Hadley Court Singers job vacancy

One of our choir members, who sings in the choir concerned, has asked that the following job advert is placed here, and we're happy to oblige.  Contact them through their website if interested or for further information.


WANTED: MUSICAL DIRECTOR, HADLEY COURT SINGERS, HADDINGTON, EAST LOTHIAN

The Hadley Court Singers is an SATB choir of around 35 to 40 singers based in Haddington, East Lothian. We perform regularly three times a year and in the past have sung at special events throughout Scotland. Although presently non-auditioning we can sing to a high standard, and enjoy exploring a wide range of musical styles from early classical to more challenging modern works. 

Our present Musical Director, Simon Nieminski, is, sadly, leaving us at the end of 2012 after 8 1/2 years of directing the choir. We are looking for someone willing to make a long term commitment to Hadley Court Singers and take us forward with energy, enthusiasm and originality of approach!

Visit to Dumfries

At 4pm on Saturday 10th November 2012 RSCM Scottish Voices will be singing in St John's Episcopal Church, Lovers' Walk, Dumfries, directed by our Assistant Musical Director Richard Walmsley.

The service of Choral Evensong, the day before Remembrance Sunday, will have the theme of remembrance running through it, and the music will be:

Introit: Cantique de Jean Racine (Gabriel Fauré)
Responses: Richard Shephard
Psalm: 121 (Henry Walford Davies)
Canticles: Charles Villiers Stanford in C
Anthem: Greater Love hath no man (John Ireland)
Blessing: Irish Blessing (Bob Chilcott)

All are welcome to attend the service, which promises to be very moving.

This first trip to Dumfries will be the furthest south in Scotland we've yet visited, and with a trip to Inverness scheduled for 2013 our ongoing aim to further push the geographic scope of RSCM Scottish Voices is well in hand.

Audition success

Congratulations to the three new members of RSCM Scottish Voices, one alto and two basses, who were successful at our audition day yesterday and who will be joining us in 2013.

Welcome to the choir Lynne from Dollar, John from Elgin and Chris from Dunblane!

Although we have no further audition days planned at the moment, we do keep a list of interested singers who we may invite for audition as and when required, so if you'd like an application form or just a bit more information, as long as you're 18 or older, live in Scotland, and have experience in church choral singing please contact the administrator using the details in the sidebar on the right.  You too could be part of this exciting national choir.

Hadley Court Singers

There's an audition day for prospective new members of RSCM Scottish Voices on Saturday 22nd September and it isn't too late to apply to join - just contact the administrator using the details in the sidebar on the right.

In the meantime though, if you're interested in joining a choir in Haddington then the Hadley Court Singers, which is conducted by the very talented Simon Nieminski and in which one of our members sings, could well be the very one for you, and they're having an open evening on Wednesday 19th September 2012 from 7.30pm until 9.30pm in Holy Trinity Church in Haddington. 

Contact their membership secretary via their website which is at www.hadleycourtsingers.co.uk

Come and join us

We're having an audition day on Saturday 22nd September 2012 for prospective new choir members who are interested in filling one of the limited numbers of vacancies we currently have.

For further information and to apply contact the administrator by email, using the details in the sidebar on the right, but don't forget to have a read through the criteria for membership, especially age and residence.

2013 season announced!

The next time you can hear us sing is on November 10th 2012 in St John's Episcopal Church in Dumfries when we bring our 2012 season to a close with a Remembrance themed Choral Evensong, but hot off the press this weekend the 2013 season for RSCM Scottish Voices has now been announced.

We start the year on Saturday February 2nd in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow, home church of our Musical Director Frikki Walker and several of our choir, where we shall be taking part in a Choral Mass for Candlemas at 4.30pm.

On Saturday 9th March we will be making a first visit to the university town of St Andrews, where we will be singing Choral Evensong in Holy Trinity Parish Church, which in the past has been host to concerts by The Sixteen and The Tallis Scholars.

Saturday 27th April sees us helping celebrate the 850th anniversary year of the founding of Paisley Abbey, with our first visit to sing in that historic building.

In June we will be singing somewhere, but the exact date and the venue is still in negotiation, so watch this space!

Friday August 2nd to Sunday August 4th* will be our annual residential rehearsal weekend, venue to be decided but it features no public performance so the finer details may well not be publicised here.
* please note this is a date change from that first posted here (updated 13/10/2012)

Our stretching of the Scottish geographic boundaries continues on Saturday 14th September when we pay a first visit to sing Choral Evensong in St Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral in Inverness.

As well as the 850th anniversary of Paisley Abbey, the year 2013 is the centenary of the Carnegie Trust undertaking the first ever publishing of Tudor Church Music, and we're delighted to be able to help them celebrate this auspicious occasion by singing Tudor music for them on Saturday 12th October.  The venue is still to be finalised, but we're hopeful it'll involve singing in a suitably old abbey, cathedral or church.

