Click here for a printable pdf file

Here are some learning aids from Justin for Carmina Burana including a pronunciation guide which is available here as a printable pdf file.

There is a lot on YouTube. The link here will take you to a list of voice parts on YouTube.

CARMINA BURANA
Download as printable pdf file here

MONDAY 6TH JANUARY
VERIS LETA FACIES
page 19 – 25
BREAK
O FORTUNA
pages 5 – 11 (figure 6)

MONDAY 13TH JANUARY
FORTUNA PLANGO VULNERA
pages 15 – 18
Sopranos and Altos with Karen
Tenors and Basses with Justin
2010 – together to run number
BREAK
O FORTUNA
pages 11 – 15
recap from page 5

MONDAY 20TH JANUARY
ECCE GRATUM
pages 28 – 31
Sopranos and Altos with Karen
Tenors and Basses with Justin

2010 – together to run verse 1 (also 2 AND 3 if time)
BREAK
WERE DIU WERLT ALLE MIN
pages 65 – 66
VERIS LETA FACIES
pages 19 – 25

MONDAY 27TH JANUARY
RECAP:
O FORTUNA
pages 5 – 15
FORTUNE PLANGO VULNERA
pages 15 – 25
BREAK
ECCE GRATUM
pages 28 – 39
WERE DIU WERLT ALLE MIN
pages 65 – 66
CIRCA MEA PECTORA
pages 93 – 95 (begin work)

Can be downloaded here as a printable PDF file.

Held on Wednesday 6^th November 2024

1. Apologies for absence:  Jenny Hyams and Amanda Fletcher

2. Minutes of last meeting (23^rd September 2024): these were approved.

3. Matters arising: 

• Stella has confirmed the booking for the concert with the school for 28^th June 2025.
• The Archives Sub-committee now includes some of the founder members of the choir (please see attached list) and has begun work on the displays.
• We have chosen a logo for all anniversary publicity.
• Nikki is going to set up a Facebook page and we agreed that there needs to be some discussion about member’s privacy.  She will use this to post various information such as rehearsal schedules.
• Stella is going to speak to Paul Morgan regarding the photos from the last concert so that these can be used on the website.
• Julia will compile a list of possible dishes to bring to the January lunch after Christmas when people have more time to decide.

4. Treasurer’s report (See attached) main points were:

• The subscription income of £2,915, the highest amount ever to be collected in one term.  We have 64 members with 40 people supporting gift aid.
• The quiz in the spring will be a good fundraiser as well as the Bonus Ball which raised £550.
• All of the above will help with our big concert next year.

5. Christmas 2024 Concert

• John F reported that the banner has been done and he now just has to ask permission from the church to put it up.
• The posters and tickets are done and ready to be distributed.   John A said he could send out a pdf version for members to send to friends.
• There will be a raffle.
• We now have all the musicians, including Tony who will play the flute.
• Stella and Julia have been to the Dove Inn at Alburgh and have booked it for our after-concert coffee morning.

Front of House

• We will offer wine or a soft drink in the price of the ticket but, this year, we will use larger cups as the smaller ones didn’t safely hold a proper measure!
• Heather suggested getting a card reader for on-the-door ticket payments.  These are linked to PayPal and the choir business account and are as cheap as £29. We agreed this would be a good idea and hope to have it in place for the Christmas concert alongside cash payments. It can also be used for other events.

6. 25th Anniversary events

      January lunch

• Julia will compile the list of dish suggestions in the new year.
• Fiona has been to the party shop in Harleston and they can do personalised items such as banners, balloons, napkins and paper plates.  As there are plates at the hall and napkins can be bought more cheaply in Asda, we agreed to stick with the banners and balloons.  Fiona will order these at the end of the month.  Nikki also suggested helium sculptures for the food table.
• Partners will be invited.  There is a legal limit of 100-seated people but we agreed that many people would be standing or walking around.
• People will bring their own drinks.
• We discussed the possibility of having a ‘sing-song’ and Caroline knows someone who could provide a keyboard for this.  We agreed that this would need to include well-known music to avoid people feeling uncomfortable.

