After such a busy end to 2023, we’ve had a relaxed start to 2023. But just in time to counteract the effects of ‘Blue Monday’, rehearsals begin on Tuesday 17th of January at 7.30pm.
At this time of year – lots of people like to come and ‘try us out’. If this applies to you – you’re really welcome to come to any rehearsal – just say hello to whoever is leading on the night – Aga, Matt or Ashley (our choir leaders) – and you’ll be taken care of. It doesn’t matter if you only come to one rehearsal or end up being a regular member – singing is so beneficial to us all.
Speaking of new folk… It’s going to be a folk-music themed term! There’ll be some well-known catchy melodies with a few surprises mixed in. See you soon!
We’ll be back in the St Giles’ Centre at 7.30pm, just across the road from St Giles’ Church. All the dates you need are on the calendar page here.
New singers are always welcome! We’re a friendly bunch and you can turn up at a rehearsal whenever you like to try us out. Just tell one of our choir leaders (Aga, Matthew or Ashley) that you’re new when you arrive. It can be quite daunting coming to have a sing with a new group of people, but we aim to make it as comfortable and as fun as possible!
This term, we’ll be preparing for a concert in Novermber and our usual Christmas gigs. See you soon!
Whilst the end of 2021 didn’t end quite the way we hoped – with several cancelled events due to the virus – we’re hoping that 2022 will be a good year to sing!
We’re not putting any concerts or gigs in the diary just yet – but we’ll begin rehearsing again each Tuesday from the 25th of January.
Choir is back and you’re very welcome to join us! Whether you’re a regular / occasional member or just interested to see what we’re all about, here’s what you need to know.
Our first Rehearsal is in St Giles’ Church on Tuesday 7th September with Aga. It starts at 7.30pm. There’ll then be rehearsals every Tuesday up until half term (see the calendar page for more details).
If you’re new and wanting to try us out, your first rehearsal is free. Our regular fees are £5 or £3 concessions (students / seniors) and you can pay in person (cash only) or online. These are suggested fees though and if you continue to suffer financial hardship from the pandemic, please join us for free or pay as much as you can afford.
The use of masks for singing inside isn’t mandatory, but do feel free to wear a mask as you enter / exit – or even if you want to sing with one on. We’ll make full use of the space in St Giles’ when singing together. Please wrap up warm though, as the church is a bit chilly compared to our cosy and toasty hall!
We need to restart our half time hot drink helpers list – please do consider volunteer for this vital task!
We’re really looking forward to returning to a ‘nearly normal service’ come the autumn term!
We’ve updated our COVID-19 risk assessment and this takes into account the latest government advice. The main change is that we’ll be holding rehearsals in St Giles’ Church, rather than outside or in the St Giles’ Centre for the time being. We’ll have a lot more room in the church to be comfortable and to spread out, although do wrap up warm as St GIles’ is a big space!
Please note that the use of masks for singing inside isn’t mandatory, but do feel free to wear a mask as you enter / exit or even if you want to sing with one on.
We’re also going to restart refreshment breaks, but drinks will be served in single use cups for as short a time as possible (unless you bring a reusable cup) and you might want to consider bringing a flask or other refreshment instead.
Finally, we’ll now be rehearsing from 7.30pm (instead of 7.45pm) and rehearsal fees are £5 and £3 for concessions. These will remain ‘suggested’ fees for another term as we know that some people continue to suffer financial hardship due to the pandemic.
We hope that you’re excited to come back – we even have a first gig in the diary – see the calendar page for details. We wish you a lovely end to the summer and look forward to seeing you in September!
Well – it’s been quite some time (6 months) since your choir leaders wrote a post on the website. Apologies. We move in mysterious (lethargic) ways and we prefer to think that our lack of contact has encouraged you to come to more rehearsals to find out what on earth we’ve got in store for you. Or you could just blame our organisational skills. (What skills?)
Moving on – this summer is going to be big. Usually, we do a summer concert, perform outside in the park, join a few other choirs for another concert and so on. This term we have all that and more. The ‘more’ being ‘Organoke’, a new concept exploring the age-old link between the church pipe organ and rock and roll…
St Giles’ before organoke…
…afterwards
Essentially, we’re going to join in and lead karaoke classics accompanied on the organ in St Giles’ Church, with the help of a band, a bar and some fancy dress outfits. Admittedly, this is not a normal combination and to the best of our knowledge this hasn’t been done before and probably for good reason. But as the opening night of Camberwell Arts Festival on the 11th of June it’s going to be great and definitely something different! We’re working out exactly how it will all work but come to choir to find out more – you never know when the next post will be.
In the meantime, check out the calendar which has upcoming rehearsals and concerts and see you at choir soon!
Our new term starts on Tuesday 15th of September with Aga. You can see our schedule on the calendar page here. And like last year, we’re preparing music for a visit to 1920’s London with our silent film night, on Saturday 31st of October.
