Concert with the Hathern band - an audience member's review

Well it says it all about the way my life is these days, that this is my first blog post of 2014 and it is April 6th. Shocking!

 

As some readers will be aware, I have had to take a break from the Loughborough Male Voice Choir for several reasons. Firstly, there's the demands of  my Open University study which started in October 2013. It was becoming increasingly evident that fitting study into work lunchtimes was going to be woefully inadequate. Add into the mix a couple of family crises that have turned our world upside down and it was becoming clear that something had to give. So a 'timeout' has been called  and it's merely au revoir LMVC for just a few months.

 

As sad as this move is, it at least  gives me the opportunity to attend a concert as a member of the audience for the first time since that night in 2011 in Kegworth when I got my arm twisted by Chris Hill to come along and give singing a go. I did toy with the idea of just turning up in Hathern and singing, but with several new numbers to be sung with the band, that was always a non-starter. Anyway, I was quite looking forward to just listening for a change.

 

The thing I have found about singing in a choir is that one cannot fully appreciate what the overall sound of the choir is actually like. I hear my fellow second tenors and the first tenors a bit too, but how we fit in with the basses and baritones is always a bit lost on me. So this promised to be and indeed did prove to be very, very interesting.

 

So, All in the April Evening was the title for this concert with the excellent Hathern Band, at St Peter & St Paul's Church, Hathern. Ruth and I decided to go just in time as only 7 tickets remained on Friday and was a sell-out on the night. We got there early to find quite a lot of folks already in their seats. The Hathern Band kicked off proceedings, led by the enthusiastic and witty David Newman. A Broadway medley followed by Lord of the Dance and the Bond movie theme Skyfall were all very impressive. I just love the sound of brass - fabulous!

 

Then it was the turn of the chaps. Blimey, it was weird sitting in my seat and watching them assemble at the front virtually on top of the front row of the audience. Their first four pieces, Speed Your Journey; He Ain't Heavy; Panis Angelicus and Gwahoddiad were very good. Panis particularly was a vast improvement on the last time I attempted to sing it with the choir that's for sure. During Gwahoddiad, I just couldn't help but join in and neither could Don Clarke sitting behind me. It is definitely my favourite LMVC piece if only for it's 'Amen' climax. Breathtaking to sing and, I'm happy to report, listen to. Well done guys - bloody marvellous!

 

To round off the first half the band and choir joined together for the concert title song, All in the April Evening followed by a new one to me, Comrades in Arms. For these we had the impressive spectacle of tandem conducting - Mr Hill conducting the choir with David Newman watching him and simultaneously conducting the band. What could have been something of a car crash actually worked very well and with the choir standing in front of the band, this prevented the lads from being drowned out by music.

 

So, half time refreshments and a chance to chat with some of the guys who were keen to know why the hell I was sitting in the audience rather than singing with them.

 

Hathern Band started part two with Doh-re-mi from the Sound of Music, followed by two pieces, Frolic for Trombones, described as a trombone trio for 4 (wonder where they stole that idea from eh Lyndon?) and Something Stupid with two cornets. Their second set was rounded off with a medley of tunes from the film Oh What a Lovely War. All fabulous stuff - loved it!

Next we had some West Side Story from the Male Voice Choir with Lyndon Gardner singing Maria followed by the choir with Tonight. Then the choir sang The Way We Were and rounded things off with good ol' Amarillo. Ruth reckoned that The Way We Were was the best she had ever heard it. As for Amarillo, well....

Okay, at the risk of offending our dear MD, I need to say this. This particular performance of this much maligned piece said to me at least, that Amarillo has had its day. The choir looked fed up of it and it showed as it nearly ground to a halt at a couple of points. The clapping lacked any real enthusiasm and it kinda fell apart a bit. The chaps just looked fed up of it to me, so maybe it is time to look elsewhere for comic relief? Time perhaps to find another light hearted, audience participation piece? Over to you Mr Hill. I'm sure you've got spmething up your sleeve!

