Our most recent newsletter is on this page. It’s published twice a year and sent to all those who are on our distribution list – friends, acquaintances, patrons, choir members and officers. We include it here for anyone else who’d like to see what we’ve been up to recently.
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NEWSLETTER
No 44, July 2010
EDITORIAL
Welcome to the latest edition of the choir’s newsletter – I hope you find the content of interest. Having just taken over as editor, I am charged with developing it in a way which reflects the progress and ambitions of the choir. We are therefore reviewing all aspects of the publication including format, title, frequency, circulation list and whether it should carry advertisements. I would therefore welcome your views on this matter – contact details at the end of this newsletter.
Roger Plank
Editor
Tel: 01433–650546
Darley Dale School joined the choir for the Christmas Spectacular at the Winding Wheel.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIRMAN
In the January newsletter I mentioned we were entering competitions at Hazel Grove in February and Elsecar in March. For those of you not already aware we achieved first and second places respectively at these festivals. This was an excellent start to the ‘year’ and we hope to maintain this winning streak when we visit the Isle of Man in October.
As the Choir’s reputation grows we receive an increasing number of invitations to perform at various venues, many of which are outside our normal territory. We already have a full programme of events for 2010 and many dates fixed for 2011! Please make sure you obtain our programme list for the remainder of this year as I am sure we will be appearing ‘at a venue near you’ in the latter half of the year.
Following the success of our first CD ‘New Horizons’, we are hoping to produce a second recording later this year. The Choir also features on the DVD ‘The Magic of the Peak – Part 2’, a sequel to ‘The Magic of the Peak’, and this is available from most information centres throughout the Peak District.
Our annual concert at the Cathedral of the Peak is on the 24th July, and we look forward to seeing you all there for what promises to be a wonderful evening of music.
Finally, let me thank again our Patrons for their valuable support throughout the year. If you wish to become a patron of the Choir then please contact our Patrons Secretary, Alan Brignell, on 01298 871893, or complete the application in our 2010 Concert Programme leaflet.
Sean Jennings
Chairman
A MESSAGE FROM OUR MUSICAL DIRECTOR
I must commence by thanking Stuart Gordon for the excellent job he has done in producing a half yearly newsletter during my time at the helm. I know that he has dutifully done this for at least five years, always ensuring that we have had a consistent, interesting and informative product. I have always looked forward, as have many others, including all our patrons, to receiving it. “Thank You” Stuart, you have done a great job.
A lot of things in the Tideswell Male Voice Choir change very quickly and Stuart is now responsible for making sure that everything we do gets reported through the press. He has been doing this for a while now, and, as expected, is already making his mark.
Roger Plank made the mistake of saying that he had retired, so we very quickly appointed him as the new editor of the newsletter, which may shortly become a very up market magazine, watch this space. Roger, I know, will keep up the standard set by his predecessor. Whether or not he has retired, is still in doubt, but there is no going back, so “good luck” Roger.
The future is taking shape and planning for the annual concert, the Isle of Man festival, the Showstoppers Spectacular in the Buxton Opera House and the very busy Christmas period is well under construction, not to mention the new CD and the Come and Sing project. I do hope you have all got a copy of our new, newly designed, concert programme for this year.
As we go to press, the men from the Come and Sing project are getting ready for their inaugural performance at St John’s Church Buxton on 14th July when they join forces with the choir for our regular appearance as part of the Buxton Fringe.
I can also recommend our Annual concert in the Parish Church, Tideswell, on the 24th July when we welcome our guests “The Eleven”, a very professional group of musicians whose music I am sure you will enjoy.
I really could go on telling you about the wonderful things we have planned for the future but I think it best that you get a copy of our programme, or visit our website http://tideswellmvc.co.uk/ where you will find up to the minute information on everything; you might even like to leave a message in our guestbook.
As always, thank you for your continued support.
Dennis Kay,
Principal Conductor and Director of Music.
DO YOU JUST BELONG?
Are you an active member
The kind that would be missed?
Or are you just contented
That your name is on the list?
Do you attend the meetings and
Mingle with the flock?
Or do you just stay at home
To criticize and knock?
Do you take an active part
To help the work along?
Or are you satisfied
To only just belong?
Do you work with your committee
And get right in and mix?
Or leave the work to just a few
And talk about the “CLIQUES”?
Think this over MEMBER_____________
You know right from wrong!
Are you an active member
Or DO YOU JUST BELONG?”
Author Unknown
CONCERT REVIEW – JANUARY TO JUNE 2010
Chatsworth, Saturday 19th December, 2009. Were you there? And if so have you thawed out yet? It was more than just cold that day and being outside in the Courtyard, with no indoor changing facilities, was not ideal for the choir or the spectators. However we ploughed on but how poor David on the piano managed I really don’t know.
