Paisley report

On Saturday RSCM Scottish Voices visited Thomas Coats Memorial Baptist Church in Paisley (TCM) where at their request we sang Choral Evensong and were made to feel very welcome indeed by their organist Matthew Edwards and various members of the church who kindly provided us with tea and biscuits whenever we stopped singing for more than a couple of minutes.

A very heartfelt thanks from all in the choir for the excellent hospitality, and it was good to see between 30-40 people in the congregation on such a cold foggy evening!

The setting of TCM is spectacular, and I commend the Blog post of Pencefn, one of our own choir members, who describes the building and a bit of its history.

Musically it felt good, and according to Frikki Walker, our Musical Director, every time we meet we continue to get a little bit better, so the future still looks bright.

After the service a fairly big crowd of choir and friends managed to squeeze into one of the snugs at the rear of The Bull Inn, the oldest pub in Paisley, where we enjoyed good Real Ale and tasty food, and socialised for several hours.

All in all another good day, and a good start to 2011.

Our next service is on Saturday 5th March 2011 at 4pm in Dunblane Cathedral.  Full details of the music will appear here in due course, so watch this space.

Vist to Dunfermline postponed and transferred to Paisley

Due to problems caused by the terrible weather in December, Dunfermline Abbey have had fire and flood (literally!) so we've taken the prudent decision to postpone our visit there and reschedule it some time in the (hopefully not too distant) future.

Instead, our next service will be on that day, Saturday 22nd January 2011, at Thomas Coats Memorial Baptist Church in Paisley, where at 4pm we shall be singing the Choral Evensong we should have sung there last month, except that service was also cancelled because of the poor weather and the church heating breaking down!

The music list for Paisley is:

• Introit: Let all mortal flesh keep silence - Sir Edward Bairstow (1874-1946)
• Responses: John Bertalot (b.1931)
• Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in B flat - Sir John Stainer (1840-1901)
• Anthem: And I saw a new heaven -Edgar Bainton (1880-1956)
• Vesper: In Pace - William Blitheman (c1525-1591)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all involved in RSCM Scottish Voices, whether singers, conductors or organists, 2011 is going to be another great year for us as we continue to develop musically and socially!