Thanks for an excellent year’s singing. It has been another very good year for the choir, despite performing in some extreme weather conditions! In Earlsfield and Meldreth we shivered and sang with our coats in and in Fordingbridge we were blinded by the setting sun and suffered from heat exhaustion! Our visit to Wiltshire turned out to be a very enjoyable and sociable affair, with a great meal on the Saturday night and a relaxed Sunday strolling and singing in the grounds of Cranborne House. The audience at the Saturday concert was small, (although it was great to see Andy Thomas…whom many of us knew from way back!) but the weekend raised over £1000 for Salisbury Hospice. Big thanks to all who took part.

Next year’s programme is on the attached sheet. Keep one for the ‘fridge door and return the other to me so that I know who has committed to each event.

There will be some new music in the programmes, including accompanied works such as Pergolesi ‘Magnificat’ and Haydn’s ‘Te Deum’. The rest of the programmes will have a mix of the familiar and the new.

The highlight of the year will be our visit to the South of France, with concerts in Monaco Cathedral and Nice. We have a strong team of singers, having been joined by some very good voices (and lovely people!) during the last season; it would be good to take a group of around 40 as we can then sing some pretty loud stuff!!!!! (Zadok the Priest, Hymn to Athene etc)

We have changed the method of paying for rehearsals, although the basic rate per rehearsal remains the same at £3. I’d be grateful if members could pay either a single payment of £36 in September or £18 in September and £18 in January.

That’s all for now. Have a happy summer and see you in September.

Sincerely,

Brian Newman