Archives

• It was thought the display boards could go up at the party, at the summer concert and the Christmas concert.  John F suggested showing them at the first rehearsal after the party for those that did not attend.  He also suggested an ongoing display of the archives (in folders) at occasions such as the first rehearsal of the term for new members.

Summer Concert

• There was much discussion about the logistics for this and it was decided that there would be a Music SC meeting in January to discuss arrangements in more detail.
• It had been suggested that we ask senior pupils from Harleston Sancroft Academy to help with FOH as they know about the layout.
• John F has spoken to South Norfolk council regarding grants and Stella said that SNC have been offering grants of £1000 for local events which may be relevant as we are working with the school.

7. Making Music Platform

• We have applied for this online organisational tool that can be used alongside our website.  https://www.makingmusic.org.uk/mm-platform 
• We discussed the need to inform choir members that we are handing over their information to a 3^rd party and that we need to get reassurance from MM that this information is secure and complies with our GDP policy.

8. Feedback from SCs (see attached reports from the Archives and Publicity SCs)

• The Archives SC is meeting again on the 3^rd December.
• The Publicity SC hope to meet again before the end of November.
• No other SCs have met since the last committee meeting.

9. Members’ feedback

• It was agreed that members know who their reps are as they had been introduced at the AGM.
• John A reported receiving very positive feedback from new members who said they found us to be very friendly.

    10. AOB

   Rehearsals next year

• Justin has said there will be rehearsals for all bank holidays leading up to the concert with the exception of Easter Monday.

    11.  Date and time of next meeting.

Wednesday 29^th January 2025 2pm 

Financial Report

The autumn term subscription income is £2,915 which is the highest amount of subs ever collected in one term to date, beating the previous highest in the spring.   There are currently 64 people in the choir and we think that some not here this term will be back for the spring and summer, so this is really good news for the choir finances, as well as for the continuing enjoyment of singing in a large choir.  As we all know all costs have increased and so this income is vital for us to remain in a strong financial position to be able to fund future concerts etc.   Additionally there are currently over 40 people supporting gift aid which gave us extra income this term of £450.

The quiz night which will be held in the spring should be an excellent fundraiser as it was in March this year earning a net income of over £900..  With the bonus ball income of over £550 this is all a major contribution from the choir members.

The expenditure for the upcoming concert in December will be in the region of £2,800.   Income probably will be around £1,200.   So this is a deficit which is always the case at our concerts.   However, the extra income mentioned above supports the concerts and this makes a major difference.   With a large choir and with it the income it generates we are in a strong position to afford a larger than normal concert as we will be doing in June 2025.  We still need to establish the costs of musicians and soloists and the cost of instruments, but this needs to be decided in the next couple of months.   I am certain that we will cope with these costs pretty well.

Malcolm Butcher

Treasurer

Report from Archive Sub-Committee meeting, 22^nd October

Present at the meeting were: Fiona Bartlett, Ruth Cawcutt, Jo Curry, Jenny Hyams and Pat Thompson.  Apologies for absence from Amanda Fletcher.

It was decided that the Archive Sub-Committee’s remit was to collect and organise information and artefacts for display boards to be on display at the major events celebrating the 25^th anniversary of HCS next year, viz the get together on 25^th January at St James, the Carmina Burana concert at Archbishop Sancroft on 28^th June and the Christmas concert on 6^th December.   If possible, it would also be nice to have them at our London Road Church practice venue at some point but this will need investigating.  It was noted that we will need to get permission from these venues to put up the display boards.  Some of the material gathered could also feature on our website.

A list was made of all the aspects of the choir’s history which would be needed and members of the committee volunteered to research and compile information.

John Formston has very kindly offered to supply us with the boards and Linda Barden, who cannot at present attend choir, has offered to help mount the displays.  She has a lot of experience in this field and we are very grateful for her help. The question of where to store the display boards is being investigated.  Carol Hammond has kindly offered to take charge of the Archive File and to rationalise it.