Our 2013 season comes to a close with a return visit to the outstanding acoustic of St Aloysius' RC Church in Glasgow, where although the details of the service have still to be discussed we hope to take part in their regular Vigil Mass on Saturday 23rd November.

Full details, including music lists of all of the above will be announced here as and when information becomes available, and on a rolling basis our Future Services and Events page will be updated.

Strathallan residential weekend 2012

This evening members of RSCM Scottish Voices will gather from all over the country and assemble in the delightful setting of Strathallan School in rural Perthshire to take part in the 2012 annual residential rehearsal weekend.

There will be loads of good music (I know, I've seen the secret list!), good friends, good fun, good laughs, and, naturally, good and extended partying!

The 2013 season will be announced to the choir over the weekend, and posted here on Sunday afternoon, so watch this space.

We hope to organise an audition day in the autumn for prospective new members hoping to join us in 2013.  Contact the administrator using the email address in the sidebar to the right if you're interested, or you want to find out more.  But read the blurb on the right first, there are some criteria which need fulfilled by members (age, residence etc).

Sun Shine Songs

On Friday 17th August, one of the members of RSCM Scottish Voices will be taking part in a free concert entitled Sun Shine Songs in St Baldred's Church in North Berwick, with donations taken on the door for Leuchie House and St Baldred's Church.

It's a concert featuring Chick Lyall, Phil Grieve, Wesley Bradd and Sadie Maskery who together make up the group Eyebroughty, and it's going to be a mixture of jazz, folk and classic summer songs with special guests and buck's fizz (the drink, not the group!).

Not only will it be marvellous, it's for a good cause, so why not take a chance and go along if you're in the area.

New RSCM Director appointed

Copyright © The Royal School of Church Music

The Council of the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) has appointed Andrew Reid (pictured), currently Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral, to be the next Director in succession to Lindsay Gray, who is leaving the RSCM this autumn. A start date has yet to be agreed.

Andrew Reid has been Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral since 2004 and before that he served in a number of assistant organist posts including both Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.

Originally from Sevenoaks in Kent, he studied at Cambridge University where he held organ scholarships at St Catharine’s and Robinson Colleges, studying the instrument with Peter Hurford and David Sanger. In 1994 he performed the complete works of JS Bach in one twenty-five hour recital. As Assistant Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral from 1996, and four years later as Sub Organist of Westminster Abbey, he accompanied both resident choirs in recordings, broadcasts and on tour. He also played the organ for occasions of national significance including the funeral of Cardinal Basil Hume and the state funeral of the Queen Mother in Westminster Abbey.  At Peterborough Cathedral, he has directed the Cathedral Choirs of boys, girls and lay clerks in live broadcasts of Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3, has performed with renowned groups such as His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts and Charivari Agréable, toured the Netherlands, Ireland and France, and has given many concerts within the UK.

Andrew Reid is looking forward to the new post. “I am delighted and honoured to be appointed Director of the RSCM. As a parish church chorister I greatly benefited from the work of the RSCM, and its inspirational leadership. I look forward to leading the RSCM forward in its work of inspiring, training and encouraging church musicians.”

Commenting on the appointment, Lord Gill, Chairman of the RSCM Council, who also chaired the appointment panel and is Scotland’s most senior judge, said, “Andrew Reid has been chosen from a strong field of candidates. His experience ranges from choral music at cathedral level to the training and encouragement of amateur musicians and singers in the parish churches, including young people. His vision for the RSCM is imaginative and exciting, and we look forward to a successful directorship. Andrew will build on the foundations laid by our departing director, Lindsay Gray, whose contribution to the RSCM has been immense.”

The Dean of Peterborough, the Very Reverend Charles Taylor, said, “Although Andrew’s departure will be a real loss to the Cathedral community and the Diocese, we congratulate him on his appointment to a post of national and international significance. He will take with him remarkable gifts of musicianship, choir training and teaching as well as a strong sense of vocation, vision and purpose.”

New conductor for our sister choir

The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) has appointed a new choral conductor to take over direction of its training choir for singers in the North of England. Robert Poyser will direct RSCM Voices (North) from September 2012.

Robert is also Director of Music at Beverley Minster, and brings to the choir a wealth of choral directing experience, particularly with children, from his work at Beverley and previously at Chelmsford Cathedral. He takes up the post in September, beginning with Evensong at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral at 3.00pm on Saturday 8th September 2012.

Robert succeeds Gordon Appleton, who retires this summer after a long and successful tenure in which he built the choir up to a strong membership of boys, girls and adults.