On a more positive note was the appearance of the choir, who have certainly moved on from the 'Grumpy Old Men' personna of days gone by. This  has been helped in no small part by the likes of Derrick Jackson whose bright expressive singing was a joy to behold. I can certainly learn a thing or two about using expression when singing as Caroline will I'm sure agree. And the lack of copies is a massive step forward and looks so much better.

All that was left was for the choir and band to join again for the grand finale, Jerusalem which got me, Don and much of the audience joining in. Indeed shouts of 'more' meant a hasty re-run of the song. Chris Hill commented in an email to all the choir on Sunday morning that he can't remember the last time an audience has demanded an encore from us. Apparently, Hathern Band are keen to repeat this gig next year. So that's all good!

Well there you have it. A fascinating evening for me to see and hear my beloved choir from the audience. There might be another concert or two that I miss out on before I leap back aboard the 'Good Ship LMVC'. That said, 'Songs in the Park' in May might see an appearance....

Cheers for now,
Alyn.
 

Caroline Sharpe Pupil Concert - 2013

Oh my word. Where do I start this time? There's so much to talk about since my last post I couldn't possibly cover it all now. There's the LMVC trip to Merthyr Tydfil, which Ruth was hoping to cover for y'all, but 'life' threw the proverbial spanner in the works to scupper that idea. Then there was an LMVC concert that I couldn't actually make, so nothing to add on that one. But there was then a small matter of the Leicester Festival performances, a concert at Kegworth Methodist Church by Enchanted and Friends and latterly a return for the LMVC to the Christmas Tree Festival at All Saints Parish Church.

I will maybe do a retrospective blog shortly, catching up with all those, but for now I will concentrate purely on last night - the 2013 Caroline Sharpe Pupil Concert, because it deserves it. Maybe it was the circumstances; the deluge of crap dumped on Chateau Knightthorpe in recent months; Ruth's continuing battle against the debilitating effects of chronic fatigue; the abysmally timed and unwelcome arrival of cold/flu viruses striking Amy and I at just the wrong time. The odds were stacked against all of us getting through it, but as the saying goes, the show must go on and it damn well did.

This was to be my third such pupil concert. Regular readers will no doubt recall tales of my mental torture just getting up to sing Where e'er You Walk at all in 2011. Last year's rendition of Bring Him Home was pretty torturous too, but a vast improvement on the debut. Almost immediately after that performance Caroline said "next year, you are going to sing a 'proper' song, with 'proper' singing." The 'proper' song in question was soon earmarked as Schumann's Dichterleibe Opus 48: Ich Grolle Nicht. Now this is a song that would sound utterly pathetic if I persisted in singing, in Caroline's words 'like a girl'. Time then Al, to man up and let loose the beast!

Okay, Schumann it is then. We dipped into the song at intervals during the 12 months but it wasn't until fairly late that we decided definitely to go with it. The big problem was the penultimate line which includes a top 'A', which is pretty much the top of my range. I do believe I've hit a B flat in a lesson or two but they've been pretty ugly. With practice and I hasten to add a few verbal clips around the ear from Caroline, I was managing the 'A' but the voice tightened up and remained tight for the last line, leaving the end sounding like a strangled cat! 

Breathing my friends, that is so often the key in this singing lark. Take a huge great breath before the top A line and more importantly, straight after it to enable the voice to open up again for the last line. Easy? With that sorted out in my mind, confidence in the song soared sufficiently for me to actually approach the performance with yes, actual confidence. That was until Tuesday 19th when the cold virus tapped me on the shoulder and said 'GOTCHA'! Not now, please not now? Hey-ho, all I could do was to rest the vocal chords as much as possible and just cross my fingers. 

Rehearsal went very well, top 'A' was nailed, but I knew that my voice was delicate and had no idea what state it would be in come 9 pm. So, alas my contributions to the Caroline Sharpe Singers numbers (more on them later) were minimal, well non-existent in the case of Masquerade. Sorry folks, but needs must, and Caroline did agree that it was the best thing to do. So, the very last solo performer of the night was 'yours truly'. As Ruth pointed out afterwards, another personal landmark was achieved in that I actually spoke in front of lots of people, for the first time in decades. As I was singing a German song I had to briefly announce it and give a hint as to what it was about. Okay, it was indeed brief - very, but it was something at least.