Thanks to Carol for hosting us.

Our next meeting to monitor progress will be Tuesday 3^rd December at Ruth Cawcutt’s house.

Jo Curry 

23^rd October 2024

Publicity sub committee report for Committee meeting 6 December 2024

• copy continues to be sent to the parish magazines etc at the beginning of each month for their next editions 
• website updated regularly (and many thanks to Paul, who is currently in Canada) 
• Heather has created a brilliant poster for the Christmas Concert, plus tickets, all of which will be available for distribution from Monday 4^th
• Malcolm has taken tickets and a float to HIP
• ARTSeast:  Sarah Veness, Editor of the free Arts magazine for the Eastern Region, is putting copy in the November issue about our Christmas concert, with the pic below – Heather’s Christmas concert poster wasn’t available to meet their copy deadline.

• John F has the banner in hand for our Christmas Concert 
• Jenny starts work on the programme this weekend
• we need to have a meeting about publicity for our 25^th anniversary (and also to consider the overlaps with the Archives sub committee/Jo), before the end of November.  Jenny will send out possible dates in the next week.

Jenny Hyams

3 November 2024

Archives Sub Committee

Jo Curry

Jenny Hyams

Fiona Bartlett

Ruth Cawcutt

Carol Hammond

Pat Thompson

Amanda Fletcher

.

HARLESTON CHORAL SOCIETY
Held on Monday 7 th October 2024
at 8.15pm in The Church on London Road, Harleston

Stella welcomed Justin, Karen and choir members and declared the meeting open

1. Apologies for absence
   Apologies were received from Jo Curry, Philip Hall, Lynda Bradley, Alison
   Dumbell, Anne Pickstock, Felicity Todd, Robyn Challis and Lou Townsend.
2. Minutes of the last AGM (held on Monday 9 th October 2023)
   The minutes were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
3. Report by Music Director
   Justin delivered his report (see attached). This was proposed by Caroline
   Rodbourne and seconded by Ivan Tammas.
4. Report by Chair
   Stella delivered her report (see attached). This was proposed by Nikki
   Wilkins and seconded by Jenny Hyams.
5. Report by Treasurer
   Malcolm delivered his report (see attached). This was proposed by John
   Formston and seconded by Julia Awty.
   He had also brought along copies of the annual accounts for choir
   members that wanted them and these will be filed with his report.
6. Appointment of Auditor
   Mr Robin Farrar was, again, appointed as Auditor for the year.
7. Election of Committee members for the year 2024/25
   Jo Curry, Amanda Fletcher, Fiona Bartlett and Heather Butcher were all
   due for re-election this year and have all agreed to stand again. This was
   proposed by Tony Pringsheim and seconded by Tom Crisp.
   This left one vacancy and Nikki Wilkins, who was co-opted earlier in the
   year to deputise for Malcolm, as Treasurer, was proposed by Malcolm
   Butcher and seconded by Julia Awty. Heather Butcher had volunteered to
   stand down if anyone else wanted to join but there were no further
   nominations.
   It was proposed by Ruth Cawcutt and seconded by Ivan Tammas, that
   John Awty, who has been acting as Membership Secretary, be elected permanently in this position.

Stella had announced in her report that she is standing down as Chair.
Caroline Rodbourne and Jo Curry were proposed by Tony Pringsheim and
seconded by Ruth Cawcutt, as Chair and Vice Chair respectively (for the
purposes of the constitution), although, in practice, they will share this
position equally.
Stella encouraged people to join the committee and invited them to come
to a meeting if they wanted to see how we work. She also told them about
the various sub-committees and explained that members are welcome to
join any of these without being on the main committee.
Stella declared the meeting closed
Date of next AGM: Autumn term 2025

TREASURERS REPORT

Income and Expenditure Report downloadable here
We commenced the year with a membership of 60 and during the year we
have kept the numbers of choir members at the same level which is an
indication of the strength and success of the choir and the enjoyment of
taking part in a thriving team.
The income from subscriptions in the year was £7,720, an increase of
£1,300 on the previous year.. In addition to that we raised a further
£1,249 from Gift aid, and a further £917 from the Quiz night. Also, we
have increased the earnings from the bonus ball to £550. Thank you
Fiona for continuing to manage this and thank you all for your
contributions to all of these fundraising incomes which are vital to
provide the necessary support to the choir.
The cost of the hire of the London Road Church was up by £120 this year
to £1,539.
The library costs in the year are considerably less than the previous year,
at a net figure of £1,096 which is £239 less than last year and this is
because some choir members have purchased their own copies.