RSCM Voices are the Royal School of Church Music’s training choirs of singers drawn from affiliated churches around the country. As part of Voice for Life, the RSCM’s singing training scheme, they seek to build upon the work done in parish choirs. “These choirs provide excellent choral training which explores new and challenging repertory in lots of great venues” says Colin Davey, the Programme Manager of Voice for Life. “The remit of the group is to explore ways of encouraging young people in particular to sing, and to give a rounded experience of different kinds of church music, all the while inspiring them to reach the highest possible standard.”

RSCM Voices (North) has a busy programme of singing engagements arranged throughout the region, from Newcastle to Peterborough and from Carlisle to Liverpool. Entry is by audition and further details can be found at the RSCM website, www.rscm.com

RSCM Music Sunday 2012

In St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow on Sunday 24th June 2012 members of RSCM Scottish Voices will be joining with other choirs including the Cathedral Choir itself to celebrate RSCM Music Sunday in a repeat of the glorious Choral Evensong of last year's event, complete with orchestral arrangements of classic cathedral repertoire!

The service will take place at 6.30pm, and the music will include:

• I was glad (Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry)
• Responses: Bernard Rose
• The Lord is my shepherd (Howard Goodall)
• The splendour of the House of God (John Bell)
• Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in A (Sir Charles Villiers Stanford)
• Greater love hath no man (Sir John Ireland)
• All people that on earth do dwell (Ralph Vaughan Williams)

The following is taken from the RSCM Website:
 
What is Music Sunday?
RSCM Music Sunday is a celebration of the music and musicianship that are a vital and beloved part of church life.  Music Sunday is a salute in words and music to the creativity, discipline, effort, and dedication of thousands upon thousands of people – young and old, professional and amateur, singer and instrumentalist, administrator and practitioner – most of them working without expectation of recognition but who nonetheless deserve our awareness and our thanks.  Music Sunday can be the occasion when you award RSCM medals, admit choristers into your choir, recognise a change in the status of choristers or greet a new organist or music director. 

What is The 50:50 Campaign?
Music Sunday events raise funds for choirs, music libraries, or whatever the financial need may be; the RSCM will use its half of the proceeds to support its work of training and supporting church musicians everywhere. While the amount raised locally may be modest, the events themselves raise awareness of the key role of music in worship. The £100,000 that the RSCM could raise in new funds will be transformative for church music and musicians.

RSCM Scotland Triennial Festival 2012

On Saturday 16th June 2012 at 5pm RSCM Scottish Voices will be taking part in the RSCM Scotland Triennial Festival in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, directed by Duncan Ferguson, Master of the Music at the cathedral.

Music will include:

• I give to you a new commandment (Peter Nardone)
• Jubilate (John Harper)
• Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in B flat (Sir John Stainer)
• As water to the thirsty (T. Brian Coleman - arr John Barnard)
• Let all the world (Ralph Vaughan Williams)
• I was glad (Sir C Hubert H Parry)
• An Irish Blessing (Elizabeth Ann Spencer)

In addition to the above music which will be performed by all the choirs present, during the service RSCM Scottish Voices will sing the hauntingly beautiful Tree of Life, the tune of which was written by Marty Haugen with this choral arrangement by Frikki Walker.

Chapter House Singers & Glasgow Chamber Choir

RSCM Scottish Voices is made up of singers from all over Scotland who are members of other choirs too.

In the spirit of mutual cooperation we're very happy to include details of the activities of some of those choirs here, so below you will see posters for two forthcoming ones, firstly for The Chapter House Singers from Edinburgh who will be singing Faure's Requiem, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, and Janacek's Lord's Prayer in St Mary's Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh on Saturday 2nd June, and secondly for Glasgow Chamber Choir who will be performing a programme of Baltic music from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Germany, on Saturday 9th June at 7.30pm in Hyndland Parish Church, Glasgow, and on Sunday 10th June at 3pm in St John's Episcopal Church, Princes St, Edinburgh.

Chapter House Singers

Glasgow Chamber Choir

Dunfermline Abbey

On Saturday 19th May 2012 at the later than usual time of 5pm RSCM Scottish Voices will be singing Choral Evensong in the historic surroundings of Dunfermline Abbey, directed by Frikki Walker and accompanied by the Abbey Organist and Master of the Music Dr. Norman Mitchell.

The music will be:

• Introit: Ascendit Deus (Peter Philips)
• Responses: Clucas
• Canticles: Herbert Sumsion in G
• Anthem: Faire is the Heaven (William Harris)
• Final Responses: Edward Naylor

Dunfermline Abbey dates back to 800 AD, and it's a fine building, well worth a visit even at times when we're not singing there!

