Happy first night of the Proms, everyone! I hope you’re all well and aren’t too drenched in this horrible weather. A few bits to wrap up from this term, and a few important bits going forwards, so thank you for reading though each section.
Shauni Sing Day
Well, what a day that was! A huge thank you to everyone involved, it was an absolutely incredible day, and I think we can all agree with Peter’s sentiments that it’s not about the destination but the journey... however, what a phenomenal destination it was! I’m so pleased with CNCS’s contribution to the day, and thank you all for your energies and efforts throughout the day. I also want to say how enjoyable the rehearsals in the weeks preceding were. CNCS, as expected, offered a warm welcome to those non-members who joined us for the rehearsals, and I think we may have even persuaded a few people to join us in September.
An enormous congratulations to everyone who contributed to running and planning the day. The logistics were not easy, but because of the work and dedication of everyone behind the scenes, especially Susannah and Sarah, the day ran completely seamlessly! And wow, what a pleasure to work with Peter again. It was such a pleasure to be a small cog in a big machine to celebrate Shauni, and it’ll certainly be a day I don’t forget anytime soon. Well done all!!
Social
We had such a lovely evening on Wednesday eating, drinking, and most importantly chatting with brilliant people! It was so good to see so many people filling the Town Hall not with music but with laughter and great conversation. Thank you to all who brought food and drink, and to everyone who set up/packed down/wash up chairs, tables, plates, cutlery, glasses, etc. – it was such a great evening. This is what CNCS is all about, and I feel very lucky to be involved with it!
The New term
An important update on next term:
We’ll be starting rehearsals on Wednesday 6th September, and we’ll go through to the concert week with no half term. The concert is Saturday 18th November at St Mary’s Church, Banbury, and there’ll be a dress rehearsal on the evening of Friday 17th.
We would like to do a Saturday rehearsal with a come-and-share lunch this term too. We can confirm now that we’ve been able to book it in for Saturday 30th September, so please put this in your diaries!
And just to remind you of the lovely repertoire:
Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms
Barber’s Adagio for Strings (played by the orchestra)
Jenkins’s Armed Man: A Mass For Peace
All details for the project are below.
Section Reps Meeting
We had an excellent meeting with our new Section Reps on Wednesday before the social, covering a lot of exciting stuff! This is a reminder that they are always open to hear your feedback and comments, so do get in touch with them.
They’ll also be sending an email round over the Summer with some important things in, so keep an eye out for that.
Commission Comments
As I mentioned at the social event, we want you to be a part of the commission. I’ll be sharing with you all the details once they’re ready, but we want to get going with collecting ideas for the libretto text that we’ll set to music!
We’ve already had a few people contact us or write down their thoughts, but we want you all to email me or Eric with:
– Any Local poems that you find interesting/exciting/mean something to you and are about our lovely part of the world.
– Your thoughts on what the choir, singing, music, and the Chipping Norton and District area means to you.
Ukraine Concert
I’ve been asked to share this concert by the Kyiv Classical Duo. Looks like it’ll be a great concert for an excellent cause, so do go along and support!
Wedding
I just wanted to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all the love and support you’ve all shown me and Bec as we prepare for our wedding. It’s going to be such a brilliant day, and thanks to all of your generosity our honeymoon will be unforgettable! We promise to show you all the photos and tell you all about it when we’re back in Chippy! Next time we see most of you we’ll be a married couple!
This Week’s listening
A very important bit of listening this week – the BBC Proms has just kicked off with a bang! Featuring Sibelius’s monumental Finlandia, Grieg’s infamous Piano Concerto, and Britten’s joyous Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra, it’s a must-watch! Oh, and it’s got the BBC Singers in it – can you believe that the BBC almost cut them?! You can catch up with it on BBC iPlayer, and I’ll be sharing some more with you over the next couple of months. Do go and support live music!
Have a lovely summer and see you all soon.
– Ben