Concert income from the two concerts was £3,254 and the costs
amounted to £5,560.. This is fairly consistent as we have not had large
orchestra numbers, but obviously if we do then the costs will multiply
while the income does not increase very much because the audience
number that we can fit into the church is restricted. Also, if we charge too
much then fewer people may attend. However, the income from the
December concert, Vivaldi’s Gloria, was the highest we have ever had.
Probably the most significant cost in the year is that we had to purchase a
new digital piano, because the old one decided enough was enough. This
cost was £1,139. Also, regrettably, the workshop that we planned had to
be cancelled due to a lack of interest. We will have to reconsider what we
do in the future.
Apart from increased rent, all costs are steadily increasing. The fees for
our Music Director and Accompanist have risen, quite rightly, and
although we have been fortunate to acquire talented soloists and
musicians at fairly lowish costs, there is ongoing pressure for their fees to
be increased. So, this will put further pressure on our income.
Subscription costs rose from £40 to £45 in the year and I know some of
you are paying £50, which is very generous.
We have two concerts ahead of us in the next 12 months and the costs of
these will test the resources, both of the management and the finance. The
concerts I am sure will be very enjoyable and challenging. There will
always be changes in the circumstances in the year and these need to be
managed by everybody.
I hope we have a very successful year both musically and financially.
Malcolm Butcher – Treasurer

MUSIC DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Another year has flown by – a year packed with musical achievements
and triumphs for the society. Casting our minds back to December 2023,
we delivered a blistering version of Vivaldi’s Gloria which rightly
received rapturous applause. Other highlights included Stella doing
sterling work on percussion in “Do you hear what I hear?” ,Tony on flute
and my thanks to Ivan, Brenda and Fiona-Catherine for their solos within
the concert. Audience numbers were up and I think the general feeling
was a wonderful evening all round.
The choir worked very hard during the spring and summer months on the
double bill of Saint-Saens Requiem and Dvorak Mass in D. I know some
of the choir found the music challenging at times but come June, and
even with a sizable number unwell on the night, the choir delivered
singing of high quality combined with commitment and confidence. The
reception at the end – including cheering, was testament to all your hard
work and I thank you so much for this. We were very fortunate to have
our quartet of soloists back for this and they are all returning this
Christmas for the Haydn Missa Sancti Nicolai.
I’d like to thank Karen for her humour and unswerving determination to
make rehearsals fun and informative. I would also like to thank John
Witchell for stepping in and playing the rehearsals Karen was unable to
do earlier in the year. The choir is growing in number and quality, which
brings me neatly on to my next point….
So, 2025 is the 25th anniversary of the formation of Harleston Choral Society. As you already know we will begin the year’s
celebrations with an event towards the end of January. But what about the
music we will be singing next year? Well I can now reveal the concert in
June is going to be Carl Orff’s masterpiece Carmina Burana. I used to
sing this every year in the children’s choir and it was the piece that started
my parent’s interest in “Classical music” so it’s very dear to my heart. The
piece is epic, bonkers but a lot of fun to perform.
Christmas 2025 we will be performing Messiah part 1. The Messiah was
the first full length work performed by HCS so it seems very appropriate.
As this anniversary belongs to all of you – I would like you all to get
involved in choosing the numbers in the second half of the concert. If
everyone in the choir sends in their 3 favourite pieces, I will collate them
and the most popular will be included! Details on voting will follow in
due course.
It only remains for me to say a big thank you to our ever hard working
committee, without whom the society simply couldn’t exist and a VERY
big thank you to Stella who has steadied the ship this year and provided
me and the committee with invaluable help, support and advice.
Thank you all so much for making Harleston Choral Society what it is
today – fun, committed and boy do we pull it out of the hat come
performance day!

