The big Sing!

We held our annual Come and Sing at the weekend, and it was really great fun, with singers from all over Northern Ireland joining in.

The altos and some basses.. 

Stephen Doughty, our choir master, led the day. We whizzed through the whole of Brahms German Requiem in a couple of hours, which was an interesting challenge... After tackling a particulalry 'busy' passage, which Stephen described as 'Battling the fugues',  the singer next to me asked with some alarm, 'will we run through that again later..?' and I reassured her, 'Oh I really don't think so, we'll just GO FOR IT in the performance..'. In the first half an hour we'd learnt a few Doughty-House-Rules, largely to do with keeping an eye on him. (whatever next..). Not difficult considering his eye catching attire, ahem...

My camera had real trouble deciding where to focus on this.. This shirt doubles up as a useful eye test. If you look hard enough you'll be able to see a fluffy animal.. 

 Stephen communicated with us, unusually, using most of the semaphore flags.. This one, below, is the letter P, which he used regularly, mostly when we were Perfect, obviously.

Our Orchestra was the fantastic duo of Gail and Stuart, who played four handedly and did the most wonderful (and fast-moving) job. They were a couple of peas in a pod and a pleasure to watch.

sitting still before we get started... 

...and in fast motion in the fugue..

Best quotes of the day from Stephen - GOOD LUCK, SEE YOU AFTER THE NEXT PAGE... IF IN DOUBT, KEEP GOING...

(note: these phrases are NEVER uttered during our usual Philharmonic rehearsals.)

Two lovely lady tenors who join us regularly for the Come and Sing

Cecilia doing a wonderful job giving out the music

If you haven't attended one of these 'turn up and join in' days, I really recommend that you come to the next one. It is fun and the performances are always surprisingly enjoyable.

We have a bright new friendly face at the helm, with our new Chairperson being Carol Abel, from the Alto section.

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.

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. 

on telly!

A few days before Christmas we were asked if we would sing some carols on BBC's The One Show, and in spite of us having to be available from 3pm on a Friday, about 60 or so members were able to drop everything, for a good sing.

It was lovely inside the City Hall, and we were well supplied with tea and sandwiches. We had a good run through singing beneath the Christmas tree in the foyer, while one happy couple posed on the stairs for their wedding photos! (perhaps they just thought that we were provided by the coucil as seasonal serenading..)

Weather was..damp,

(look how everyone is smiling, even though they're shivering..)

     Bright lights..

 The attire was, as ever, Exceedingly Formal...

There wasn't TOO much jostling for position (the most common concern I heard was... if you're in front of me, I won't be SEEN..!) 

I love this pic, because it has our lovely Secretary and our wonderful Chair, together in the middle.

And the atmosphere was warm. (though not as warm as this photo below implies -

- I walked in to the City Hall with this soprano and bass, and when I asked if they'd pose for a photo for the blog, THIS is what they did!! Pure badness!)

Warm, apart from Dick. At first I thought that he must be the real Father Christmas, for here  he was, surrounded by his little helpers, head in hand reading the letters from all the children, and the magnitude of his Christmas Eve journey was clearly just hitting home...

But he assured me afterwards that he was just learning his lines! 

Carols for fun

In December we were invited by the local shop keepers to sing carols outside Bedford House, on a couple of afternoons before Christmas. A good few die-hards braved the freezing conditions to bring some smiles to the shoppers. I discovered that it's best to be early to these things, for the early bird gets the back row, which was marginally less windy than the front row! Those who had done the first day were wise enough to don hats for the second. Even though it was perishing, it did make us all feel very Christmassy. 

Fortunately we were well looked after with coffee and muffins inside at half-time.. 

By the end we were only singing carols that didn't require us to turn the page, which was pretty impossible wearing big gloves. 

But the real hero has to be Audrey, who has written to Santa telling him she's been very good, and can she please have a heated keyboard for next year!

The Christmas season

                                                                            The Boss.

We have done a lot of singing this term, so much so that its impossible to select a highlight! This year's Messiah performances were great to be in, and several of us distributed flyers to the audience when they were leaving, and all of them were thrilled by the music, and some said it was the best Messiah they'd ever heard. Certainly, everyones spirits were high and it was clear to see they'd loved the evening. There was a woman in the front row of the audience who was totally mesmerized  by the whole thing, such a lovely thing to see. For me, I felt the narrative flow in a way I haven't when singing it in the past.

     Back to Black, after the Christmas Concert frovilities...

 Darren Jeffery, the Bass Soloist, who had traveled from Somerset to perform. He kindly posed for me when we shared the lift!

This was the last performance for John, who has been in the choir for 25 years. When he recieved his parting gift from Michael he simply said, 'I will miss you all.'

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Our third year of community Christmas concerts with Christopher Bell and the Ulster Orchestra.

                   (How do you know Christopher Bell is in town? Look at his amazing feet!)

This concert is an opportunity for us to sing more lighthearted music and have a bit of fun in the concert, and we are positively encouraged to go Fancy Dress..

The first half is Christmassy but relatively sedate..and the ladies are asked to wear coloured blouses in lieu of the usual black.

The first year - second half saw the Phil with a bit of additional sparkle and a few 'sexy santas'

The second year - second half saw some major effort, with pantomime dames, rows of elves, trees, inflatable snowman, puddings, presents, lots of 'sexy santas' and Elvis (elves welcome, said the instructions!). Oh, and a pantomime horse!!

(Tom, I think, who described himself as 'Rather Fetching') 

Year three - some members who had not sung in the Christmas concert before asked for tips on fancy dress. My best advice, "You cannot be overdressed. If you don't go OTT you will feel like the odd one out.."

                       

(no wires.. that halo is obviously real.)

Out came flashing lights, Statue of Liberty, snow queen, even more 'sexy santas' (a proven popular choice) Rudolph, angels and fairies. And the ladies dressed up too.

Ho ho Hosanna in excelsis..

(kindly written by Katherine Hanratty, as your blogger was unable to attend, ba humbug..)