Members’ area

starwars Is ON !

Notes for Sheffield concert Wed 10 March:
Our rehearsal call is 4.45pm at the Arena. A meal is provided between the sound check and the performance.

If you are taking part in any of the concerts (listed below) you can:

Concerts we are definitely taking part in are:

Sheffield Wed 10 March - CONFIRMED
Manchester Mon 15 March - CONFIRMED
Birmingham Fri 2 April - CONFIRMED
Newcastle Tue 6 April - CONFIRMED

We do have sufficient numbers for these events, however, there is still room for anyone who finds that they can do some or all of the events to join in. More details on travel arrangements at the next rehearsal.

There will be an additional rehearsal, likely to be on Thursday 18 March (venue tbc).

Here's the original notice from Janet about the Star Wars concerts: (Word version / PDF version) if you are interested in taking part in the Star Wars event at Sheffield and other venues.

The Choral Cure

We know that singing makes us feel great but now research being carried out is discovering how singing can actually improve your health. The benefits of singing for health are being rediscovered by health practitioners and patients, such as those attending "Singing for Breathing" sessions at the Royal Brompton Hospital.

Additional rehearsals after the Brahms concert

Rehearsal will continue after the 8th May concert and will take place on
Tuesdays 11th, 18th and 25th May, 7 to 9 p.m.

The Committee has decided to extend the season to continue throughout the rest of May, to do some "repertoire development". This will entail rehearsing music to be used for the visit to Bochum, the concert in aid of Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind on 26th June, and for an event being planned for next season to celebrate the Chorus's 75th anniversary. It will be music of a rather different nature from our usual diet, including some madrigals and anthems, which we will probably also add to the body of music we use for our smaller concerts. Please plan to attend these rehearsals if you can as we are treating them as part of the season even though not everyone is involved in the smaller concerts or Bochum. After all, it's a bit of an early end to the season if we break up for the summer at the beginning of May!

New rehearsal schedule for the rest of the season

This link takes you to the schedule on Darius’s site:
http://www.dariusbattiwalla.com/currentschedule2010.htm.
or print a version: Word / PDF (but check Darius's site for any late changes)

Notes on Brahms' German Requiem

This page on the Halifax Choral Society's website provides some interesting background to the piece and some discussion on the music itself, including a translation of the text.
www.halifaxchoralsociety.co.uk/brahmsreq.html.

Concert dates 2010/11 season

Thur 4 Nov '10: Elgar Dream of Gerontius - Hallé
Sun 12 Dec '10: Carol Concert - City Hall - Grimethorpe Colliery Band
Fri 25 Feb '11: Mozart Requiem - Nicholas Kraemer
Sat 21 May'11: Verdi Requiem - Leeds Town Hall - Leeds Phil
Fri 3 Jun '11: Walton's Henry V - Rory MacDonald and Sam West

Voice Coaching with Maggie

Anyone wishing to take advantage of free one to one voice coaching with Maggie should see John Spence, who will draw up a timetable of 15 minute sessions.

The dates of her visits are as follows (**new dates added**):
**2nd March
16th March
20th April

Thanks for the Tickhill Concert

The chorus has received a letter received from the Camphill Village Trust Ltd in acknowledgement of the donation sent to them in Tony Pickles' name representing the balance of the proceeds from the Tickhill Concert.
View letter | View Camphill brochure

Chorus hotline

This is a reminder of the Chorus hotline number, which is used primarily to advise members of any rehearsal cancellations due to bad weather. The Chorus Hotline telephone number is 07816 041164.

Spending your Christmas money at Amazon?

Don't forget to use the search box above (they sell scores as well as CDs, books, DVDs and toys) from Amazon, and let the Phil’s coffers benefit!

2009—10 brochure

Now available in two formats: booklet format (page order 4,1,2,3: for double-sided 2-up printing) and A4 format (note that the images come out less well in this larger format).

Concerts 2009—10 (revised October 2009)

Versions for printing: Word or PDF.

Other concerts 2009—10

Versions for printing: Word or PDF.

Bochum, June 2010

In recent seasons, we have enjoyed a fruitful partnership with the Philharmonischer Chor of our twin city, Bochum, in Germany. We are registered to join with them in a grand international celebration of song on Saturday June 5th 2010. The whole of the Ruhrgebiet (which includes Bochum) is designated as European Capital of Culture 2010 and this musical extravaganza is part of the celebrations for this. Choirs from many twin cities have already accepted the invitation to take part. By Easter 2009 21,000 singers from 21 European countries had been enrolled. By now there will be more. The aim is to have 65,000 singers taking part in the grand finale at the football stadium in Gelsenkirchen. For more details, download Janet Hoyle’s information sheet. Earlier that day Philharmonic Chorus members from Sheffield and Bochum will join together to perform in other musical events in unusual places including at a former coalmine and on a canal boat. The whole idea is to “swamp” the whole area, including the most unlikely places, in music that day. Website for the event.

Voice tips

The folk singer and speech and language therapist Shan Graebe runs courses on use of the voice and on how to look after it. She has included a number of handouts from these workshops on her webpage and these may well be of interest to members.

Ladies: concert dress

Versions for printing: Word or PDF.

Prom photos

Some photos have already been linked to; I now have quite a few others. More Prom photos. Thanks to those who have contributed!

Chorus hotline

The Chorus Hotline has been reactivated: telephone 07816 041164 for the latest news.