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
It is with pride and great achievement we can look back on the
year just gone. We have continued to develop all the different
areas of the choir renewed after Covid – membership numbers,
musicality and most important of all friendship.
The year started with our Christmas concert under the direction of
Justin – Vivaldi’s “Gloria” with old friends Jo Westaway and
Joanna Gamble joining us for the evening. The rest of the
programme contained so many lovely items both known and
unknown. (Berlioz, Rutter, Whitaker, Holst to name a few.)
The new venture of the previous year – hampers for the raffle –
was repeated, making another substantial profit.
Quiz night held its usual position in March. Such a well attended
evening. Thank you to John Formston for the even more frustrating
questions, to Fiona for the raffle and to Julia and her team for the
exquisite food.
Our Summer concert at the end of June really tested all our brains,
memory and ability to connect sight to sound. Part I was Dvorak’s
Mass in D Major and Part 2 Saint-Saens’ Requiem. A few weeks
beforehand our much loved friend and Membership Secretary
Joanna had died and everyone agreed we should dedicate the
concert to her memory. Her husband Paul was overjoyed at this
decision. He attended the concert and told me afterwards she
would have loved the music.
Our Garden party was held in July, lovely weather, quizzes and
finger food. What more could we want. A further development this
year was a quiz to identify trees and plants around the garden.
Thank you to Caroline for hosting and to members who brought
food.
Our projected workshop planned for August unfortunately had to
be cancelled due to lack of numbers. Difficult decisions had to be
made at the last minute before money was spent. Thank you to
Amanda for dealing with all the contacting of prospective
attendees.
Also, as you have already heard from Justin about next year’s

work we are involving the High School with singing and hosting the
event. Contact is now very much in hand and several of the
committee have paid fruitful visits.
All this doesn’t happen, as you realise (or perhaps not) without a
great deal of hard work behind the scenes. First of all, thank you to
the Committee as a whole for their support and willingness to help
whenever there is a challenge. Justin had commented to me
earlier this year he had never worked with such a pro-active
committee. Thank you to Amanda for all her organisation and
minute taking. Thank you to John Awty for all his hard work as
Assistant Membership Secretary, sending out reminders for
everything from Schedules to dress code. My grateful thanks to
Julia for all her amazing work as librarian (and to Fiona and
Sharon who have helped her on handout days) It is important that
you listen to her requests and abide by them. Thank you to them
both for lending a listening ear when I needed it. A very big thank
you to Malcolm for his continued, amazing management of the
Society’s money and to Nicky for agreeing to help in that area.
Thank you to Heather for all her work devising the programmes
and posters, to Jenny and her team for dealing with publicity, to Jo
for all her work behind the scenes, to Caroline for being so
generous with her house, garden and time and to John Formston
for quizzes and banners.
Thank you to Fiona for all her help with bonus ball and raffles.
Thank you to Justin for all his encouragement, and hard work over
the last year. He has introduced us to such wonderful music we
didn’t know existed. And thank you to Karen for all her hard work
over what has been a very difficult period for her.
Last year we initiated Sub-committees to help with the working of
the Society and cut down on the length of the main meetings.
These are Archives, Publicity, Music, Social, Workshop. Please
consider joining one of them to learn what goes on and bring your
expertise to the Society.
Finally, I did say last year I was stepping down. Circumstances
slightly changed within the Committee but this year I do mean it
and the Committee have accepted my decision.
However, next year will be an amazing time, much to celebrate
and giving and experiencing the joy of singing.

