- Welcome back! Term starts 5 September -- come and sing with us
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Date Posted: Mon, 4 Sep 2023
We have dusted off our copies of Faure's Requiem and we are looking forward to seeing you all once again as we prepare to kick off our 23/24 season on Tuesday 5 September, 7.30pm at Bridges.
We have the AGM in two weeks (7.30pm start on Tuesday 19th to be followed by rehearsal), so do look out for our reports on last year and plans for the year to come.
And a call for volunteers for the committee – as you know, Nell and Sarah are stepping down from the Co-Chair position this AGM and our esteemed Secretary, Hilary Smallwood is remaining on Committee but not able to continue in that role. We have a volunteer for the Membership Secretary role which is wonderful. If any of you can consider the Chair / Vice Chair / Secretary role – please get in touch. There's more information on those roles on the website under the Members only / Documents tab.
Hope you all had a wonderful summer break and can’t wait to get back to singing!
- A new patron for the choir: the Lord Lieutenant of Gwent
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Date Posted: Thu, 15 Jun 2023
Monmouth Choral Society is thrilled to announce Brigadier Robert Aitken CBE, Lord Lieutenant of Gwent, as its new patron.
The Lord Lieutenant has pledged to involve himself in all aspects of life within Gwent, including its civic, voluntary, business and social life. So we are delighted that he is supporting our choir.
Brigadier Aitken's love of music has been a constant theme through his life. His first job was as a pianist, and he was a choral scholar at Queen's College, Oxford. While serving in Northern Ireland, he formed a male voice choir from 100 soldiers, who ended up singing Myfanwy at the Royal Albert Hall. He later ran Music in Hospitals Wales -- a charity that organises live concerts delivered by professional musicians for people who are sick, elderly or disabled.
With his passion for music and influential position, we know that Brigadier Aitken will be an inspiring patron. His support will enable the choir to continue its mission of delivering outstanding performances, providing work for professional musicians and nurturing musical talent in our community.
- Rehearsal announcements from Tuesday 10 May
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Date Posted: Wed, 10 May 2023
We had a very successful cake sale!
Next one will be the second Tuesday of June. Contact Judy Craven (judy.craven@yahoo.co.uk) to offer cakes.
In two weeks, we will run a rehearsal raffle -- give any contributions to Judy as you arrive.
Please also complete our online poll on whether and when to run to Auction of Promises: https://forms.gle/F6oiDmgn3axb54P1A
We;ve had 10 responses so far....
And many thanks to the social committee for the fundraising activities!
Tickets are now on sale for the Chichester Psalms workshop on 17 June. Please put flyers in your local spots (cafes, churches, shops, libraries). And do encourage friends along. The fact that we've rehearsed some sections, means that even total newbies will get a real chance to deliver this complex and rewarding piece. It will be a full day of singing under the ever-talented tutelage of Steve Kings, which is always good for the soul (and an excellent change to recuit new members).
Committee roles: Do come and talk to a committee member if you are able to do the membership role, or could stand for chair at the next AGM. We can give lots of info and answer any questions you have.
- Rehearsals in full swing, and the ticket selling competition!
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Date Posted: Mon, 17 Oct 2022
Steve has been doing a fabulous job with recent rehearsals -- it's so good to get up and about. And we're finding our way round the trickier corners of Handel's Messiah. What a piece!
The choir is sounding so strong and working so hard, we must get a good audience along for the concert. We've put the two banners up. Do let the committee know ifyou see anywhere missing a flyer. And keep reminding all your friends and relations to book seats.
Of course you'll get a glow of achievement from selling tickets, but as an added incentive: the seller of the most tickets will win a beautiful handmade Christmas Wreath. Get on the blower, get on Facebook, and get people along to hear this glorious music.
The concert is at 7.30pm at St Mary's Priory Church in Monmouth on Saturday 19 November. Buy tickets here.
- Term starts! Tuesday 6 September, 7.30, Bridges community centre
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Date Posted: Fri, 2 Sep 2022
Hope you all had wonderful summers, and welcome to September!
We're very excited to start back singing: our first rehearsal of term will be on Tuesday 6 September at Bridges Community Centre in Monmouth.
We'll be doing Handel's Messiah, with a fabulous concert on 19 November at St Mary's.
Rehearsals run 7.30-9.30 and anyone interested in joining the choir is welcome to come along for a sing or a listen. There are no auditions and we are keenly recruiting new members at the moment.
