Latest News

June 2010

'Big Sing' at Great St. Mary's
Liebeslieder
For your diaries
A View from the Choir – Colin Bell (tenor)
Member news
Rachel Wroth

For these and other stories read the NCS Newsletter (a PDF of 452KB)

To begin the summer term in May 2010 we found ourselves once again in Jesus College chapel, and many of our followers came too. We gave a concert of unaccompanied music called 'Bach and Beyond'. Two challenging motets by J.S. Bach were combined with part songs by Mendelssohn, Parry, Pearsall, Vaughan Williams, Finzi, Elgar and Seiber, concluding with some arrangements of songs from the Broadway musicals. Chris Brown was conducting us for the last time this season before his examining trip to the Far East, so we wish him well for that.

We had hoped to go to Paris in mid-June for a weekend of collaboration with a French choir, but this plan fell through. Nevertheless we hit upon a satisfactory alternative. Our chairman, Frank Hopkirk, used to sing with a Canterbury based choir called Lees Court Music (see their website) and he persuaded them to join with us at short notice for a concert in Lympne, near the south coast of Kent. This was held in an ancient church in the grounds of Lympne Castle overlooking the English Channel on a lovely evening, and the concert went incredibly well considering the limited rehearsal time! We all enjoyed singing with Lees Court very much and we thank them for their hospitality, which included a party after the concert, lifts by car, and free overnight accommodation in their homes for about twenty of us. On the Sunday we sang for an hour in a Methodist church in Canterbury to round off the weekend. The programmes were a mixture of French chansons, English partsongs and anthems, including two medieval French pieces. Our guest conductor was Graham Ross, to be congratulated on his new appointment to Clare College, Cambridge, as musical director. We are most grateful to Graham for his meticulous and patient training for the weekend, and to Frank for his brilliant organisation.

To end the season we gave a concert at Horningsea Parish Church on a warm evening in July as part of the village festival. The programme was similar to the Kent one, but with the addition of three very tricky chansons by Maurice Ravel. There was tea beforehand at Frank's house, and a party followed the concert where amid delicious goodies and plenty of wine we said goodbye to our temporary conductor Graham Ross and wished him well for his future at Clare College.

Future Concerts:

Further information on our future plans is in the Newsletter (see above), or click on concerts.

Are you interested in sponsoring or promoting any of our Concerts?

In the past we have been very fortunate to enjoy financial support from a number of sources. Performing Handel’s Messiah this year in two venues was another major undertaking. Even if there had been a full house for each of the two performances we would have been left with a net loss, such is the cost of professional soloists and orchestral players. So we looked for a small syndicate of sponsors, each willing to donate or underwrite a sum in the region of £250-£350 (in exchange for priority booking and a pre-concert reception for themselves and their guests).

If you are interested in helping with future concerts on a more regular basis, our Chairman, Frank Hopkirk, would be pleased to hear from you on chairman@newcambridgesingers.org.uk

New Music Fund – New Cambridge Songs

We welcome contributions from anyone interested in promoting new music and have a New Music Fund for this purpose. Donations can be for use over a wide front or for specific works. Please contact the secretary, treasurer, musical director (see contact us) or any choir member you may know personally if you would like to donate to this fund.

Even better, you could join our new shareholder scheme, New Cambridge Songs, which enables you to sponsor a particular piece if song 'shares' are still available, or you could let us decide on the piece for you. Read about the scheme here (in PDF format).

Like to Sing?

We are always looking for experienced singers, particularly those with good sight reading ability, so if you would like to join us, or know others who might be encouraged, please do get in touch with our musical director, Chris Brown, or our membership secretary, Philippa Harris (see contact us).

Email list

Would you like to receive the newsletter by email? If so please email supporters@newcambridgesingers.org.uk to be put on to our electronic mailing list. This list will be used purely for keeping you informed of NCS concerts and developments. We intend to add a guest book to the website shortly.