Stella Brownsea
7 th October 2024

Downloadable here as a Word document

Tuesday 6^th August 2024

Present:  Stella Brownsea, Fiona Bartlett, John Formston, Jo Curry, Malcolm Butcher, Heather Butcher, John Awty, Julia Awty, Caroline Rodbourne, Jenny Hyams

In attendance:  Justin Bindley

Apologies for absence:  Amanda Fletcher

1. Matters arising from the last meeting

Music donation

Stella had reported that we had been offered a collection of music from an HCS supported in Long Stratton.  Julia confirmed that this has now been collected and will be stored at her house, along with other donated music, including that from Joanna.  This will all eventually be catalogued.

2. Treasurer’s Report 

The Committee thanked Malcolm for his report, which overall showed that a healthy bank balance has been maintained.  He will do a full financial report for the AGM on 7 October.  Malcolm and the Committee congratulated Fiona for achieving the best Bonus Ball income ever, at £550.00 for the year.  Fiona explained that she will not be doing the Bonus Ball on the first Monday of the new term, but will pick this up on 9 September.

3. Music Director’s Report 

The Committee thanked Justin for his report.  John A reported that he had received several emails after the concert, one saying that it was the best amateur performance of the music they had ever heard.  Justin said that there were professional singers in the audience who endorsed this, including singers involved with setting up a choir in Fressingfield.

4. Feedback/reports from Sub Committees

1. Music Sub Committee – main points

• Workshop weekend:  it was reluctantly agreed that despite all the publicity, direct contact with last year’s attendees, canvassing at the Garden Party, and numerous emails from John A, the low number of people who had booked did not make this year’s workshop financially viable.  Various options were discussed, including a further possible email to all members, and scrapping the Saturday morning session, but in view of the limited timescale, and the possible loss of £400 overall, there seemed to be little option but to cancel.  Malcolm pointed out that in 2023, £700 was taken for the workshop which 40-50 people attended.  Justin expressed his disappointment at this turn of events and the Committee thanked him and Karen for all his and Karen’s hard work preparing for the workshop.

• Christmas concert:  Julia reported that the choir now knows the running order. She has collected the music, though not ‘Bethlehem’ which will be photocopied.  

• Rehearsal attendance: Justin reiterated his concern about the extent of absenteeism last term.  It was agreed that John A will send out an email to all members at the beginning of the new term, asking them to notify him of all rehearsal absences, whether planned or unexpected, and to confirm their availability for the concert.

• Hiring out HCS catalogue: Julia reported that 55 copies of the Ronald Corp “Christmas Mass” have been hired out to Wymondham Choral Society for the sum of £68.75 

• Carol Service in aid of Guide Dogs for the Blind: Stella had been approached by the charity’s local fundraiser asking if we could sing at a “Celebration of Christmas” at St. Nicholas Church, Diss, in 2025, which would consist of choir-only numbers and to support the congregation/audience.  Justin pointed out that Christmas is the busiest time of year for himself and Karen and he is reluctant to commit to it.

• Sectional rehearsals: These have proven to be extremely useful and should be encouraged to continue.  Basses and altos have met at members’ houses; sopranos and tenors have held short sectional rehearsals prior to the main Monday evening rehearsals.  It was also thought that, as they are such a large section, Justin’s involvement with the sopranos would be very helpful.

2. Publicity Sub Committee – main points

• New outlet: Sarah Veness, Editor of ArtsEast, has agreed to put copy and a photo re our Christmas Concert 2024 in the Autumn issue; there will probably be an opportunity to publicise our future concerts too

• HCS website: After Joanna’s death, Paul said that he would continue maintaining the website, for which we are very grateful.  Immediate updates were sent to him re the Summer Concert, and then further updates re the August Workshop.  Jenny will continue to send him updates as and when necessary

• Basil Abbott: Jenny reported that Basil has now reviewed our last three concerts and these reviews have been posted on the HCS website, but not in the Diss Express, which used to be where his reviews appeared.  As he said in an email after our Summer Concert, ‘Nothing in the Diss Express, Jenny, even though I put a note in saying how much the reviews mean to local groups. I feel bad that I am accepting free tickets from you, but you get nothing in return . . . I can still put reviews on social media, which has greater coverage than the circulation of the newspaper, but it is not the same. You can decide whether you want me to continue writing something about your concerts’. Jenny will assure Basil that we are happy for him to post reviews on social media and that the free tickets are a small price to pay.  She will also contact Diss Express to seek an assurance that future press releases will be published.

