Choral Life

Spring is Concert Season

Easter is a distant memory, and our Spring Concert is rapidly approaching. In twelve days time, in fact. On Saturday, 26 April at 7:30pm. in The Great School, Ipswich School, Ivry Street, Ipswich (no, that isn’t a typo). The main item on the programme is Carl Orff’s masterpiece Carmina Burana, presented here in chamber form, which in this case means that we’re accompanied by two pianos and oodles of percussion. We’ll also be singing Constant Lambert’s The Rio Grande (a very jazzy tone poem with words by Sacheverell Sitwell, who died 20 years ago this year). Our final choral piece, performed in honour of the 50th anniversary of Vaughan Williams’ death, is one of his folk songs, Ca’ the Yowes (based on a Burns poem).

We’re delighted to welcome our soloists, Rosamund Walton (Soprano) and Nick Fowler (Baritone) and our accompanists will be Martin Sanders-Hewitt and Timothy Carey. Martin and Tim will also be playing an absolutely superb piece for two pianos written by Percy Grainger - Fantasy on George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

As usual, Stephen Rumsey is our Conductor. Tickets are available now, priced at £8 for adults (£6 for concessions) and £3 for children. Please call 01473 611138 for advance bookings.

Filed under: Concerts.

A problem fixed - and new facilities added

If you’ve had problems with the registration form since we moved web hosts in January, I’m pleased to say that it is now fixed. It was down to my forgetting to change the links in the form that to point to their new home. I thought things had gone too smoothly!

I’ve also added some new facilities to the Members Only part of the site. Please log in to find out more. If you’ve forgotten your password, you can reset it by clicking on the ‘forgot password’ link at the left.

Filed under: Site News.

New rehearsal venue 18 March

The Easter holiday is almost upon us, and, while there is no rehearsal during Easter week itself (25 March), we will be meeting on the other Tuesday that falls in the school holiday, that is March 18.

The venue, for this rehearsal only, will be St Peter’s Church, Stoke Park Drive, Ipswich, IP2 9TH. The times will be the normal start and finish times, 7:30 to 9:30 pm.

The details of the church may be found here.

Filed under: Rehearsal Updates.

A new affiliation

We’re pleased to announce that, in addition to our existing relationships with Amazon.co.uk and iTunes, we have been accepted as an affiliate of Musicroom.com. If you’re looking for anything musical, you can help to swell the coffers of the Society by clicking on any of the links on the right, or using the search box at the left. Once you click through, your purchases from Musicroom.com for the next 30 days will be tracked, and a small percentage of anything you spend will go to the Society, at no extra cost to yourself.

For current members of the Society, this provides an opportunity to purchase scores of the two main pieces we’re rehearsing this term, Carmina Burana and The Rio Grande. 

Filed under: Music Purchase. Site News.

We’ve moved

Over the past 24 hours this site has been on and off the Internet a bit. This was because I was in the process of moving it from our old hosting provider to a new one. On the whole the process has been reasonably painless, and we’re now up and running again with some subtle changes in the layout. The new hosting provider has a lot more facilities available, as well as being 50% cheaper than the old one (!) and I haven’t scratched the surface yet.

Although I think most things are running ok, I’d like to know if there are any bits that are still broken - please use the contact form to send me email if you find anything.

Filed under: Site News.

Happy New Year

Welcome to 2008 from Ipswich Choral Society. After a highly successful Christmas concert (I have to say the new items went far better than I had hoped, particularly the Gospel numbers) we're raring to start rehearsals for the next Concert, Orff's Carmina Burana. Also featured will be a piece I've not sung for a good few years - Constant Lambert's Rio Grande.

It all starts next Tudeday, January 8, at the usual venue and time - 7:30 pm at St Helen's School, Woodbridge Road, Ipswich. Might be a good idea to arrive a few minutes early to get the music issued...

Filed under: Choir News. Concerts.

Christmas is Coming!

And so is "Ipswich Sings Christmas", this Saturday, December 15 at the Corn Exchange in Ipswich, starting at 7:30 pm. It promises to be a really special evening, with something for everyone to enjoy, from Brass Band and traditional carols to Gospel and hand bells. We're especially pleased to welcome BBC Radio Suffolk's Rachel Sloane as our compere for the evening.

On stage, Ipswich Choral Society will be joined by three local school groups, from Grundisburgh Primary School, St Alban's High School and Claydon High School. There will be a contribution from the Polish Community School in Ipswich. We are also being joined by our old friends of the Ipswich Citadel Salvation Army Band. Last, but by no means least, the Ipswich Adventist Gospel Choir will also be on hand to make sure that the concert goes with a swing.

Ipswich Sings Christmas is supported by the Evening Star and BBC Radio Suffolk, and is in aid of the Evening Star Somebody's Daughter Memorial Fund, which was set up following last December's tragic events in the town.

Tickets are selling fast, and are available from the Corn Exchange Box Office (01473 433100), priced at £7 for adults, £5 for concessions and £2 for children.

Filed under: Concerts.

Come and Sing Messiah

The Suffolk Area of the Royal School of Church Music are putting on a 'Come and Sing' performance of part 1 of Handel's Messiah with the Hallelujah Chorus replacing the final chorus. It happens on Sunday, 25 November, at St Mary's Church, Grundisburgh. There's a rehearsal at 2:30 pm and the performance at 3:30 pm, and the cost is £5 for audience and singers, (£2 for under 16s). Singers are invited to bring their own copies. Advance bookings may be made on 01473 735381 or 01473 216431.

The performance will be conducted by John Cooper, who has been president and vice president of Ipswich Choral Society for many years, and who will be retiring after the performance. All at Ipswich Choral Society would like to wish John all the best for the future.

Filed under: Choir News. Additional Concerts.

A Feast of English Music

The first concert of the 2007-2008 season is almost upon us. We're looking forward to performing a number of choral works by English composers, including Finzi's anthem God is Gone Up, Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music and John Rutter's Requiem, with solos being performed by various members of the choir. We shall also be giving the first performance of Ave Verum Corpus, a work by Aaron Parker, a 16-year-old from Felixstowe.

The concert takes place on Saturday, 10 November at 7:30 pm in St Margaret's Church, Bolton Lane, Ipswich. Tickets cost £8 (£6 for concessions) or £3 for children, and any proceeds will be given to Marie Curie Cancer Care.

All in all, it should be a very entertaining evening, with something for everyone.

Filed under: Concerts.

Change of venue, Tuesday 25 September

Our normal rehearsal venue is not available next week, so we shall be meeting instead at St Margaret's Primary School, Bolton Lane, Ipswich at the usual time, 7:30 pm. The school is situated at the town end of Bolton Lane, directly opposite St Margaret's Church. Parking will be available in the school playground.

Filed under: Rehearsal Updates.