8 October 2011 at St Mark’s Church Harrogate

What sweeter musicke …

• Motets by Lassus – Videntes stellam, Surgens Jesus, Surrexit Pastor
• Vivaldi Gloria
• Songs of Farewell by Parry – I know my soul hath power, My Soul, there is a country, Never weather-beaten sail, There is an old belief
• Light-hearted conclusion – I do like to be beside the seaside, Name that tune, Teddy bears’ picnic

with Andrew Passmore (organ) and Sam Gardner (conductor).

This concert was in aid of the Neema Crafts Project.  Neema Crafts Centre was founded in 2003 by the Diocese of Ruaha, to provide handicrafts training and much-needed employment opportunities for people with disabilities in the Iringa region of Tanzania, and to change negative attitudes towards them in local society. There’s a great stigma attached to having a disability in Tanzania, and the centre provides dignity and hope for many people who previously relied on street begging or were hidden away at home, unable to support themselves and their families. Neema is place of creativity, compassion and hope where lives are transformed everyday. The centre also includes a physiotherapy unit for disabled children, an award winning cafe entirely staffed by deaf people, a welcoming guest house which is the first in the world to be run by people with disabilities, a conference room and internet cafe.

Future Concert: St Chad on the Knavesmire, York – Saturday 3 December at 7.00 pm

Copyright Carl Spencer and published under a Creative Commons Licence

An Advent Concert to support Christian Aid.

Future Concert: St John Baptist, Bishop Monkton – Saturday 25 February at 7.30 pm

© Copyright DS Pugh and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

The programme will include:

• Durufle – Requiem
• Franck – Panis Angelicus
• Mozart – Jubilate

and a lighter side including Stranger in Paradise and Country Gardens.

Saturday 25th June: Songs and Strawberries – Leake Church YO7 4BN

Leake Church is the lonely looking church which you may have driven past at speed on the A19.  But at one time  the lovely church of St. Mary the Virgin was the centre of a thriving and populous village.  A map can be found here.

The programme included:

• The Heavens are telling – from The Creation  ……Haydn
• Beati Quorum Via …….Stanford
• Justorum Animae ….    Stanford
• Locus Iste   ……               Bruckner
• Christus Factus Est   …. Bruckner
• The Lord is my shepherd (the “Vicar of Dibley” theme)   .. Howard Goodall
• Jesu, joy of man’s desiring     …. JS Bach
• Ave Verum Corpus  …   Mozart
• Sleep    …………………..  Eric Whitacre
• The Turtle Dove   – Ralph Vaughan Williams
• Linden Lea  …..   Ralph Vaughan Williams
• The Bluebird   ……    Stanford
• Bushes and Briars  …   RVW arr Donald James
• Greensleeves  … RVW
• O waly waly … arr John Rutter
• Sourwood Mountain   … arr John Rutter
• Black sheep   … arr John Rutter
• Brother James Air — arr Gordon Jacob
• Blue Moon
• Let’s do it
• Over the rainbow

Concert – with Edmund Aldhouse and Lucinda Taylor



Saturday 12th February in Ripon

In Tuneful Accord: at Harrogate Road Methodist Church, Ripon

The programme included:

• Above all Praise and all majesty – Mendelssohn
• Thou knowest, Lord – Purcell
• When to the temple Mary went – Eccard
• Jehova, quam multi sunt hostes mei – Purcell
• Ave Maria – Stravinsky
• Dostoino yest – Tchaikovsky
• Five Mystical Songs – Vaughan Williams
• Five part-songs – Holst
• Four songs by Parry

The concert will finish in lighter mood with:

• Autumn Leaves
• Blue Moon
• Let’s do it
• Over the Rainbow

The concert will start at 7.30pm. Tickets are £9 (concessions £7) to include refreshments. Please call 01423 508389.

16th October 2010 at St Mark’s Church Harrogate

The programme was:

• God is gone up – Finzi
• Holy, holy, holy – Tschaikovsky
• Ave verum corpus – Mozart
• Sancta Maria – Mozart
• Alleluia from Regina Coeli in B – Mozart
• Beati quorum via – Stanford
• Videntes Stellam – Poulenc
• Lobet dem Herrn – J S Bach

–   Interval   –

• Audivi – Taverner
• If ye love me – Tallis
• Bogoroditse Dyevo – Rachmaninov
• The Lamb – Tavener
• Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace – S S Wesley
• If ye love me – Wilby
• Zadok the Priest – Handel

The conductor was Sam Gardner and the organist Adrian Selway.

The concert was in aid of Neema, Springboard and Martin House.