For more info or to register interest, contact our membership secretary Gill at membership@monmouthchoralsociety.co.uk.
- Simple fundraising for Monmouth Choral Society – a guide for everyone
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Date Posted: Mon, 22 Aug 2022
As Hon. Treasurer of Monmouth Choral I am trying to ensure that we have the means to enable us to make music of the highest standard in a concert pattern similar to the past. That, of course, will always involve hiring outstanding professional solo and orchestral musicians, as well as our director of music and accompanist. At the same time, I appreciate that membership fees and ticket prices should not spiral out of reach of genuine enthusiasts, including younger people. ??
Because Monmouth Choral Society has charitable status one way to receive a significant amount of income is by making your internet purchases through one of two internet portals. These are Amazon Smile for all Amazon purchases and Give As You Live for access to over 4100 other companies including, for example M&S, eBay, Tesco, John Lewis, Furniture Village, change of power transactions, holiday bookings etc.??
How can this benefit Monmouth Choral???
Amazon and over 4100 other companies are prepared to give to registered, named charities a small percentage of their profits on each item you purchase. The percentage varies, usually between 0.5 and 3%, and sometimes higher. The company pays this ‘gift’, not you! The ‘gift’ money is transferred automatically to Monmouth Choral Society bank account once you have registered with that portal and made a purchase. I, as Hon. Treasurer, have already registered Monmouth Choral Society with both schemes, so you will not be asked for MCS bank details, for example. You may be asked for a password of your choice.??
How do you start?
For all Amazon purchases:
You must register with Amazon Smile on https://smile.amazon.co.uk/
You will be asked a few details about yourself including your email address, which charity you wish to support - Monmouth Choral Society, naturally - whose registered Charity Commission number is 501157.
Once registered, all subsequent visits you make to Amazon will automatically re-route you to your smile.amazon.co.uk account (check they do!). Amazon is also pretty good at prompting you to switch over to the Smile portal whilst you are shopping.
For purchases at over 4100 other companies, some not available through Amazon, use Give As You Live
As above, you must first register with Give As You Live on https://www.giveasyoulive.com
or more directly through https://www.giveasyoulive.com/join/monmouth-choral-society
Once registered, for your first and subsequent purchases you use the Give As You Live website which will direct you to the company you want.
Subsequently, after your purchase, you will receive an email telling you how much you have contributed to Monmouth Choral Society. I, as Hon. Treasurer, am informed every month or so how much in total has been contributed by members or friends, but am not told who, individually, has contributed what. From such purchases Monmouth Choral has benefited by over £800 in total so far!
Both are brilliant schemes and are completely transparent. You lose nothing and the retailer has made a charitable contribution... to us! Your family and friends, who may or may not not be members of MCS can also do this on our behalf. Please use this for your future internet purchases and remember that holidays, change of utility company, store card purchases e.g. Tesco and Waitrose are usually available through the Give As You Live portal.
Thank you,
Mike Bradley (Hon. Treasurer)
Registered Charity number: 501157
- A beautiful summer afternoon of wine and song
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Date Posted: Mon, 27 Jun 2022
Thank you to all our lovely audience and congratulations to everyone who sang in the Monmouth Choral Society's summer concert of Hiawatha's Wedding Feast and Merrie England. They were perfect pieces for a sunny June afternoon.
St Briavel's was an excellent venue (particularly after some adept staging by Matt and his team). Christopher Northam worked miracles on the piano, while Rosanna Harris and Andrew Henley provided exquisite solos (I would happily have joined them "in Arcadie"). Steve Kings guided us with consummate skill as ever, moonlighting on the piano for two duets.
And afterwards, we all repaired to feast in the Castle banqueting hall. Huge thanks to all those who brought food and chipped in with the countless jobs that accompany a concert; we couldn't do it without your help.
Our next rehearsal will be Tuesday 6 September at Bridges, when we will start the Messiah. Do bring along any potential converts - first session is free!
- The summer concert approaches
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Date Posted: Tue, 7 Jun 2022
We hope you all had wonderful bank holiday celebrations, despite the slightly inclement weather.
We are all hard at work as the summer concert is now less than three weeks away. We will be putting on two celebratory pieces, to continue the jubilee fun.
The first is Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, full of Longfellow's beautiful verse, set to Coleridge-Taylor's unexpected rhythms. The second is Merrie England, by Edward German, with joyous and timely paeans to Elizabeth!