There is something scary about getting up on a stage and singing at the best of times, but when you have no idea if your vocal chords are actually going to cooperate and produce any sort of acceptable noise at all, is scarier still. Thankfully, there was enough there to do a decent job. It started a bit tentatively but got better and hit the 'A' again with relative ease. Phew! Anna thought my 'angry' performance fitted in well with the unrequited love theme of the song. To be honest, the anger came from my frustration at the virus and a determination to overcome it. Other feedback suggests that for once I didn't look like a rabbit caught in the headlights. And Caroline was pleased that I sang like a man and said "more of that please".

So that's me, but this was a triumphant night for so many and also came with a bit of pain thrown in as well. As is usual for these pupil concerts it was a pretty big programme, kicking off with Be Our Guest, starring the male voice choir's Chairman, Chris Higgins and Vanessa as soloists. With the rest of Caroline Sharpe Singers assembled on stage, Chris delivered his spoken intro while strolling up the aisle, timing it perfectly to arrive onstage for the singing bit. Brilliant! The chaps in the choir are still struggling with this one, but it went fairly well and the audience clearly enjoyed it. 

Then it was the job of Katie Muller to start the solo spots with Home. Not easy being first on, but Katie sang beautifully! Then we had a section of  'songs from the shows' with a duet of I know Him So Well by Jean and Wendy. After a 'difficult' rehearsal, they got it together on the night. Lynn then superbly sang  Til There Was You,  overcoming a few nerves in the process and was followed by Gail Morgan who confidently sang I Could've Danced and despite her reservations got those high notes. That slot was wrapped up by Kate Foster with Wouldn't it be Lovely which was great. Well done girls!

Anna-Ruth and Caroline Jones came next, not a duet but singing two English songs. With maybe a hint of bias, Anna's was again I think the classiest performance of the night. Flawless, composed and delivered My Heart is Like a Singing Bird with a style most of us can only dream of. Awesome. Caz Jones sang the extraordinary piece The Enchantress by Hatton which demanding a great deal from Caz, also required an impressive performance by accompanist Chris Hill, who I think needed a lie-down afterwards!

Opera next and some fabulous performances from Honor, Liz, Olivia and Holly singing some, Mozart, Gluck, Mozart and Gounod respectively. Very impressive stuff from all these gals I thought, and felt a bit sorry for Jana who had to follow them. She was to sing a completely contrasting song by The Carpenters, On Top of the World. Then the first half was wrapped up by Enchanted and Chatanooga Choo Choo.

With phlegm accumulating at a worryingly rapid rate I avoided anything but water at the break and before I knew it CSS were back on stage for the Part 2 opener Masquerade complete with masks. This move necessitated removal of my glasses, which was no handicap, particularly as we were singing without copies and I wasn't going to sing it anyway! It went well though and I think the audience loved the masks!

Alice followed that with a nice piece called You Must Love Me and was followed by Folk songs from Jean and Amy. Poor Amy! Like me, she was feeling a bit rough and struggled in rehearsal, but on the night, despite her reservations was singing beautifully up until the point when the nausea that was lurking got the better of her. Exit Stage left was the best option and she took it. What a shame, but such are the hazards of live performance.

More English songs next - Wendy sang Gibbons' The Silver Swan followed by Liz and Vic dueting Sound the Trumpet. The later pair delivered with humour when things went a little awry, but no-one cared. More fab musical theatre followed from Jane, Katie Cooper and Vanessa, with some nerves conquered triumphantly! Some Les Mis followed from Harriet with Castle on a Cloud and Stars from the FIRST male soloist of the night, Paul Widdowson. I find it hard to believe that only two of Caroline's pupils are male!?! Or perhaps it's just that only two of them are prepared to try a solo? Whatever, Caz definitely needs some more male pupils and perhaps some guys in the LMVC could benefit from some Caroline's wisdom? Come on guys, you know you want to!