The weather caused havoc again on Sunday 20th December for this was the day of our “Christmas Charity Spectacular” at the “Winding Wheel” in Chesterfield. Heavy snow fell in the morning but cleared only to come again just as many of us were about to set-off for the rehearsal. Traffic jams were huge and many roads became blocked making it impossible to get through. Thankfully, Dennis, Chris and about half the choir members managed to make it as well as the entire Band so the show went ahead and was a huge success. Naturally audience numbers were down but those that made it were very glad they did and were so generous in the amount they contributed to our charities.
The Manager of the Palace Hotel in Buxton asked if we could get a team together to sing to their seasonal guests in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve. Dennis could make it (he always can – what an example to us all!) and a sufficient number of the choir volunteered to go along to what turned out to be yet another most enjoyable occasion, with tea and goodies thrown in. We have already been booked for next New Year’s Eve, so get it in your diaries folks.
We had a great start to the year by winning the choir section of the Hazel Grove Music Festival – and with only half the choir! The adjudicator explained (and demonstrated) at great length exactly what she had been looking for – we all felt she was Dennis in disguise!
What a contrast at the Don Valley Music Festival at the Elsecar Heritage Centre just a few weeks later when, after singing really well (probably better than at Hazel Grove) we were placed second to New Mill MVC from Huddersfield – who, many agreed were not at their best. The adjudication was disappointing, with no constructive comments about any of the choirs, merely saying how good she thought they all were. This was the first time we have competed at the Don Valley Music Festival and it was a pity about the adjudication as otherwise the Festival went off very well, with a large appreciative audience. We may try again.
We were invited to a wedding reception on 10th April. This took place at “The Dome” in Buxton where the bride was the daughter of the vice-chancellor of the University of Derby. We lined-up on the balcony way above the trifles and sang a couple of numbers, which seemed to go down well – just like the trifles.
What a good night we enjoyed at St. John’s on 24th April with the Chapel Ladies Choir and “Opus 96” from Ireland. It was very encouraging to see such a large and appreciative audience; all agreed how much they had enjoyed our visitors, and indeed the whole concert.
One week later we sang to another large, appreciative audience in New Mills – this must have been a near sell-out. Chris kept us all guessing in “De Ol’ Banjo” and the humour went down a treat.
It’s early in the year, our audiences are growing, and led by the brilliance of Dennis and Chris we feel on top form – so much to look forward to.
John Edlington,
Concert Secretary, 01433 650707
COME & SING
The possibility of doing a Come & Sing! project had been mentioned a few times during 2009 but nothing really happened until Dennis rang me in early February expressing his concern that time was marching by and if we didn’t move soon the opportunity to run the project this year would have passed us by. We quickly convened a meeting at our house on Sunday 7th Feb – and after a short discussion I agreed to lead the project, only because I was the one who had a flip chart. (He does himself a disservice – Ed.)
A few jobs were handed out to willing volunteers including the challenge to get about 25,000 leaflets distributed around the Buxton area. In the end that problem was easily solved by Royal Mail and numerous Choir members who really put a good effort into getting the word around.
By 5th March we had 34 would-be singers signed up and more joining every day so we knew the project was on! Dennis, with a bit of help from a number of TMVC members, conducted the auditions on 19/20th March and all entrants received the green light, so rehearsals could start on 16th April when nearly all turned up to the Dome. Standing outside after only a few minutes, I was amazed at the sound being produced – far more than the few Choir members in the room could generate.
Since then the group have gone from strength to strength and the joint concert with them in St John’s Buxton on 14th July should be a great occasion followed by the Opera House in October – you’d better get your tickets booked!
What is even more inspiring is the prospect of the Choir numbers growing quickly to 60 or more when the project comes to a close. We already have 5 new members as a result of Come & Sing and Ray Vaughan, our Wardrobe Master, is beginning to worry about equipping such a number – but like all our problems I’m sure a solution will emerge.
The real hero of this project is Dennis, our tireless leader, who has demonstrated yet again that he can inspire a totally new group of men to Come and Sing to a standard they would never have thought possible.
Bill Preece
YESTERYEAR POEM
We met and we married a long time ago,
We worked long hours when wages were low,
No TV, no bathroom – times were hard
Just a cold tap and a walk up the yard.
No holidays abroad, no posh carpets on floors,
But we had coal on the fire and we didn’t lock doors.
Our children arrived – no pill in those days
And we brought them up without any state pay.
They were safe to go and play in the park
And old folk could go for a walk after dark.
No valium, no drugs and no LSD.
We cured most of our ills with a good cup of tea.
But if you were sick you were treated at once
Not fill in a form and come back in six months.
