At 6.30 on a bright April morning the bus carrying the Shepshed Singers Touring Group (47 of us including singers, supporters and our conductor) set off for Dover to catch the ferry to Calais.The weather was bright and sunny and the Channel was very calm. Following a very long journey we eventually arrived at our hotel in Paris at about 8 pm. Immediately after breakfast the next day, we assembled on the roof of the hotel for a short rehearsal. Our coach then threaded its way through heavy traffic to Notre Dame, where we were to perform our first concert.

Notre Dame Cathedral	Singing from the chancel steps

The cathedral was hushed and the light was very dim, but we were able to make out hundreds of people, some seated, some wandering around. The acoustics were not very helpful, and we found it hard work making ourselves heard, but nevertheless it was a wonderful experience, which we shall always remember.

The Singers are in town!	In the German Church

After a few hours free to indulge in a little sightseeing and some sampling of French cuisine we assembled for the evening’s concert at the German Evangelical Church. This was more modern, with a wooden floor and gallery, and the acoustics were much more friendly. The audience was very appreciative and we were able to entertain them with a mixture of sacred and lighter music.

Chartres Cathedral

In Chartres Cathedral

On Thursday morning we boarded the coach again for a 2 hour journey to Chartres, to sing in the magnificent cathedral, renowned for its stained glass windows. The acoustics here were different again, and the sound took 5 – 6 seconds to die away once we stopped singing. This was not such hard work as in Notre Dame, but our voices were already tired from two concerts on the previous day. After the concert we had a photo-call on the steps, where our supporters acted as Paparazzi to the choir. We all had dinner together and returned to Paris. Our driver, Jonathon, took us back via some of the famous landmarks in Paris which looked even more impressive at night when they were illuminated.

On Friday we were free to explore Paris, as we had fulfilled all our singing engagements. Most of us started the day by taking a trip down the Seine, then dispersed to see the sights. The weather was unseasonally warm which made it possible to relax at the numerous street cafes and watch the world go by.

On Saturday we made a fairly early start, and following a smooth but tedious coach journey, we all arrived in Shepshed exhausted but happy at about 8.30 pm. All in all it was a memorable and most enjoyable holiday, and we are already trying to decide where to go next time and how to raise the money to do it. Perhaps next time we’ll fly.

This is the repertoire that we took to Paris.

On a wet and windy March morning the Shepshed Singers departed East Midlands Airport bound for Prague and their Easter Tour.  The inauspicious start weatherwise became irrelevant as we landed in Prague to bright sunshine!  From the moment we arrived to the moment we left we saw nothing but blue skies (cue for a song I think!) and fine weather to accompany our tour.  The Hotel Opera was our most sumptious stay so far and we began our visit by rehearsing in the dining room ahead of our first concert in the Church of St Nicholas in the Old Town Square scheduled for the following lunchtime.

St Nicholas Church	On the steps of St Nicholas	Concert in St Nicholas Church

The concert was preceded by a short rendition on the steps of the church to hopefully encourage the passers-by to come in and listen.  An appreciative audience enjoyed our programme and afterwards Andrew was presented with a book on the history of the church together with a CD of music performed there.

Our concert in Karlovy Vary, formerly Carlsbad, two hours west of Prague proved to be the most enjoyable.  The spa town was looking at its best in the spring sunshine and we enjoyed a brief ‘tour’ with our NST rep, Hannah, before adjourning to a variety of eateries for lunch.

St Anns Church Karlovy Vary	Rehearsing in St Anns

As we arrived at St Ann’s for our concert the evening sunshine outside belied the cold conditions inside.  This church is in a poor state of repair with no heating or electricity and the purpose of our concert was to help raise funds for its renovation.  The locals turned out in force to watch us perform – in our coats due to the very cold conditions.

Andrew’s arrangement of Smetana’s Vltava proved most popular and served as an encore that elicited a standing ovation from a very ‘full house’!  Despite the lack of grand surroundings that we have encountered in a lot of our venues, we all felt really uplifted by this concert and the response we received.

