Ground Control to Major Tom...

Things are moving along nicely, with the auditions this week for the new singers. Good luck all! To help everyone settle in, I thought it was time to show and tell and put some faces to the names. These are some of the folks involved with keeping the engine running, or the Cabin Crew, so to speak..

Tom, our Chairman

Iestyn, Treasurer

Sally, Hon Secretary

Cecelia, in charge of our Music Books

Oonagh, 1st Alto Section leader 

Clare, 1st Soprano Section Leader

Lisette, 2nd Alto Section Leader

Alastair, Bass Section Leader

Julie, 2nd Soprano section Leader, and your Blogger

Michael, Tenor Section Leader


And, extremely important, our tea co-ordinator..

Derek-the-tea

There's your starter pack, more to follow..!

Belfast Phil is Open For business...!!

Cooler mornings, conkers on the trees, and the annual BBQ? It must mean the start of another new season! A very full programme for the autumn, so nothing for it but to jump right in. The first two rehearsal evenings (the first two Wednesdays in September, at 7.30 St Bride's Church Hall, Derryvolgie Avenue Belfast), are Open Rehearsals, where everyone is welcome to come along to try us out, and if you enjoy it you can audition for a place in the choir. Yes! Belfast Philharmonic needs YOU!

For more information about joining, please email:   recruitment@belfastphilharmonic.org.uk
or call 07792 450522

Childrens voices and bike birthdays!

We are approaching the last concert of the season, and it was lovely sharing rehearsals with the  Philharmonic Youth Choir. Rebekah Coffey has been leading them beautifully, their sound is a real treat.

The recent bike days out have been dominated by birthdays. Firstly, it was John's Big Day, which we celebrated by getting the train to Newry and cycling up to Portadown, stopping for lunch in Scarva. The surprise was from Fiona, Robin's wife, who had sent a bottle of champagne along, even though they couldn't be there in person that day, aw!

Unfortunatley, the cafe wouldn't let us open it (boo), so he had to drink it all himself when he got home.
Instead, we helped him celebrate with our usual energy-snacks.

And then it was the Bike Birthday, a year since we started our monthly outings, which was marked be a revisit of the first trail. And of course, more cake! However, this year, an extra bonus was added with a visit to Sentry Hill. The email below was sent to John as a thank you from Fiona - it makes funny reading, and is a perfect report of the flavour of each lovely day out. 

Hi John/Maureen
Thank you so much for the absolutely amazing cycle ride last Saturday. 
You had planned the perfect day out to the last detail, and it was just
brilliant.  I will never forget the face of the guide at Sentry Hill
when he was talking about the death of the King of Tonga and Richard
interjected that he had been at his funeral 6 weeks ago - it was just a
jaw-droppingly priceless moment!
How can the next cycle ride beat this one... 
Love
Fiona
-- 

Magic

After incredible amounts of efforts and mammoth organizational feats, the Titanic weekend delivered the most amazing, atmospheric, moving and emotional performances. While the choir may be feeling that we are seeing a LOT of each other, with the long rehearsals, Phillip Hammond's Requiem for the Lost Souls of The Titanic was a triumph and it was great to be a part of it.


I don't have many photos, (unlike most of the audience, ahem) but if any of you do, please send them to me so we can share them. My son had my camera during the performance but the battery died - though it was worth it to hear his descriptions of us, in leau of pictures. He declared that some of us BOB when we're singing (eek - so long as we bob together..) and he did fair impressions of the most animated among us. It seems to be about Eyebrows.

These photos, while not intentionally blurred, have a certain etherial quality.

Business at rehearsal..

Sunday morning.

And to both our conductors, a big Thank You.

hectic season...!

This must be the busiest season...EVER! The past weeks have been devoted to both Brahms and hammond, and last week we did the Brahms concert at the Ulster Hall. We enjoyed meeting the orchestra's new conductor, and while she is small in stature, she is LARGE in wonderful arm-waving conducting. As a choir, its so lovely to follow an arm-waver.

An often overlooked sparkle offered at the concerts is our choirmasters attention to personal detail. This time his tie was quietly, but positively, Starry.

Rehearsals for Phillip Hammond's new work Requiem for the Lost Souls of the Titanic, have been crowded and dynamic, a real contrast to the Brahms. Three choirs and a large brass band filled St Bride's in a squeeze, though obviously we have more space in the Cathedral.

As you can see, this soprano secured her space in between two tubas, space was so tight...