So to wrap up the evening's pupil performances was a section of German songs, reduced to just two after Rose had succumbed to the lurgy. Michelle and Ruth sang their Schumann duet Mailied. Now, I have obviously heard this countless times but this was far and away the best they have ever sung it. Well done ladies. Then, last but by no means least was li'l ol' me with Ich Grolle Nicht, leaving Enchanted accompanied by Chris Hill and his impressive organ  ;-) to draw the curtain on proceedings with the stunning Hallelujah.

What a fabulous night again. So many triumphs, so many demons overcome and another happy audience. Everyone without exception did amazingly well and that is thanks to one person in particular. I won't mention her name again as she will start to get big-headed. Many thanks anyway!

What will the next twelve months bring?

Cheers, Alyn.

and so to Kegworth

Okay, so 'a day or two' means a week in my language okay? I'm a busy man me, what with singing, working AND my OU study starting this week! So here we are again for 'A Nightingale Sang..'s look back at last Saturday's concert by the Loughborough Male Voice Choir, at Saint Andrew's Church, Kegworth.

After Thursday's final rehearsal I was slightly concerned about this one as things seemed to be a bit untidy. One or two songs that we have sung well in the recent past suddenly seemed  a touch ragged. Oh well, it'll be alright on the night I suppose? We all arrived at the church in good time to start the warm up and the painful process of sorting out who stands where. Due to a lack of steps, shorter members were needed to stand in front - much to Jim Lacey's disgust. Jim you see, just does not do 'front row', so well done mate! I know it is a bit of a shock to the system when one first ventures out front. You do feel a tad exposed to say the least, so thumbs up for going with it.

Particular emphasis was placed this time on trying to look professional. We were to walk on formally, burgundy folders (more of them later!) under right arm, assume positions and DO not open folders until Mr Hill gives the signal. Then when returning to our seats DO NOT sit down until Lyndon gives the signal.

Oh dear! First song was Stout Hearted Men and good ol' Chris forgets to give the signal. Bless him! Some waited, some didn't. I felt a bit of a plonker waiting there with mine closed while others opened theirs.  This set the tone for the rest of the evening with no-one waiting for a signal at all by the end. As for the sitting down, I confess to being guilty (twice!) of sitting down before Lyndon's signal, leading Derrick to mutter behind me about what a useless bunch we all were! Well maybe so, but good habits aren't going to be instilled in us overnight. These things need to become second nature and they will in time.

The second song was Saints, one song we've sung very well, but like Thusday's rehearsal, was a bit untidy I thought. In truth we hadn't rehearsed it much on the run-up and that was a mistake I think. Following that was Speed your Journey which I love.

Time then for the 'Guest Soloist', a Loughborough Soprano called Caroline Sharpe. She is "a singer and singing teacher" and "has a special gift of enabling people to sing when they tell her they can't" according to  the programme notes. Well, I can vouch for that! Caroline sang O Had I Jubal's Lyre by Handel and then something else which I have will ask her about later, sorry. She said that she made a lot up during the course of the evening and that's another of her 'gifts' - the ability to sing gibberish without anyone noticing! Brilliant!

Michael Dukes and Gerry Brennan then did their Flanders and Allen stuff, but I'm afraid I couldn't hear them well enough to get the benefit of the humour. The audience seemed to enjoy the guys anyway. To wrap up the first half it was folk song time with Pleasant & Delightful, which was I think our best ever rendition. I think I've said that the last couple of times we've performed it so I guess that means we're getting better and better. Caroline noted afterwards the expression I at least tried to add to my bit while Ruth still thinks I need to let myself go a bit and she is right. That's definitely the next aim - to visibly enjoy it more!