RSCM Scottish Voices crosses Hadrian's Wall

York Minster

At the weekend members of RSCM Scottish Voices travelled over the border to make a foray into England to sing for the first time as a choir.  Well, 20 of us did.  Numbers were limited because we were joining with the other three, longer established, RSCM Voices choirs who regularly get together every couple of years or so to sing a big Choral Evensong in a Cathedral somewhere in England, in this instance it was York Minster.  Simply because of logistics not everyone in each choir could fit into the space available, big though it is, so spaces were limited to about 20 singers each (a few more than that if the top line were trebles and not adult sopranos) making a choir of something like 104 singers.  So the 20 singers to represent RSCM Scottish Voices were duly chosen by our Musical Director, Frikki Walker, to form a balanced ensemble, and I was lucky enough to be one of those who could go (although being the administrator I'd have gone anyway just to listen and show face even if I hadn't been chosen to sing).

The service was on the bank holiday Monday (May Day) and we all made our own separate ways there, some going down a good few days early to make the most of the trip, some going there and back on the day itself, and many dragging along long-suffering partners with them!  After a most enjoyable circuitous route zigzagging by motorcycle through the borders I arrived in York on the Sunday afternoon just in time to check into the hotel and wander over for the Minster Choir's Choral Evensong when they sang Ayleward Responses (a favourite of mine), Dyson in D Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (standard repertoire but very enjoyable nonetheless) and Ye choirs of new Jerusalem by Stanford (which RSCM Scottish Voices sang the previous week in Old Saint Paul's Church in Edinburgh - and dare I say it our sopranos sounded better in the opening phrase "the paschal victory to hymn in strains of holy joy" at the bit where tradition dictates most choirs squeak out and clip short the top G on the first syllable of the word "victory").  The sound the Minster choir made was magnificent, particularly the men, a glorious rounded luxuriant noise.  Great stuff!

The hotel I and two others were staying in was the Guy Fawkes Inn, straight across from the south west corner of the Minster in High Petergate, and it's built on the site of the building in which Guy Fawkes was born and right next to the church in which he was baptised - St Michael le Belfrey.  It's a Real Ale pub and the beer, food, accommodation and staff were all excellent and to be recommended.  In fact, if you follow the link to the church the photo on Wikipedia of the front of the church (at the time of writing this) shows the Guy Fawkes Inn to its right.

So to the day of the service, and after two of us had a nice long walk together round the city walls doing the touristy bit in the morning we all assembled at 1pm in St William's College, a 15th century Tudor building directly to the east of the Minster.  Once the mundane things like seating arrangements were over we started a fairly short rehearsal under the direction of Gordon Appleton, Director of RSCM Voices North and RSCM Regional Music Adviser for the north of England (well, for the moment he is, since he's about to retire which was partly the reason for this service being on his patch and under his direction).

York Minster and the city walls

After a short'ish break we continued the rehearsal in the Minster but surprisingly and slightly disappointingly to me the decision was taken that we wouldn't robe for this (I always think that robing while rehearsing in choirstalls is to be encouraged), and we got through all the music (although despite it being a long psalm it was actually less than we normally would sing in an RSCM Scottish Voices service simply because there was no Introit).

Another very short break (during which the battle for access to the toilets commenced!) and we were then into the service of Choral Evensong itself.  It takes a lot to pull a choir that size together in such a short space of time, and rather enjoyably pretty much all of the wee odd rough edges of the rehearsal disappeared as the choir produced a very pleasing sound, and Gordon Appleton came into his own with some very animated directing while standing on a box so those furthest from him (that would be me then) had a sporting chance of seeing a beat to follow!  Oh, and the priest singing the responses was none other than Richard Shephard!

Congregationally it was a pretty full Quire (for those reading this who aren't familiar with cathedral architecture and nomenclature that's the name for the part of the building in which we were singing, not a dreadful typo!) and afterwards I didn't quite manage to find and speak to all those I'd have liked to, but I did manage to finally meet Sue Snell, the RSCM's Head of Education, who has always been unfailingly helpful in email correspondence.  It's good to put a face to an email address!

The great and the good then disappeared off to an official function, where I'm given to understand that Lord Gill, Chairman of the RSCM Council, made special mention of RSCM Scottish Voices in his speech, and I'm also told that it had been noticed that RSCM Scottish Voices singers acquitted ourselves admirably!  One comment I got from a VERY experienced church musician who was in the congregation and whose opinion I respect 100% was "all in all a great event".

I'm neither great nor good, so along with most of the Scottish contingent I went across the road to the Guy Fawkes Inn, where we had food and drink and good company well into the night.

As I said at the start of this post, this is the first time we've been invited to one of these events, and it was really nice to be asked.  It was a real shame that we couldn't take everyone in the choir, but that was all out of our hands, however those who were there represented the choir well and I have no doubt we'll be asked again and hopefully might be in a position to take more singers along.

Old Saint Paul's, Edinburgh

Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church on Jeffrey St in Edinburgh (right next to Waverley Station) is the next place you can hear RSCM Scottish Voices sing, on Saturday 28th April at 4pm when we shall be singing Choral Evensong.