We're holding the concert at 5.30pm on Sunday 26 June. It should be a gorgeous summer evening at St Briavel's church, with drinks and refreshments afterwards. Children go free; so do bring them along to enjoy the music and, hopefully, the sunshine.
You can book in advance at tinyurl..com/mcshwfme and visitors from Ukraine can get free tickets.
Do spread the word to family and friends and music lovers, and hope to see you soon!
- New Term starting Tuesday 7th Sept at 7.30pm
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Date Posted: Mon, 6 Sep 2021
Hello Everyone,
Just a reminder that our new term is starting on Tuesday 7th September, 7.30pm at The Bridges Community Centre.
All our information regarding singing with some restrictions is on our Covid-19 tab on the website. Please take a look if you want to remind yourself of any of the information that we have already sent out to members about how the rehearsal is being run.
You can also find information about music scores under the Members Only section.
We are looking forward to resuming singing and seeing as many of you as possible!
Best Wishes
The Committee
- As Torrents In Summer Video Premiere
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Date Posted: Wed, 24 Mar 2021
Our new video, As Torrents In Summer, will be going live at 9:15pm on Saturday 27th March. Make sure you tune in to watch our mini concert. YouTube Video URL:
- Stay and Sing, with Bristol Choral Society
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Date Posted: Wed, 6 Jan 2021
Bristol Choral Society is planning to start 2021 in good time-honoured fashion, with an open workshop event on February 6th, 14.00-16.30 (UK time). The only difference from other years is that the whole thing will be done online! So you are all invited to join us to sing extracts of the great Rutter Magnificat, for which the music will be made available before the day. Rutter's Magnificat is based on the biblical canticle in Latin and English. The magnificat formed part of both Catholic and Anglican services and Rutter's setting includes 'Of a Rose, a lovely Rose' (Movement number 2) an anonymous English poem. This music is both exciting and jolly. Hilary will prepare us with an entertaining warm up, take us through some of the movements and we will finish with a performance for ourselves.
This is a donation event, with a suggested minimum of £5 per ticket. And here is the link to sign up and sing with us:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/join-hilary-campbell-and-bristol-choral-for-john-rutters-magnificat-tickets-133766187267
Please keep the date in your calendars, and make sure that singing keeps getting us through the early months of this year!For more information, see: bristolchoral.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3b979f443b9fe3a4105683158&id=a92190446b&e=115701a955
- Stephen Borthwick
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Date Posted: Sun, 27 Dec 2020
It is with great sadness that we report the sudden death, shortly before Christmas, of our Chairman, Stephen Borthwick, who steered Monmouth Choral Society since his appointment in 2014.
The funeral of Stephen will take place at the church of St. Dubricius, Symonds Yat West at 12.30 on Wednesday 13th January followed by burial at Sr. Giles, Goodrich. Access to the service is restricted because of Covid-19 and Michael Bradley will represent Monmouth Choral Society by request of Glynis. There is free space at the burial if anyone should wish to pay their personal respects. The funeral directors, Ernest Heal and Sons, of Monmouth have opened a website for donations to the benefit of the Diabetes UK which may be accessed through www.stephenborthwick.muchloved.com
His wife, Glynis, is overwhelmed by the support she has received, and is grateful for it.
- The Shepherds' Farewell
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Date Posted: Sat, 12 Dec 2020
During the Covid-19 pandemic a subset of The Monmouth Choral Society compiled a socially distanced performance of The Shepherds' Farewell from Hector Berlioz' L'enfence du Christ. YouTube Video URL:
- AGM
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Date Posted: Fri, 25 Sep 2020
We apologise for the delay in sending out these AGM papers. You can now find them on the Upcoming events page.
There are two vacancies on the committee: secretary and memberhip secretary. Please consider helping your choir by volunteering.
The AGM will be held via Zoom this year, and a separate notification will be sent to you.
Please log into the website and let us know if you plan to attend.
- COVID 19
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Date Posted: Mon, 16 Mar 2020
The 27 March Mozart and Schubert Concert have been cancelled, although we are making every effort to reschedule it when circumstances allow.
MCS has suspended its rehearsal programme for the foreseeable future.
We are happy to offer refunds for anyone holding a ticket to the March concert so please contact the Blake or MCS for this refund. Should ticket holders wish to gift this amount, we would be extremely grateful, as it will help cover some of the costs associated with cancelling the concert.