3. Social Sub Committee

Caroline thanked everyone who had helped at and/or sent food to the Summer Garden Party which had been a huge success.  The Committee thanked Caroline for hosting such a lovely event.

5. 25^th Anniversary

There was considerable discussion about the 25^th Anniversary concert (summer 2025) as well as possible celebratory events throughout the year, leading up to the Christmas concert 2025.  Ideas will be further developed at the next meeting.

6. AGM 

There was a discussion about who is due for re-election onto the committee this year and other changes.  Details will be confirmed on the agenda for the AGM on the 7^th October.

7. Choir members’ feedback

To be carried forward to the next meeting due to lack of time.

8. Date and time of next meeting

TBC

Signed ………………………………… Date ………………………………

Printable Word file here.

Here as printable pdf file

HARLESTON CHORAL SOCIETY
MARCH 2024 REHEARSAL SCHEDULE

MONDAY 4TH MARCH

DVORAK MASS IN D
Sop and Altos with Karen
Tenors and Basses with Justin
CREDO – pages 31 – 37 (to Figure D)
2015 – all back together and Run pages 31 to 37
BREAK
SAINT SAENS – REQUIEM
HOSTIAS – pages 46 – 49
ORO SUPLEX – pages 38 – 45 (recap)
REX TREMENDUS – pages 27 – 37 (recap)
CALL ENDS

MONDAY 11TH MARCH
DVORAK MASS IN D
Sop and Altos with Karen
Tenors and Basses with Justin
CREDO – pages 39 – 45
2015 – all back together run pages 39 – 45, then from 31 – 45
BREAK
SAINT SAENS – REQUIEM
SANCTUS – pages 50 – 54
HOSTIAS – pages 46 – 49 (recap)
KYRIE – pages 3 – 13 (run)
CALL ENDS

MONDAY 18TH MARCH
DVORAK MASS IN D
Sop and Altos with Karen
Tenors and Basses with Justin

CREDO – pages 46 – 52 (to letter L)
2015 – all back together run pages 46 – 52, then from 31 – 52
BREAK
SAINT SAENS – REQUIEM
AGNUS DEI – pages 70 – 75
DIES IRAE – pages 14 – 26 (run)
CALL ENDS

MONDAY 25TH MARCH
DVORAK MASS IN D
RUN PAGES 1 – 52
BREAK
SAINT SAENS REQUIEM
RUN WHOLE WORK
CALL ENDS

AGM 9th October 2023

Chairman’s report

It is with great pride and fulfilment we can look back on the year
just gone. In last year’s report I described the Society as
blossoming again after the pandemic. We have really continued
that development to almost rival Kew!
The year started with our Christmas concert under the direction of
Justin, the first concert with us for which he had chosen the
programme. The main work, Ronald Corp’s “A Christmas Mass”
was so enjoyed by the audience (and eventually by the singers!) In
the words of the critic we created Christmas sparkle, a concert to
lift the spirits, helping to forget for a while the troubles of the world.
A new venture with the raffle was tried – hampers, the contents of
which were provided by members. Thanks to two of Neil’s
daughters it made a substantial profit.
Quiz night was held in March – a very well attended evening.
Thank you to John Formston for the frustrating questions, to Fiona
for the raffle and to Julia and her team for the exquisite food.
Our Summer concert at the end of June developed us even
further, the main work being Haydn’s “Stabat Mater” and a
selection ( or as the critic put it – “a bean feast”) of choruses, soli
and duets from Mozart in the second half – a concert of massive
contrasts. We welcomed back Laura Morgan and Aleksi Kaponen
who were joined by David Menezies and Joanna Gamble – four
soloists who didn’t just sing, they performed. Will we ever forget
Aleksi and Laura singing “La ci darem”? We sang in five different
languages- thank you to those members who gave us tuition in
pronunciation and to Caroline for looking after David and Aleksi for
the weekend.
In July, Caroline kindly hosted a garden party. It was quite a windy
afternoon – would be an understatement! Marquees and gazebos
had been erected and taken down in the previous few days, but
again a lovely, friendly afternoon was enjoyed, not many games
were played, two musical quizzes had been prepared by Julia and
Caroline and the food was great.