I don't normally talk about the 'Interval' much, but this one was particularly enjoyable given the amount of wine that flowed. I enjoyed a very nice glass of 'red' and I wasn't alone. Not sure what the purists would say about the effect of red wine on the vocal cords, but frankly, who cares? ;-)

Part Two kicked off with Viva l'amour and thanks to our new member Miguel who was watching in the audience, we were trying to ensure we pronounced the word 'amour' as in 'love' rather than 'death'. What was the verdict Miguel? Following that was Moon River (don't like it!) and He Ain't Heavy (love it!)  before those Shanty Folk nipped off to do a surprisingly quick costume chaKge. Their first was a new one to me, but I recognised Roll Alabama Roll which was fun! The Shanty Folk are always entertaining and go down well, so bravo I say!

Maria and Tonight followed with Lyndon Gardner staring in the former. Then Caroline performed her second solo set in her usual stunning fashion. First was the appropriately titled September Song by Curt Weill and then Adele's Laughing Song from Die Fledermaus by Johan Strauss. Marvellous stuff again. One can't get enough of the Caz-meister in my humble opinion!

That just left the lads to finish off the evening with Every Time We Say Goodbye, Amarillo and You'll Never Walk Alone. Caroline joined us for the latter, singing the first verse and blowing us all off the stage with the closing 'alone'!

So that was that. A good concert I think but with a few things to think about. Yes, we need to brush up on the professionalism somewhat, but there is also the issue of singing without copies to grapple with. The point was raised at the AGM as to why we should sing without copies at all. Well in answer to that, one only needs to ask the audience. They say that we look better, sound better and actually engage with them when we are not forever gawping down at our burgundy folders. In this concert we were gazing at copies to sing even Saints, Amarillo, He ain't Heavy, all of which have been sung without copies before. We even won a competition singing He Ain't Heavy without copies, so why the backward step?

I know that new members have joined and can't be expected to learn everything instantly, but why not have the new guys on the back row where folders would be less noticable? The sad fact is, however well you know a song, if the folder is there you will look at it. Take it away and see what happens. Invariably you know more of a song than you think you do. Amarillo simply must be sung without copies. Chris Hill once took mine off me in a rehearsal, leaving me to just manage - and I did. We can all then clap with ease and get the audience joining in, which is the whole point of singing Amarillo anyway!

One other piece of feedback I received was that there seemed to be some songs that were a bit 'samey', with too much 'ooh-ing' and 'arrr-ing'. Well, I can remember saying to Terry a while ago during a rehearsal "have we actually sung a proper word yet this evening"? Added to that feedback was another comment that there should be more old fashioned Male Voice Choir songs like Speed Your Journey and Deus Salutis to provide those 'hairs on the back of the neck' moments. So I guess there is a balance to be struck between attracting younger audiences and members by adding more modern songs to our repertoire while maintaining enough of the traditional material to keep the older member and audiences happy. No worries - in Chris Hill we trust!

So no rest for the wicked. Next Saturday is another away fixture as we make our trip to The Valleys as guests of the Merthyr Tydfil Ladies Choir. You may well have the benefit of a 'guest blogger' for this trip as Ruth has offered to record the weekend's events from the perspective a supporting wife. I will leave you with a selection of photographs from Saturday taken by Ruth. She has also put together a short video/soundtrack featuring an excerpt from the the finale which you can view by clicking here 

See you next time!

Alyn

 The Shanty Folk at Kegworth

The Loughborough Male Voice Choir warming up

.

 The Shanty Folk at Saint Andrew's Church, Kegworth

 Caroline Sharpe, our guest soloist.

Musical Director Chris Hill, encourages the audience

during Pleasant & Delightful

LMVC performing Pleasant & Delightful with one soloist looking particularly focussed!

 Chairman Chris Higgins trying to catch a moth during

during Pleasant & Delightful!

 Tenor soloist Lyndon Gardner performs Maria

Caroline Sharpes joins us to sing the first verse

of You'll Never Walk Alone

March and September Gigs

Well another cracking night was had by all as the Loughborough Male Voice Choir performed for a good sized audience at St. Andrew's Church, Kegworth on Saturday night. But, before I give you all the run-down on that fine evening's entertainment, I'd better bring you up to date on the Caroline Sharpe Singers. I'll spare you the feeble excuses for the delay and just get on with it okay?