Have you noticed how some of the tenors are getting so TALL?

I had a friend who attended the rehearsal in St Anne's, and she reports that the sound is amazing. And the choir boys are Something Else. Haunting, focused and marvelous.

To Lisburn...and Back!

Our most recent bike day out was a delightful meander down the tow path, on a bright crisp morning, from Central Station to Lisburn. This does, admittedly, sound like a fair hike, but its nice and flat, with a handy tea room half way along the route.. (personally, I'd accidentally bought decaff tea bags a few days earlier, so the coffee went straight to the point!!)

We were joined by some more choir members and their other halves, so our numbers are gently swelling.

Just a short pedal after we'd finished our coffee and scones and we'd reached Hilden Mill for lunch! Previous visitors to the blog will have noted our emphasis on food, and we wonder if in fact we are doing a slow-motion gourmet tour of the Province - but then, someone's got to do it..

Derek, being Indespensable, on his first bike-trip. I'm delighted to report that his Saddle-Awareness is now almost cured..

Before....and after...

... and in between!


And while the general 'look' is on the side of Casual, Brian decided to take no chances after sampling the local refreshments..

Blessed are the Tea Makers..

Our recent Come and Sing Carmina Burana was a roaring success, a great fun day. Stephen led us with infectious enthusiasm and the singing went incredibly smooothly!

Stuart, having a last minute lesson.

Some visiting singers, including a lovley lady tenor.

Stephen practicing being a plane, just in case there are problems with his flights in future..

I had a little chat with Denis, who told me that he'd been in the Phil for 42 years, VERY impressive! While we talked, I noticed he was wearing a very fetching tie, and as I inspected it, he told me that it was the Book Of Kells. Well, that's the best bit of recycling I've ever heard of..

Talking of recycling, it was a very cold day, and I admired one Phil-Soprano's fabulous full length fur coat - very cozy, looked like something from Dr Zhivago.. She covered her mouth conspiratorily and confided that she'd been so cold in the morning that she'd nipped out at lunchtime to the charity shops on Lisburn Road, and voila! Result! (see pic below)

And of course, the most valuable folks, as always, are the tea makers. The photo above shows just a few of the volunteers, Thank you.
Thanks to Julie Wilson for providing the really lovely album of photos on the last blog-post.

This photo album created with Smilebox

come... and SING!!

This Saturday, 4th February, is our annual funathon singalong not-to-be-missed extravaganza! Please invite everyone you know who likes singing in the shower, for this is the opportunity to join in with this familiar and exciting music. Its a whirlwind of fun, don't miss out!
Malone Presbyterian Church, Lisburn Road. No experience necessary, just a bag of enthusiasm!!
See you there!

The best day...EVER!

Yes, the Choir Bike Days are reaching legendary levels. Our first trip of the year got off to an early and very frosty start, but it didn't deter a few new faces joining in. There were a dozen of us, and as neither Maureen nor John (the Proper Bosses) were able to attend at the last minute, Katherine and I were asked to be In Charge... Uh-oh! Fortunately, we didn't lose anyone on the way.

We took the Comber Greenway and reached the Grey Goose in a flash - Brian was most impressed at how close Comber had got to Belfast, even going at Chat-Pace, and we were warming up on tea and coffee in under an hour. 

                             

We were so warmed after it that most decided to head on to Castle Espie, which is just another couple of miles, and we liked it so much it seemed rude not to have lunch while we were there...

 Great views across the lough, even on a cloudy day. 

However, the views reached unprecedented levels when we got back to Belfast, for Good News!! The sloes that Robin and Fiona collected on Octobers bike day had done their job, the sloe gin was ripe n ready, and it had our names on it, hoorah!

 So we stopped off at his house in time to catch Fiona mopping the kitchen (and she was polite enough to take him to one side to privately scold him for bring so many of his friends home to play...). 

By now, the day was so magical, for we were warm and gin-glowing from our ears out,  and we wondered if we were in a fairy story, as surely, it doesn't get better than this...? But then, it DID! For Robin treated us to a go in his car, and a few had a VERY NOISY, hair raising white-knuckle  drive around the block..!

Robin with Helen, just before they set off. She returned, shaken AND stirred!!

And he took off with Nuala so fast it was all a blur... woohoo!! 

And folks, if you haven't been on a bike for years, please don't let that trouble you. Do join in. These bike trips contribute more to your sense of well-being than most things I can think of. A Saturday with the Choir Bikes, and all is well with the world.