Prague Tour Members

Our final concert involved participation in a mass at St Giles Church in the centre of Prague where we performed from a high balcony that meant that w didn’t really feel part of the service and once again it was very cold inside!  Our final night of the tour saw us on a boat on the Vltava for a two hour cruise including supper which rounded off the tour wonderfully well!  Many thanks are due to Andrew, Wyn (Treasurer), Peter(Chair) and Ann (Secretary) for all their hard work in the planning of the tour and whilst we were there.  We look forward to the Shepshed Singers Tour 2007, but where to…..?

Repertoire for the Prague Tour
St Nicholas Church		St Anns Karlovy Vary		St Giles
Concert of sacred music		Concert of sacred and secular music		Music for the mass
Caelos ascendit	Stanford	Blazheni	Tchaikovsky	Locus iste	Bruckner
Jesus junxit se	Palestrina	Jesus junxit se	Palestrina	Kyrie	Goff
If ye love me	Tallis	0 Rex gloriae	Marenzio	Gloria	Goff
O Rex gloriae	Marenzio	If ye love me	Tallis	If ye love me	Tallis
Haec dies	Howells	Narozene pane	Martinu	Sanctus	Goff
Beati quorum via	Stanford	Regina caeli	Croce	Agnus Dei	Goff
Alleluia surrexit	Anerio	Vltava	Smetana	Jesu dulcis memoria	Victoria
Narozene pane	Martinu	Two songs	Dvorak	Haec dies	Howells
Gloria	Goff	Besame mucho	Velazquez
Blazheni	Tchaikovsky	Brown eyes blue	Woods
Abendlied	Rheinberger	Anything goes	Porter
Justorum animae	Stanford	The way we were	Hamlisch
O quam gloriosum	Victoria	The Oak and the Ash	Rathbone
Regina caeli	Croce	Swing Low	Rathbone
		Nine hundred miles	Rathbone
		Downtown	Goff
		Marianne	Wilby
		Byker Hill	Wilby
		Water of Tyne	Woods
		Every night...	Stocks
		Sacramento	Woods

Barcelona April 2003

Our tour in 2003 took us to sunny Barcelona where we stayed at Hotel Rubens located in an attractive residential area to the north of the city near to Parc Guell.

The tour was booked through the NST Travel Group, they booked the hotel and arranged all the concerts and transport whilst we were in Barcelona.

We arrived in Barcelona at 8.00pm on Tuesday 22nd April.

Wednesday morning was free time to spend at leisure. In the evening we were scheduled to sing mass in a small lady chapel, followed by our concert at the main altar in the gothic .Barcelona Cathedral. This was certainly an experience for all taking part, the mass in particular as this was composed by our very own conductor Andrew Goff and this was to be it’s premiere performance.
It was well received and Padre Parvre was delighted with our performance, so much so that he has kept in touch with us and even flew over for our recent major concert ‘Valls Missa Scala Aretina’ which was composed in the 17th Century by Francisco Valls for Barcelona Cathedral choir.

The Repertoire for the tour was all sacred taken from the following: Brahms Warum ist das Licht, Bruckner Os Justi and Locus iste, Mendelssohn Richte mich Gott, Rachmaninov Bogoroditsye dyevo, Rheinberger Abendlied, Victoria O Quam Gloriosum and Jesu dulcis memoria, Stanford Three Motets, Holst Nunc Dimittis. Tchaikovsky Tyebye poyem and Blazheni yahze, Palestrina Jesu junxit, Croce Regina coeli, Anon Stella splendens, Taverner Dum transisset sabbatum and Goff Mass.

Thursday we travelled to Montserrat Monastery where we were allowed to sing in the Basillica . Again another wonderful experience. The monastery is certainly a major tourist attraction and we sang to our biggest audience to date (excluding Barry Manilow Concert) It was a beautiful and prestigious venue in which to sing. We were able to spend some time wandering around appreciating the magnificent monastery and the panoramic views.
Later the same day we performed our final concert in the Basillica Santa Maria del Pi, in the centre of Barcelona. Although not as magnificent as the Cathedral or the Monastery, the church proved to be an excellent venue in which to sing with very good acoustics and we felt this was our best performance of the tour, again being well received by a large audience.

Friday and Saturday were both free for us to sight see and enjoy the delights of a fascinating city.
We arrived back at East Midlands airport at 7.20pm Saturday 26th April with every one saying “Roll on Tour 2005”!


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