Directions to the church may be found here.

Vocal Workshop on September 11, 2010

This workshop is now full.

The vocal workshop on September 11th will be led by Stuart Barr. Stuart is a singing coach and musical director, working among other places at the Royal Academy of Music. His most recent challenge was as Chorus Master for the special BBC Prom which celebrated Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday. In June, BBC Radio 3, in The Choir, featured the work Stuart has been doing to help choirs change their sound to suit the music. You can read more about him on his website, www.stuartbarr.net.

Stuart will be assisted by our own conductor, Sam Gardner.

The workshop will be held in the relaxing environment of The Barn, Westfield Farm, Sheriff Hutton  YO60 6QQ. Tea and coffee will be available from 10.30, so that we can start promptly at 11.00.

Stuart and Sam have planned the programme as follows:

11.00 Welcome

11.05 Building the sound (Stuart Barr)

A whistle-stop tour around the basics of the voice. Stuart will look at why warming up is important, how it can be done efficiently and then provide tips for improving technique, including: airflow, efficient voicing, breathing, registers (larynx tilting), resonance, freeing tongue/jaw tension & posture.

12.30 Lunch – this will be Bring and Share

1.30 Singing with style (Stuart Barr)

Using the latest voice science research, Stuart will show how to change vocal colours to suit the music, concentrating on the Classical and Renaissance periods.

2.30 Break – tea and coffee

3.00 Performing Renaissance music (Sam Gardner)

A short introduction to performing music of the Renaissance; focusing on repertoire from the last concert. Identifying the techniques composers were using to draw attention to certain areas of the music and how our performance could reflect this.

3.30 Ensemble performance

An opportunity for the singers to split into groups and prepare their own performance of the day’s music, with advice and guidance available from Stuart and Sam.

4.30 Performance

Each group performs to each other with a short introduction from each about the musical decisions they made.

5.00 Finish

Concert: 15 May 2010 in York

Saturday 15 May 2010

Church of St Chad on the Knavesmire, York, YO23 1EY at  7.30pm

Tickets £7. They are available from 01423-508389 and 01904 424411.

Refreshments will be available.

Planned programme includes:

• Bogoroditse Dyevo (Rachmaninov)
• Sicut cervus (Palestrina)
• Cantate Domino (Monteverdi)
• When David heard (Tomkins)
• Hear my Prayer (Purcell)
• Rejoice in the Lord alway (Purcell)
• Hosanna to the Son of David (Gibbons)
• Lord, thou hast been our refuge (Vaughan Williams)
• O taste and see (Vaughan Williams)
• My spirit sang all day (Finzi)
• Cantique de Jean Racine (Faure)

There are various ways of getting to the church, but for anyone that doesn’t know York, this is a straightforward way from A59.

• Turn right onto York Outer Ring Road A1237
• Cross over next roundabout [Wetherby Road].
• Take second exit at next roundabout, signposted  Woodthorpe.
• Continue on this road, crossing a mini roundabout taking you across railway line. Must be approx  1-2 miles.
• At next big roundabout turn left onto A1036, signposted York. This is called Tadcaster Road.
• Continue on Tadcaster Road towards York, over traffic lights [by St Edwards Church].
• Racecourse is on your Right. At end of Racecourse turn right by white fencing. There is a right turn arrow for you, but the turning is not particularly clear. There are brown signs to Racecourse.
• Racecourse is now on your right with Little Knavesmire [more green space] on your left.
• There is a left bend in road, Terrys factory is visible, and after bend St Chad’s is on left after a few hundred yards.
• Park in car park or on road.

St Chads was built of red brick in 1920’s so don’t be looking out for stone towers or spires!!

{If coming down A19 turn right onto York Outer Ring Road, go over two roundabouts and proceed as above].

6 February 2010: St Felix Church, Felixkirk

Saturday 6 February 2010

Programme:

• Descendi in Ortum Meum (Dunstable)
• Ascendit Deus (Phillips)
• Laudibus in Sanctis (Byrd)
• Thou knowest Lord (Purcell)
• O Rex Gloriae (Palestrina)
• Super flumina Babylonis (Palestrina)
• O Nata Lux (Tallis)
• (Interval)
• Jubilate Deo (Mozart)
• God so loved the world (Stainer)
• My soul, there is a country (Parry)
• Sing ye praises to our King (Copland)
• Beati quorum via (Stanford)
• Christus factus est (Bruckner)
• Locus iste (Bruckner)

The concert will start at 7.30 pm.

Unfortunately Peter Gibson will not be able to give the talk previously advertised.