The music we will be performing is:

Introit: O sons and daughters (Walford Davies)
Responses: Clucas
Canticles: Murrill in E
Anthem: Ye choirs of new Jerusalem (Stanford)
Final Responses: Naylor

Come along to this fine building and join us in a celebration of Easter!

Enter by the Carubber's Close door.

Perth and Old Saint Paul's

After our successful and very enjoyable recital in the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling yesterday, the next opportunity to hear RSCM Scottish Voices sing is when members join forces with other local choirs to sing Handel's Messiah under the direction of Richard Walmsley in St Ninian's Episcopal Cathedral, Perth, on Saturday 31st March 2012.  Further details will be listed here when available.

The next time you can hear us on our own is during Choral Evensong on Saturday 28th April 2012 in Old Saint Paul's Church, Jeffrey St, Edinburgh. The music list will be announced here soon.

Omission from CMQ

The latest edition of the Royal School of Church Music's rather excellent publication Church Music Quarterly (CMQ) with its sister publication The Network, unfortunately contains a couple of errors by omission whereby technology has conspired against publishing details of two of our forthcoming events, a visit to Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Edinburgh on Saturday 28th April, and a visit to Dunfermline Abbey on Saturday 19th May.

Rest assured, despite these visits not being listed in the official RSCM magazine, we WILL be going to each and you just need to check back here for further details like the music lists in due course.

Durham Cathedral Choir

Durham Cathedral Choir Scottish Tour

Having already mentioned the RCO Choral Conducting Workshop taking place in Edinburgh on 24th March, between Thursday 22nd - Sunday 25th March the world famous Durham Cathedral Choir will be taking part in their tour of Scotland and if you can make it along to any of them you'd be in for a choral treat. 

On a personal note, Durham was my local "big" cathedral when I lived in the North East of England for a few years and it's close to my heart, although sadly it's one in which I've yet to sing other than in the congregation at Evensong.

Thanks to Katie from the Music Departrment at Durham Cathedral for managing to source a version of the poster I can upload here (albeit, as she says, it's a bit faint), and the info on that poster is reproduced below.  Click on the image to see it in a slightly larger size.

Of particular note, just in case you saw a previous version of the poster anywhere, is that the concert on 24th and services on 25th are in St John's Church, not St Cuthbert's as was listed on the original publicity (and which I only just noticed had changed after I originally posted this, hence the need for a quick edit!).

Tickets for students and under 18s are free.

Thursday 22nd March 7.30pm
Concert in St Machar's Cathedral, Aberdeen
for ticket information please email music@durhamcathedral.co.uk

Friday 23rd March 8pm
Concert in St Salvator's Chapel, St Andrews
admission by programme

Saturday 24th March 1pm
Concert in St John's Church, Princes St, Edinburgh
free admission - retiring collection

Sunday 25th March
Morning services at St John's Church, Princes St, Edinburgh
9.30am Matins
10.30am Sung Eucharist

Music to include James MacMillan's Missa Dunelmi

for more information email music@durhamcathedral.co.uk

Choral Directing Workshop

RSCM Scottish Voices will be singing in the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling at 4pm on Saturday 17th March, and one week later the Royal College of Organists will be putting on a Choral Directing workshop with Duncan Ferguson, Organist and Master of the Music at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh, culminating in Choral Evensong conducted by the participants. Places are still available.

The workshop will take place from 11am on Saturday 24th March in St Mary's Cathedral , Palmerston Place, Edinburgh, booking forms are available to download from their website, and their own publicity states:

The diverse musical elements of choral evensong provide the repertoire for this very special workshop for choral directors of all levels of experience. A professional chamber choir, to be conducted by volunteers, will be present in the afternoon and for the closing service of choral evensong in St Mary’s Cathedral. Attend as an active participant or as an observer. Tuition from
Duncan Ferguson, acclaimed director of St Mary’s Cathedral Choir, with Nicholas Wearne, organ.

Schedule
10:30 Registration

11:00 Introducing the music for evensong and including

• The importance of warm-ups
• Score preparation
• Rehearsal techniques
• Gesture

13:00 Lunch (not provided—there are many places nearby to find sustenance)

14:00 Rehearsal of music for choral evensong with volunteer conductors and professional choir.
The music has been chosen to allow opportunities for the less experienced as well as seasoned practitioners to participate. The level of difficulty of each piece is shown in the repertoire list below on a scale of A – E where ‘A’ is the least challenging. Conductors for the different pieces for the service of choral evensong will be chosen from amongst those who conduct in this session. Please indicate as directed on the booking form if you wish to be considered.

