Our 10th anniversary concert took place on 28 April 2018 with a performance of Handel’s Messiah under the baton of our musical director, Simon Walton. Our original musical director, John Bradbury was in the audience.
Simon’s feedback to the choir included these kind words: “I thought you sang magnificently last night. All of the things we worked on came off beautifully from some professional sounding runs to very musical dynamics. Several members of the orchestra commented on how good you were, and that is praise indeed. Most importantly, everyone seemed to have a fantastic time. Not only did we get rapturous applause from our impressively sized audience, but one of our fantastic soloists pointed out what a nice crowd we get at our concerts and how great the atmosphere is, generated by you and the audience.”
Archive material about the term
Registration
On 28 April 2018, we will be celebrating our 10th anniversary with performance of Handel’s much-loved oratorio, The Messiah with the following soloists:
Elizabeth Weisberg – Soprano
Susanna Spicer – Alto
Peter Harris – Tenor
Alex Ashworth – Bass
Rehearsals started on Wednesday 10 January 2018 but if you have not yet registered you are still very welcome to come and sing with us this term. You will be able to register at the start of rehearsals for the next few rehearsals. Please bring your subscription (cash or cheque) – £70 for the term plus £8 if you need to buy a score (see below). If you preregistered before the start of term using our on-line form and are due to pay on-line, please remember to do so.
Score
We will be using the New Novello edition of The Messiah, edited by Watkins Shaw. This is the same edition which we used last time we did The Messiah. Copies will be available to buy from us for £8 at the first two rehearsals. We will not be providing rental copies.
A full rehearsal schedule is set out below and copies are available at rehearsals. You will see that we are not singing all the choruses – it is normal to cut sections of The Messiah as performances would otherwise be extremely long.
Venue
All Wednesday rehearsals start at 7.30 pm and are held in the New Lecture Theatre and the Music School at University College School – directions can be found here.
Learning tools
If you would like to get ahead with learning, there are excellent learning tools for The Messiah:
Cyberbass – one of the most comprehensive and easiest to use online tools.
www.johnfletchermusic.org is a very helpful site which has midi and mp3 files for all voice parts for The Messiah. Before using this site, you need to register.
There are also learning videos for each part of The Messiah available on Youtube.
Choraline and Saffron Choral both sell CDs of the different voice parts of major works including The Messiah (though you should note that the Saffron Choral CDs are based on a different edition). Choraline now allows you to download files from their site.
Spring 2018 Rehearsal Schedule
| Date | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 January 2018 | 7.00 pm | Registration |
| 10 January 2018 | 7.30 pm | And the Glory of the Lord p.11 Oh thou that tellest p.46 |
| 17 January 2018 | 7.00 pm | Registration |
| 17 January 2018 | 7.30 pm | For unto us a child is born p.55 |
| 24 January 2018 | 7.30 pm | Glory to God p.68 His yoke is easy p.86 |
| 31 January 2018 | 7.30 pm | Behold the Lamb of God p.91 Revision |
| 7 February 2018 | 7.30 pm | Surely he hath borne our griefs p.98; And with his stripes p.102 Sing through all music to date, if time |
| 14 February 2018 | NO REHEARSAL | UCS Half term |
| 21 February 2018 | 7.30 pm | All we like sheep have gone astray p.106 |
| 28 February 2018 | 7.30 pm | He trusted in God p.115 Lift up your heads, O ye gates p.127 |
| 7 March 2018 | 7.30 pm | Let us break their bonds asunder p.161 |
| 14 March 2018 | 7.30 pm | Hallelujah p.171 Since by man came death p.186 |
| 21 March 2018 | 7.30 pm | Worthy is the lamb that was slain p.217 Amen p.225 |
| 28 March 2018 | 7.30 pm | Finish Amen Sing through all music to date, if time |
| 4 April 2018 | NO REHEARSAL | UCS Easter Break |
| 11 April 2018 | NO REHEARSAL | UCS Easter Break |
| 18 April 2018 | 7.30 pm | Revision - All |
| 25 April 2018 | 7.30 pm - UCS Great Hall | Revision - All |
| 28 April 2018 (Saturday) | 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm - UCS Great Hall | Final Rehearsal with orchestra and soloists |
| 28 April 2018 | 7.00 pm - UCS Great Hall | Concert |