Yes indeed, after the triumphant Enchanted Tour of 2012 a return trip to the Norfolk/Cambridgeshire region was always a possibility and a date in March was secured by Caroline for Saturday 31st August. That's March the village as opposed to March the month. Ha-ha! This 'away' gig would naturally necessitate a coach trip and late return but hey, we were up for it! The concert would involve Caroline Sharpe Singers and Enchanted plus the music of a newly formed foursome called Cantabile Brass, comprising Paul, Nick, Emily and Jo.

Waiting for the coach...

So, despite the words of 'Masquerade' stubbornly refusing to adhere to my brain-cells (and I wasn't alone there!) we assembled at Trinity in good time to board the Ausden Clark coach. Now anyone who has watched the hysterically funny sitcom '2012' about the Olympic Games Deliverance Committee, may remember a fantastic episode where the committee were to take a bunch of foreign dignitaries to the Olympic Park, but never quite got there after a farcical coach trip around London. Well, our journey to March took on bizarre similarities to that trip. The route we took I am yet to fully fathom, but there was a point when I felt like shouting out to the driver "whatever you do, don't go through the Dartford Tunnel, cos that would be like, madness"!

But we got there. Eventually! I spotted a Fossil Shop as we drove through March, but was cruelly denied the opportunity to have a 'butchers'. No matter, singing was afoot, and a quick rehearsal, before a pre-gig bite to eat. Between us, the Kings and the Oldales, we had assembled a banquet fit for a multitude. I would estimate there was enough left over to fill twelve baskets at least!

Preparations for the concert were, how shall I put it, interesting? Such was the size of the audience, there was woefully inadequate seating left for us artists, so we had to hastily arrange a few rows of seats along the sides to accommodate us all. 

Caroline Sharpe Singers getting organised 

before the concert in March, Cambs.

On to the concert and it started well with I Will Sing with the Spirit followed by Locus Iste which itself did start well, but the 'dreaded note' got to the tenors again! 'Irreprehensibilisest' began with a quiet horrible clash. I was confident I was hitting the right note, so increased my volume and prayed. Thankfully the whole thing didn't fall apart and Locus rescued itself. Phew!

Enchanted were great yet again performing seven songs in the first half including Hallelujah and my personal fave, Fever. It was nice to see the 'college girls' back in the line-up too! In between the girls songs we were treated to three tunes from Cantabile Brass. The one musician that stood out for me was the Euphonium player. The quality of tone he produced from his instrument was truly breathtaking and I felt compelled to tell him so after the concert. In the second half they rounded off their set with an ambitious rendition of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, which they had only thrown together days before apparently! Well, it was brilliant guys!

Other highlights were Enchanted's Chatanooga Choo Choo and the ol' fave, Oklahoma Medley which was the gals at their best. Then of course there was Masquerade. Strangely, the issue of singing without copies became pretty much academic as we didn't use copies for anything. And it showed in the performances. There's something a bit naff about standing in front of an audience with your folder of music I think. It would've been impossible to read any music anyway as the splendid Masquerade mask prevents spectacle wearing anyway. Despite a few rough edges, Masquerade went pretty well and the soloists did a great job just when they needed to. After a bit of a mess first time in rehearsal, they did great on the night. Special mention must be made of the staggering versatility of my wife Ruth. Standing in for the Alto Masquerade solo in the Sileby gig, this time she took the Soprano solo. Look out Jeff and Terry - you could be next.  Bravo all!

It seemed the audience really loved this concert, with the compere talking about wanting to make it an annual event. I have to say, there really is something special about singing in front of such an enthusiastic and receptive audience. Sometimes an audience can be a bit flat leaving you unsure as to whether they've enjoyed what they've heard. No such doubt with the March audience and it would be a pleasure to return.

The return coach trip was marginally less random than the outward trip and was highlighted by a music-less 'pass-the-parcel' game won by I know not who. There was also a rendition of an alternative Almost Like Being in Tune (love).

Well, I will leave you with that for now and return in a day or two with a round-up of the Male Voice Choir's concert at Kegworth.

Cheers for now,

Alyn