!
– Ben