Monday 28 June 2010

Church Music Quarterly

I was asked recently to contribute an article on RSCM Scottish Voices to the fine RSCM publication Church Music Quarterly.

Not having any guidance as to the length of article expected, my first draft was something like 750 words long, but that's now been negotiated down to 250-300 words although it may be edited further!

The next edition is due in September, so I guess if it gets published it'll be in that one, and if so I'll be sure to post details here!

Friday 25 June 2010

City of Discovery and wine

Another good day was had by all.

Last weekend saw RSCM Scottish Voices sing Choral Evensong in St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Dundee, and leaving aside the visits to two churches and a cathedral where some of our own members sing, this had to be the warmest welcome yet, and it was certainly the biggest congregation!

And not only that, one of the cathedral choir expressed an interest in joining us, so had an audition pretty much there and then, so welcome to the choir Paul!

The enthusiasm with which my initial approach to the Cathedral's Pastoral Musician, Stuart Muir, was met last year, was matched by the generous welcome we received from all at Dundee, from the tea, coffee and cakes we were fed on arrival, to the wine, sandwiches, wine, snacks and wine to which we were treated at the end of the service.  Thanks folks, it was appreciated by all the choir, and was very much talked about in the pub afterwards!

The pub we went to was DCA (Dundee Contemporary Arts) a few minutes walk from the Cathedral, which was bright, airy, comfortable, and served alcohol, so it was a winner.  The crowd who went there wasn't quite as big as normally go out to play after our services, and we didn't stay as long as normal, but that can be attributed to the generous amount of wine provided by the cathedral after the service, negating the need for more booze, and also the fact that a few of the regular pub attendees were missing from the day for perfectly valid reasons ranging from the writing of the final bit of a Thesis, being in Orkney working at the St Magnus Festival, the work-related requirement to speak to Housing Association Tenants about central heating at an Open Day, and probably the best excuse being the impending delivery of Nic and Carson's first child (which is actually due today but at the time of writing this appears not to have happened yet [although I'm currently relying on Facebook updates for my info] - an announcement will doubtless follow in due course!).

Two of us were staying in Dundee overnight, so we went for a good look round the city the next day, finding a pub in which to watch the Italy v New Zealand football game in the afternoon.  The one-all draw against the current World Cup Holders was as good as winning the World Cup itself for New Zealand, much to Ruth's delight!

Dundee is a really nice arty city, with lots of little statues and artworks dotted about the streets, and it's well worth a visit.  Patrticularly good was the Discovery Exhibition, which was exceptionally well presented.  Go there, next time you get a chance.

Wednesday 16 June 2010

Dundee

St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Dundee this coming Saturday is the next occasion when you can hear RSCM Scottish Voices sing.

The service of Choral Evensong starts at 4pm, lasts probably a bit less than an hour, and the music we will be singing is:

Introit: Jubilate Deo in C (Benjamin Britten)
Responses: William Smith of Durham
Canticles: Daniel Purcell in e minor
Anthem: Ye choirs of new Jerusalem (Sir Charles Villiers Stanford)

The Cathedral can be found at 1 High St, Dundee DD1 1TD.

The service should be good, so why not come along and hear us.