We held a 2 day workshop in August, learning to read music,
voice production, and studying pieces to perform. It was open to
non-members and lunch was available to purchase. Six members
formed a sub-committee and what an amazing success it was.
Thank you to the never tiring sub-committee Julia, Fiona, Caroline,
Joanna and Amanda and to Justin and Karen for the musical
organisation. There were 52 attendees in all many of whom came
to more than one session. It was a terrific atmosphere, people
chatting over lunch, registration and catering went smoothly and
we made a profit!
All this, as you realise doesn’t just happen without a great deal of
hard work behind the scenes. First of all, thank you to the
Committee as a whole for their support and willingness to help
whenever there is a challenge. Thank you to Amanda for all her
minute taking and organisation. I don’t know how she does it.
Thank you to Joanna and Paul for organising the website and
keeping it up to date. Thank you to John Awty for all his hard work
as Assistant Membership Secretary. He’s the chap behind the
reminders, helping with anything on computers. My grateful thanks
to Julia for all her amazing work as Librarian. You all must have
seen the piles of music she sits behind and always smiles when
she hands you yours. Thank you to them both for lending a
listening ear when I need it. A very big thank you to Malcolm for his
continued management of our money. He has finally succeeded in
changing us over to a non-fee paying bank and getting all our
transactions on line.
Thank you to Heather for all her work with devising the
programmes and posters, to Jenny for dealing with the publicity, to
Jo for all her help behind the scenes especially when anything
needs moving. Thank you to Caroline for being so generous with
her house, garden and time and to John Formston for his sensible
advice.
Thank you to Fiona for all her help with the bonus ball. I think
Malcolm’s report will tell you how much this has raised over the
year.
How do we say thank you to Justin and Karen? Their
encouragement and musical knowledge over the last year has
been phenomenal. Justin is always searching the airwaves for
new, interesting and inspiring music for us and our audiences.

We have welcomed 4 completely new members this year and had
6 returnees.
We have also initiated sub-committees to help with the working of
the society and cut down on the length of the main meetings.
These are Archives, Publicity. Music, Social, Workshop and
Concert Admin. Please consider joining one of them to learn what
goes on and bring your expertise to the fore. We can promise the 3
Fs – fun, friendship but most importantly FOOD.
Finally, I did say last year I was stepping down. Circumstances
have slightly changed within the committee so I am happy to
continue but really must next year. So please have a think
We have great concerts to prepare over the next year when we will
be giving and experiencing the joy of singing.

Stella Brownsea
9 th October 2023

Running Order

CHRISTMAS 2023 CONCERT
9TH DECEMBER
FIRST HALF:
ONCE IN ROYAL DAVIDS CITY – AUDIENCE AND CHOIR
BLOW BLOW THY WINTER WIND – RUTTER
SHEPHERDS FAREWELL – BERLIOZ
GLOW – ERIC WHITACRE
GLORIA – VIVALDI (WITH JO WESTAWAY, BRENDA CROCKFORD AND JOANNA
GAMBLE)
THE FIRST NOEL – AUDIENCE AND CHOIR

SECOND HALF:
O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM – AUDIENCE AND CHOIR
CHRISTMAS DAY – HOLST (WITH SOPRANO , ALTO , QUARTET AND CHORUS)
IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER – DRAKE (SOP AND TENOR SOLO)
CAROL OF THE BIRDS – GUERNEY – JOANNA GAMBLE (ALTO)
LULLY, LULLA LULLAY – STOPFORD
PIANO SOLO – KAREN SMITH
DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR? –
I WISH YOU CHRISTMAS – RUTTER – JO WESTAWAY (SOPRANO)
JINGLE BELLS
O COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL – AUDIENCE AND CHOIR

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