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News 2009 - 2011 Updated on 3 February 2011 |
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Brahms Requiem 2011 Our main concert of the year will be the Brahms Requiem on Saturday 29th October 2011 at 7.30pm in Emmanuel Church, Loughborough Leicester University Botanic Gardens 9th July 2011 An outdoor concert at which we will perform two twenty minute slots. More details to follow. Summer Concert Saturday 25th June 2011 This concert is planned as a replacement for our missed Christmas concerts (see below) in the hope that we will join with the Donisthorpe Primary School Choir and the brass band from St Botolph’s. It will take place at Emmanuel Church Loughborough. When details are finalised they will be found on the website. Yorkshire Tour - April 2011 Due to the high cost quoted for a tour to Budapest, that has been put on hold until 2012 in the hope that we can organise it amongst ourselves for a much cheaper price enabling more Singers to participate. However it was felt that we should still embark on a tour this Easter but in this country. To that end, after much hard work by committee members, we are looking forward to a splendid time in Yorkshire with the following itinerary (having been altered slightly owing to a rather important event on 29th April!) We shall perform a concert of sacred and secular music in Bolton Priory Church on Wednesday 27th April at 2pm. On Thursday we perform in the north transept of York Minster at 2pm followed by an evening concert at St Mary’s Church Barton-in-Humber, by kind invitation of the minister who is the father of Vanessa, one of our sopranos. Friday is free to allow those who want to enjoy the Royal Wedding! Our tour ends with Choral Evensong in Selby Abbey at 4pm on Saturday 30th April. We are all very much looking forward to it. Wedding 16th April 2011 We shall be singing at the wedding of Brian Walbey’s daughter at Sawley Parish Church. Brian is a former bass with the Shepshed Singers. Christmas 2010 Unfortunately the weather severely hampered and almost put paid to Shepshed Singer’s Christmas of 2010! Our main concert of the year was to have taken place on 4th December with the Donisthorpe Primary School Choir. However heavy snow in the week leading up to the concert meant a cancelled rehearsal and hazardous road conditions subsequently lead to the decision to cancel being made on the Saturday morning. 
Fortunately there was a slight let up in conditions the next week and once again we took part in the SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society) ‘Lights of Love’ annual concert in Nottingham on December 10th.
There were carols, readings, poems and the opportunity for bereaved parents to light a candle for their lost child. We were also due to take part in the St Botolph’s seasonal concert with brass band on the Wednesday before Christmas and yes, you guessed it, snow intervened and the concert was cancelled. This left us with no opportunity to present Andrew with his christmas gift necessitating a trip to Ashby by Chairman Wyn Parry to deliver the goodies on our behalf!
Cherubini Requiem Early 2010 saw the Shepshed Singers working towards a joint concert with Leicester University Choral Society of which Andre is also Musical Director. The concert took place on Saturday 27th March at St Philip’s Church in Evington, Leicester. The choirs were accompanied on the organ by Jeremy Kimber. There was a small but appreciative audience.  Cake and plant stallShepshed Singers took a stall at the Loughborough Market in July 2010 to raise funds for the next choir tour, provisionally planned for Budapest. Cakes made by members and plants propagated by members sold well to raise £147. The team was, from left to right, Wendy Burns, Iris Sayer, Tina Walter and Heather Rees. Coalville Music Festival  On Saturday 8th May 2010, 13 years after our first foray into competitive singing we once again entered three classes at the Coalville Festival of Music. First place was attained in both the Sacred Class and the Large Choir Class. For many of the choir taking part in a festival was a new experience, but one which proved enjoyable! In the Large Choir class, the Singers performed Cantate Domino and You are the New Day. The choir had the honour of being awarded an 'outstanding' classification. 'An exceptional performance, both technically and artistically'. The adjudicator, Sheila Kent, awarded 90 marks for their performance. She said that the choir "... produced a really skilled performance. The blend was maintained beautifully and the dynamic contrasts effective. Very, very well done!" The choir also sang in the Winners Concert on Friday 21st May at Christ Church, Coalville.
Two Choirs One Voice At the end of January 2009 we were delighted to take part in a joint concert with Viva la Musica at Christchurch Methodist in Shepshed. The concert was arranged as a fundraiser and tribute to Jane Bailey who sang with both choirs and had lost a long battle with cancer in August 2008. The evening was a great success enjoyed by a large audience of Jane’s family, friends and supporters of both choirs. Special mention was also made at the concert of three other choir members who passed away in 2008, Margaret Stackhouse, Mike Manning and Janet Watson. A grand total of £1000 was raised and although it was to have been shared with the church they also kindly donated their share to Cancer Research UK. Dinner In late February 2009 we enjoyed a belated ‘Christmas’ Dinner at Livio’s Italian restaurant in Shepshed. Memorial Service In April 2009 Shepshed Singers were pleased to participate in the annual memorial service at St Botolph’s Church organised by Shepshed District Funeral Service. The service is held for the bereaved families that they have served in the previous twelve months. We were there to support the hymn singing and performed Amazing Grace and Holst’s Nunc Dimittis. Mother’s Union In May we took part in a service for the Leicester Diocese of the Mother’s Union at the All Nations Centre. We sang some sacred and secular pieces and joined with the singing of the hymns. Canon Margaret Sentamu was the guest speaker. Our presence and participation was much appreciated and all those who took part enjoyed the evening. Weddings In August we were delighted to be part of the weddings of two choir members’ offspring. The services for Peter and Tracey Hayes, son of Jean Hayes and Charlotte and Carl Mee, daughter of Ann Dale were well attended and thoroughly enjoyed by all attendees. November Concert 2009 - Handel’s Joshua Some 250 years since Handel’s death many events around the country were commemorating the occasion with performances of the Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah, but thanks to Musical Director Andrew Goff, the Shepshed Singers performed one of his lesser known works, Joshua. With the excellent Chameleon Arts Orchestra and four splendid soloists the concert was a resounding success with a large and appreciative audience on a wet and windy November night! The reviewer stated that ‘this was an altogether convincing example of well rehearsed committed singing and playing from everyone who took part. Andrew Goff is to be congratulated on his ability to draw out of his performers a consistently polished musical tribute’ Plant a Tree
Christmas 2009 We took part in the SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society) ‘Lights of Love’ annual concert in Nottingham on December11th. This was our second concert and looks like becoming a regular part of our calendar as we have been invited again for 2010. There were carols, readings poems and the opportunity for bereaved parents to light a candle for their lost child. We also took part in the St Botolph’s seasonal concert with brass band on a snowy night just before Christmas.  During our pre-concert warm-up Alan Garlick, Chairman, presented Andrew with a gift from the Singers marking his  ‘Silver Anniversary’ ie 25 years of inspirational music with the Shepshed Singers. The gift was a framed print of ‘The Evocation of Apparition of Lenin’ by Salvador Dali, see right.Lis Muller’s perplexing biennial cryptic quiz raised a fantastic £188 for tour funds and a bottle of champagne was won by Jeni Beasley beating the Garlicks into a very close second! |