In October 2014, we accompanied Alfred Hitchcock’s silent film, ‘The Lodger: A tale of the London Fog’ with live music. We thought we’d stick to the same town and era so that we can encourage even more dressing up this time around. So dust off those fascinators and top hats!
Like last time, we’re combining period and new music. Whether we’ll be able to recreate one of the best chase scenes in cinema history to ‘Mad World’ is anyone’s guess, but we’ve certainly got some ideas. Piccadilly is a film about ambition, desire and jealousy set in the glamorous west end – it’s hugely stylish and we’ll be using the British Film Institute’s restored version to bring it all to life.
So definitely a date for your diaries – see you at a rehearsal soon!
Community Choir returns on Tuesday 21st April
After learning 6 brand new songs last term we definitely needed to call it a day. And a night!
Our spring concert, with a night and day theme, was the finale to a great term of rehearsals. We had lots of new faces, lots of cheese and wine… and we tackled the most difficult music we’ve ever performed, much of it in four parts. We had a great attendance at the concert and we raised nearly £200 for Ronald McDonald House Charity in Camberwell. The choir leaders even got their act together and stuck to the theme… in the end!
We also contributed to a concert with two other choirs on Monday 13th of April – even with lots of people away for Easter we still did a great job.
So, what do we have planned for summer 2015?
The theme is songs from musicals and we already have lots to put in the diary. On Sunday 10th May we’ll be performing at a garden party at Ronald McDonald House in Camberwell. Then on 20th June we have Masters of Pop II in St Giles’ Church. And on the following weekend on Saturday 27th June we’ll be supporting a world record in Camberwell… more on that soon!
Check out the calendar for all details of rehearsals and concerts – and see you at choir soon!
Happy New Year! Choir rehearsals start again on Tuesday 13th January at 7.45pm.
If you’ve never joined us before, why not try something new for 2015? Using your voice and singing with a choir has no end of health benefits. Really – you’d be surprised! As well as burning off over 200 calories per rehearsal – biscuits in the tea break not withstanding – singing in a choir is apparently better for you than yoga.
In 2013, Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, found that singers heartbeats synchronise when they sing together, bringing about a calming effect that is as beneficial to our health as yoga. “Song is a form of regular, controlled breathing, since breathing out occurs on the song phrases and inhaling takes place between these,” says Dr Björn Vickhoff, who led the study. “It gives you pretty much the same effect as yoga breathing. It helps you relax, and there are indications that it does provide a heart benefit.” So there you go!
To hell with the diet? If a New Year detox is not for you – come to our Wine & Cheese night on Tuesday 10th February. It’s basically a short choir rehearsal followed by your favourite tipples, creamy cheeses and a singalong round the Joanna – it’s now a choir tradition and you’ll love it! We’ve got lots more to plan and arrange performance wise, so we’ll keep you posted and bring you more details later in the term.
Time passes so quickly! And embarrassingly it’s been ages since we put some news on this website. Our Facebook page won the battle in terms of Christmas updates, but it’s not as if things haven’t been going on!
‘Camberwell Scare’ at the start of November last year must have been one of our most successful concerts ever – who would have thought a 1923 horror film and a live performance from a community choir would work? But it did – and it was so popular we might have to do it again this year! Our Christmas Concert was loads of fun too with a record audience turnout. ‘Carols ’round Camberwell’ was a bit damp, what with a thunderstorm starting just as we set out to sing! But we raised nearly £200 in 45 minutes towards the Philippines Typhoon appeal which meant it was well worth soggy clothes (and music).
Michael Gove’s favourite
But now to 2014 – and you can be sure that our music choices will remain eclectic as ever! But throughout the year, there will be some songs popping up commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Great War, 1914-18.
Music has probably played a role in warfare since the start of war itself – drums and trumpets always seem to feature highly when it comes to biblical battles (as the city of Jericho found out); flutes and fifes in the American Civil War (and closer to home in Northern Ireland); and of course marching army bands (watch the first 30 seconds of any ‘Blackadder goes forth’ episode!)
World War 1 got underway in the era of gramophones and perhaps more than ever, music on the home front and music on the front lines were connected like never before – often with some ‘edited’ lyrics by soldiers! A great example is the song ‘They didn’t believe me’ from ‘The girl from Utah’ by Jerome Kern and Herbert Reynolds. Arriving in Britain from the US in 1914, it became an ironic take on the allegedly ‘easy’ life of the trenches in the early part of the war. It was featured under another title ‘We’ll never tell them’ at the end of ‘Oh what a lovely war’, which is a bit of a hot topic for MP Michael Gove at the moment! We will be rehearsing this song at the next rehearsal with Ashley.
Anyway – even two rehearsals in – it’s never too late in the term to come and join us! And if you’ve visited us before, why not make a New Year’s Resolution to make music a part of your life in 2014?
Camberwell Community Choir 