16:30 Break

17:00 Choral Evensong (ending c. 17:50)

Repertoire for Choral Evensong
Introit: If ye love me, Tallis (SATB version in F major) (B)
Responses: Leighton (E)
Psalm 119 vv 1-16 (chant and pointing will be available in advance) (C/D)
Magnificat: Stanford in B flat (C)
Nunc Dimittis: Stanford in B flat (A)
Anthem: Wash me throughly, SS Wesley (C/D)

From Palestrina to Rutter

On Saturday 17th March, RSCM Scottish Voices will depart slightly from the norm, and instead of taking part in a service our worship will take the form of a religious recital in the Church of the Holy Rude, St John Street, Stirling at 4pm.  This is an historic church close to the even more historic Stirling Castle.

Lasting no longer than a service would (i.e. around an hour) there is no charge for admission, although there may be a retiring collection for the church.

We will be directed as usual by Frikki Walker, however Richard Walmsley being unavailable on this occasion we're delighted to be accompanied for the first time by the exceptionally talented Geoffrey Woollatt, assistant organist of St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow, who will also play some organ music, demonstrating the fine instrument in this lovely building.

Perth Choral Evensong

On Saturday 11th February 2012 at 4.30pm RSCM Scottish Voices will be singing Choral Evensong in St Ninian's Episcopal Cathedral, North Methven Street, Perth.

The music will be

• Introit: Give us the wings of faith (Sir Ernest Bullock)
• Responses: John Reading
• Canticles: John Ireland in F
• Anthem: Alleluya Psallat (William Mathias)
• Final Responses: Edward Naylor

St Ninian's Cathedral is a fine building with a good acoustic, so come along and enjoy this wonderful music with us.

RSCM Scottish Voices currently has a few vacancies for singers, and an audition day is being held on Saturday 14th January 2012 in Glasgow.

If you fancy singing with us just get in touch using the contact details in the sidebar on the right, and even if you couldn't make it along on 14th January we'll still consider your application and if there are still places available (or if subsequent places become available at a later date) we'll arrange ad hoc auditions.

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas to all members of RSCM Scottish Voices, and everyone who reads our stuff on this site.  May all you wish for come true in 2012. 

And good luck to those prospective new members who will be auditioning to join the choir on Saturday 14th January - and to those who are interested but haven't applied yet, it isn't too late and contact details are in the sidebar on the right.

We are recruiting new singers!

Audition day

An audition day is being arranged for prospective members of RSCM Scottish Voices.  It'll take place on Saturday 14th January 2012 in St Mary's Cathedral, 300 Great Western Road, Glasgow, probably some time after 11.30am. 

You can't just turn up on the day though, you have to have applied and been invited beforehand, so if you're interested in joining this exciting choir, please contact the administrator by email, the address and eligibility details are in the sidebar on the right.

End of season

RSCM Scottish Voices has now reached the end of our successful 2011 season, and choir members have each turned their attention to their individual church choirs in the run up to Advent and Christmas.

The next time we meet together will be on Saturday 11th February 2012 in St Ninian's Episcopal Cathedral in Perth, and more details of that service, and other assorted random posts, will appear here in due course.

Check out our "future services and events" page in the sidebar on the right to see what's in store for 2012, which is promising to be a busy year for us.

Lastly for now, we still have a few spaces for new singers in some parts, so please email the administrator, Gary Young, if you're interested in auditioning.  Details of eligibility and contact details etc can be found in the sidebar on the right.

Choral Mass

At 5.45pm on Saturday 5th November 2011 RSCM Scottish Voices will be taking part in Choral Mass in St Aloysius' RC Church, 25 Rose Street, Glasgow G3 6RE.

The Mass setting will be Missa Brevis by Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina (c1526-1594), and the communion Motet will be Ave Verum Corpus by William Byrd (c1539-1623).

St Aloysius' is a genuinely stunning building, full of marble and fine decoration, and this service promises to be the wonderful culmination of the 2011 season for the choir, performing beautiful music in the type of building for which it was written.

Choir Place

There's a new Website started called Choir Place which looks like it's going to be a good resource for choirs and choristers worldwide.  Go and have a look at it, particularly if you're looking to join a choir but don't know where to start looking, or if your choir is thinking of "twinning" with another choir and you want some ideas of other similar groups.

Our page and profile has now been created as of this morning.

Edinburgh organ recitals

To celebrate the recent refurbishment of the organ in St Peter's Episcopal Church, Lutton Place, Edinburgh EH8 9PE, there is to be a series of organ recitals, all beginning at 7.30pm, and with a retiring collection to defray expenses.  The details below are taken from the church's own website.

Friday 21st October 2012 - Dr John Kitchen
Amongst many hats, John is the Director of Music at Old St Paul’s, the ‘Mother’ church of St Peter’s, Edinburgh City and University Organist of Edinburgh, and is greatly involved in teaching and promoting the organ.

