Members

INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS

Notices & Diary | Rehearsal Aids | Drinks Rota | Committee

NOTICES & DIARY

NEW YEAR MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR

Dear Fellow Choir Members,

A very happy and safe New Year to you and yours. There are reasons for us to be cautiously hopeful that 2021 will be less awful than its predecessor, but I am still keeping my fingers crossed.

Here are a few miscellaneous items to keep you up to date and a request that you each do something for the Choir.

The basses Christmas performance elicited donations for Framework of over £900, which is great. If they can manage to sing in tune next year, the sky is the limit.

Distance Learning resumes on Wednesday 6^th January (yes, that is next week), with Haydn’s glorious Harmoniemesse. There will be seven sessions, released fortnightly. It is not too late to join DL and there are still some copies of the music available. If interested, please contact Brad Poulson (brad.poulson@thebradleypartnership.com ). All past episodes remain available on our web site.

Our common hope is that we will be able to rehearse together again sometime during the year. If and when we can do that will be determined by the progress of the pandemic, by a range of local factors and crucially by whether we each of us feel that we will be safe. I do not expect the restart to be before the summer, but your Committee will keep this under review, so that we can move quickly when the time is right.

If everything goes really well, our first post- pandemic concert will also see the start of our Golden Jubilee celebrations, the ‘Last Night of the Proms’ extravaganza in the Minster in November. All the necessary arrangements are in place and, if circumstances permit, it will happen on the due date. If need be, however, we will aim to postpone it, probably by a year. In due course we will also seek to reschedule the German Requiem and the B Minor Mass.

We will hold an AGM and elect a new committee as soon as that becomes possible.

The UK population is about 67 million, of whom so far over 2.25 million people, or one person in thirty, have tested positive for the virus. There are about 90 people in the Choir, so statistically we might have expected three victims. But I have not heard even of one, which – if correct – is very encouraging, given that many members are at higher than average risk, mainly because of age. Whatever you have been doing, keep doing it, the time to relax is not yet.

The Chair’s New Year Challenge

For the last nine months Guy, Michael, your committee and many members have worked hard to keep the spirit of BDCS alive. To do this, we have depleted our reserves and I am now seeking your help to start to replenish our coffers. However, at a time when many charities are suffering very badly, I’m going to ask you to do something unusual. My Chair’s Challenge to each of you is to raise £50 over the next six months, half of which will go to the Choir, and the other half to a charity of your choice.

My personal Challenge

You may employ any legal means to raise your £50, but here is what I am doing. I have challenged myself to perform the ‘sit-to-stand’ exercise prescribed for Parkinson’s sufferers 900 extra times in the first 90 days of the year. My chosen charity is the Parkinson’s Disease Society and full details, including how to sponsor me, are given below. If you do choose to sponsor me, the money you raise will be credited against your personal £50 target and not against mine.

With all best wishes,

Richard Joyner

Chair, BDCS

2020-2021 Season

Although the following concerts are in the diary for the beginning of the 2020/21 season,
there is considerable uncertainty about whether they will take place.

Saturday 21st November 2020 at Southwell Minster
With Southwell Choral Society

Saturday 12th December 2020 at Bingham Parish Church
Christmas Concert

100 CLUB

The 100 club is a lottery that is open to BDCS members and their friends/family. Each member who wishes to take part pays £10 at the beginning of the year. Half the funds raised go to the choir and the other half is distributed to lucky members through six prize draws throughout the season. Do take part if you can. It’s fun and makes a real difference to the choir’s resources.

Click here for 100 club Application Form (2019-2020)

REHEARSAL AIDS

General rehearsal aids

www.choralia.net
A website where you can hear synthesised voices singing individual voice parts (it is very easy to download the necessary bit of free software). You can choose which voice part you would like to be highlighted.
www.choraline.com
As a BDCS member you can get a 10% discount from Choraline by using the password BING.
New telephone number: 01285 644845
www.learnchoralmusic.co.uk
This is John Hooper’s website, where individual parts can be listened to free of charge.
www.johnfletchermusic.org Members direct access to Bingham Choral Home Page
The site holds rehearsal files allowing users to listen to their individual part, with the accompaniment in the background, either on its own or along with the other parts. The music can be listened to on line or downloaded as an mp3 file which allows user to vary playback speed and slow down fast, intricate parts.Most of the music we will be performing in the next 12 months can be found on the site.For access to the site the Society pays an annual subscription based on the number of registered users (40).Spare places are available. If you are not registered to use the site but would now like to be please contact Bob Middleton either at a rehearsal or by email at bob@mid33.plus.com. I will then register your email address and you will receive an email from the site allowing you to set up direct access using your email address and password of your own choosing.If you are registered but are having trouble logging on or other problems using the site, please let me know. Bob Middleton.

Here is an excellent resource for mastering the German pronunciation of the Brahms Requiem. Thanks to Linda Hunter for finding it.

Thanks again to Linda for flagging up these really useful rehearsal aids for the different voice parts.

Soprano (comprising all 7 movements)

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM40xVfmQ5t0YXv51ES19AF6KFPUeBBKr

Alto 1st movement

Alto 2nd movement

Alto 3rd movement

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gOGC4D1-ENw

Alto 4th movement

Alto 5th movement

Alto 6th movement

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TTmUSh0yA2cnt

Alto 7th movement

For subsequent movements, tenor part, type in Brahms German Requiem Second (etc) Movement tenor practice

For subsequent movements, tenor part, type in Brahms German Requiem Second (etc) Movement bass practice

Brahms Schicksalslied—Soprano Only

Brahms Schicksalslied—Alto Only

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Shdun_rDDs0

Brahms Schicksalslied—Tenor Only

Brahms Schicksalslied—Bass Only

DRINKS ROTA

HELP WITH SETTING UP ON REHEARSAL NIGHTS

BDCS Committee 2020

Chairman: Richard Joyner
Vice-Chair: Sally Ashton
Treasurer: Brad Poulson
Secretary: Valerie Morgan
Programme Chair: Peter Iley
Librarian: Margot Anderson
Publicity Officer: Judy Unell
Membership Secretary: Janet Chapman
Box Office: Tim Connery

Fundraising: John Bannister

Ordinary Members: Beryl Cottrill, Christina Warrington and Juliet Ward