No vandals, no muggings, there was nothing to rob,
Although we felt rich with a couple of bob.
People were happier in those sort of days,
Kinder and caring in so many ways.
Milkmen and paperboys would whistle and sing,
And a night at the pictures was our mad fling.
We all got our share of trouble and strife
And just had to face it – that’s the pattern of life.
But now we’re alone, we look back through the years,
We don’t think of bad times, the trouble, the tears.
We remember the blessings, our home, kids and love
And that we’ve shared them together, we thank God above.
Roy Edge, Tenor
THE BENEFITS OF SINGING
PART 1—Dealing with the credit crunch
‘Where there is discord, let there be harmony…’ Thirty years after Margaret Thatcher entered Downing Street with these words they have taken on a new and surprising resonance – in choirs – according to a recent article in the Guardian. Cheaper than therapy, more inclusive than sport, and a whole lot more fun than an hour on the cross-trainer, choirs are relieving the credit crunch blues of stressed-out professionals. All over the UK amateur choirs are reported to be packed, and new groups are springing up in firms of accountants and solicitors.
One example is the UBS Choral Society, founded in 2006 and now 80 strong. Despite losing four members because of redundancies, the choir has boosted morale. According to the choir’s chairman Pam Kilmister, ‘If you’re feeling down in the office because people around you are dropping like flies, it’s nice to go somewhere and see that there are still people working and those people come together and sing their hearts out’.
And there is science behind this euphoria. Singing releases endorphins – just as exercise (or chocolate!) does. It’s also physical – warm-up exercises relax the body and it improves posture and breathing, even relieving asthma in some sufferers. A study by Harvard and Yale universities concluded that singing increased life expectancy by developing a healthy heart and mental alertness.
THE PEAKERS STROLL
At the time of going to press, this annual event, organised by the choir on the first Sunday in July, has just finished. With a variety of distances from 9 to 25 miles ranging over some of the Peak District’s most spectacular hills, it has proved a popular event. There are regular checkpoints, a lunch stop, and a wonderful array of refreshments on return to the Reading Room in Peak Forest – all supported by choir members and their families and friends.
Apart from providing a great deal of pleasure (and pain!) for those taking part, it raises a healthy amount of money for the choir funds. We are therefore very appreciative to everyone who helped, and in particular to Alan Brignell who manages the event. And a special note to recognise the achievement of our chairman who is tackling the Stroll this year, just six months after breaking his hip – well done Sean!
A HISTORY OF THE CHOIR
The choir recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, and some interesting memories were brought to the fore. As we progress into the second half of our first century, it is clear that some of the early history of the choir could very easily become confused or lost. With this in mind, we are trying to assemble as much information as possible about any of the choir’s past. We are looking for anything at all that has involved the choir – concerts and festivals of course, but also non-singing events (such as our involvement with Tideswell Wakes and the Peakers Stroll), social activities (I recall invitations to bowling, canal cruises, and even gliding), and perhaps most importantly personal reflections and information about individual members. Photographs would be especially welcome.
Initially we aim to assemble an electronic archive of material – so we can return anything which is passed to us; if we can gather sufficient suitable content, we would like to produce a short illustrated history of the choir.
So if you have anything at all which may be of interest please contact me (details at the end of this newsletter) or any member of the choir. Many thanks
Roger Plank, Editor
STEPHEN SHIMWELL
We were very sad to learn of the death of Stephen Shimwell, MD of Sir Richard Arkwright’s Masson Mills Band, who passed away on Friday April 30th. The choir has had a close relationship with the band for some time, sharing many an enjoyable musical event with them, and through this developed a great respect for Stephen. He was a gifted euphonium player and conductor, a highly respected teacher, and a civilian professor at the Royal Marines School of Music. He was also responsible for the formation of two new bands, and achieved some notable successes in open competitions. He conducted Sir Richard Arkwright’s Masson Mills Band less than a week before his death, leading them in a performance of the highest standard, and it was fitting that the band, as one, attended his funeral to play in the service: a stunning tribute to the quality of his musicianship and leadership. He will be sadly missed.
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS/EVENTS
DON’T FORGET YOUR TICKETS FOR OUR ANNUAL CONCERT ON SATURDAY 24th JULY AT THE PARISH CHURCH, TIDESWELL STARTING AT 7.30PM.
If you would like more details about Tideswell Male Voice Choir and its activities, and where to obtain tickets for any concerts/events, please visit our website: http://tideswellmvc.co.uk/.
Editor: Roger Plank, Springfield, Sheffield Road, Hathersage, Hope Valley S32 1DA. r.j.plank@sheffield.ac.uk. 01433 650546
Transcribed 10 & 11 August 2010