Friday 4th November 2012 - Michael Harris
Master of Music of St Giles’ Cathedral, and a lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University, Michael is greatly involved in a wide variety of Edinburgh projects, especially in organ education.

Friday 18th November 2012 - Michael Bonaventure
A renowned recitalist, Michael, who is now London based, was Organist at St Peter’s between 1999 and 2003.

Friday 2nd December 2012 - Susan Landale
Having been born in Scotland and graduating from Edinburgh University, Susan was invited by the great French organist André Marchal to study with him in Paris, and has stayed there ever since. She is currently the Organist of Saint-Louis des Invalides, the Cathedral of the French Armed Forces, and in recognition of her world-wide career as a recitalist and teacher, in 2003 the Royal College of Organists awarded her the distinction of “Fellow honoris causa“. In 2008, she became the Honorary President of the Edinburgh Society of Organists.

Glasgow organ recital

At 7.30pm on Saturday 1st October 2011 our Musical Director, Frikki Walker, will give the inaugural concert of the Makin Digital Organ, recently installed in All Saints Episcopal Church, Woodend Drive, Jordanhill, Glasgow G13 1QS.

The programme will be of organ classics including the wonderful Toccata and Fugue in d minor, by J S Bach.

Tickets are available on the door for a very reasonable £5 (£3 concession) so why not pop along and support Frikki and the people at All Saints.

2012 season

The 2012 season of RSCM Scottish Voices has now been announced!  All the dates and venues are listed below, and it's all also on the "Future Services and Events" page on the right.

On Saturday 11th February we shall be singing Choral Evensong in St Ninian's Episcopal Cathedral, Perth, at 4.30pm (NB slightly later time than our normal services).

Saturday 17th March will see us give a recital at 4pm in the historic Church of the Holy Rude, Stirling.

Saturday 28th April will be Choral Evensong at 4pm in Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Edinburgh.

On Bank Holiday Monday 7th May we shall be joining with other RSCM Voices choirs in a festival in the stunning surroundings of York Minster

On Saturday 19th May we will be singing Choral Evensong at 5pm in historic Dunfermline Abbey.

Saturday 16th June sees us joining other choirs from around the country when we take part in the 2012 Scottish Triennial Festival in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh..

The weekend of 10th - 12th August sees us gathering for our 2012 annual residential rehearsal weekend, which is for choir members only and doesn't feature a public performance or service.

On Saturday 29th September the choir will be singing at the wedding of one of our fellow choir members in Brodick Parish Church on the beautiful island of Arran

Saturday 10th November will see us travel the furthest south we've been in Scotland so far, when we take part in Choral Evensong in St John's Episcopal Church in Dumfries.

Full details on all of the above, including music lists, will of course be listed here as and when more information becomes available.

RSCM Scottish Voices currently has a few vacancies for singers in some parts, and in the next few months we may be arranging a series of auditions at various places round the country.  It's expected that there is likely to be a fair amount of competition for the spaces, so if you're interested in joining us for all the above dates and venues, why not get in touch now and be ahead of the field!

Wordle

There's a website called Wordle which allows you to create word clouds based on what's written on a particular site, and these word clouds give a graphic representation of what the site's all about as they give greater prominence to words the more they are used.

Our Wordle word cloud, covering I think from as far back as October 2010 but I'm not 100% sure, is below.  I think it's quite pretty and I'm glad I haven't spotted any swearwords yet!

Old Saint Paul's, Edinburgh

On Saturday 28th April 2012 at 4pm RSCM Scottish Voices will be singing Choral Evensong in Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, 39 Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DH, directed by Frikki Walker and accompanied on the organ by Geoffrey Woollatt.

The music will be

• Introit: O sons and daughters (Walford Davies)
• Responses: Clucas
• Canticles: Murrill in E
• Anthem: Ye choirs of new Jerusalem (Stanford
• Final Responses (Naylor)

Old Saint Paul's is a lovely building, set just off the Royal Mile within the confines of Edinburgh's Old Town, and the choir are very much looking forward to the visit. 

Organ and Choir

On Saturday 17th September RSCM Scottish Voices will be singing Choral Evensong at 4pm in St Mary's Cathedral, 300 Great Western Road, Glasgow, and music will include:

Laudate Nomen Domini (Christopher Tye)
Preces and Responses (Bernard Rose)
Psalm 89
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in G (Herbert Sumsion)
Faire is the Heaven (William Harris).

Click on the image on the left to see the poster in a bigger size.

The night before that however, on Friday 16th September at 7.30pm Michael Bawtree, Director of Music of Glasgow Chamber Choir, will be giving an organ recital to raise funds for the Cathedral music programme and also for the restoration of the instrument at St Margaret's Episcopal Church, Newlands, Glasgow. The programme pairs grand British music with more reflective pieces by French composers Langlais and Bonnet and JS Bach.

No tickets are needed - instead, donations will be accepted and split between the two music funds. The hour-long recital will be followed by refreshments.

If you can't make the concert, you can come to St Paul's Cathedral in London on Sunday 18 September, or Notre-Dame in Paris on Sunday 25 September where some of the same music will be on offer!

Michael Bawtree

GLASGOW PROGRAMME:

Overture to the Occasional Oratorio
George Frederic Handel (1685-1759)

Cantique (Folkloric Suite)
Jean Langlais (1907-1991)

Allegro moderato (from Organ Sonata)
Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele BWV 654
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Fantasia in G minor Op. 136
York Bowen (1884-1961)

Nocturne (from Douze Pièces pour Grand Orgue Op. 5)
Joseph Bonnet (1884-1944)

Moto ostinato (from Sunday Music)
Petr Eben (1929-2007)


SUBSEQUENT CONCERTS:

SUNDAY 18 September, 4.45pm
St Paul's Cathedral, London

SUNDAY 25 September, 4.30pm
Notre-Dame de Paris, France

Director met

Copyright © The Royal School of Church Music

This evening (well, technically last night since it's now after 1am) RSCM Scottish Voices had the pleasure of singing in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow at the Meet the Director event organised by the RSCM Scotland committee.

We had been asked by RSCM Scotland to provide some music at the start of this event, so we sang four pieces, Laudate Nomen Domini by Christopher Tye, Tree of Life by Marty Haugen and arranged by Frikki Walker, Ave Verum Corpus by William Byrd, and Sanctus I and II from the Missa Brevis by Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina.  Our Musical Director, Frikki Walker, was unavailable due to a prior engagement, but thankfully we have the expertise of our assistant Musical Director and Organist Richard Walmsley to call on, so he was the man in charge.  It's a great luxury having two such fine musicians to work with.

The singing went very well, I thought, and everyone seemed happy, and despite a poor turnout and a later than advertised start which kept the choir hanging around at a bit of a loose end, the evening went very well.

Lindsay Gray has been Director of the Royal School of Church Music for about three years, and comes from a background of having sung in the choirs of Kings College Cambridge and Durham Cathedral, to name but two.  A languages teacher, he was headmaster of Llandaff Cathedral school for 14 years before becoming the top man at the RSCM.  After giving us a flavour of his own background, he spoke very well on his role and that of the RSCM, touching on various resources available to affiliated choirs, before taking part in a short question and answer session with those gathered.  If you get the opportunity to hear Lindsay at a similar gathering, I'd suggest you take the chance.

Then it was on to the wine and nibbles at the back of the Cathedral, with lots of simultaneous conversations mainly centred on church music, as far as I could gather.

Then, on to the pub where six of us had a small refreshment and a couple of pizzas to stave off any stray hunger and thirst, with more chat in a less formal arena.  And a small part of the chat was when I revealed to the assembled company the existence of a Cathedral Choir Pubs website, created and run by Richard Shakeshaft who sings at Lichfield.  Have a look at it, it's a useful resource!

Hence only getting round to typing this at one in the morning!

I had been told before meeting Lindsay that he's a nice guy, but you know what?  He actually IS a nice guy!  He's in Scotland for a few days, this being day one, and hopefully despite the poor turnout for the RSCM Scotland event he at least enjoyed what RSCM Scottish Voices sang for him, I know we enjoyed singing it.

So, the next time YOU can hear us is in a little over a week, on Saturday 17th September, again in St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow, when we shall be singing Choral Evensong at 4pm

September events

St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow at 4pm on Saturday 17th September is the next time you can hear RSCM Scottish Voices sing in a service.  It will be Choral Evensong, and we will be singing:

Laudate Nomen Domini (Christopher Tye)
Preces and Responses (Bernard Rose)
Psalm 89
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in G (Herbert Sumsion)
Faire is the Heaven (William Harris)

Before then, at 7.30pm on Wednesday 7th September you'll be able to hear us very briefly if you're a personal RSCM member or a member of an affiliated choir as we perform for only a few minutes at the Meet the Director event in St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow organised by RSCM Scotland when members of the RSCM can, as the title suggests, come to meet Lindsay Gray, the Director of the Royal School of Church Music, and listen to him speak about the work of the RSCM.  If it works, this link should open a PDF poster which is on the RSCM Scotland website relating to the event.  You can't just turn up, you need to register for this event and details of how to go about that are on the RSCM Scotland website.

For those who are members of RSCM and who have sight of their inhouse publication The Network you may already be aware of the Meet the Director event, but that publication wrongly states that the choir will be performing a recital, and in fact the PDF poster on the RSCM Scotland website says it's a concert.  It won't be anything like a recital or concert, it's merely us singing a few pieces at the start of the evening, and it was never going to be anything other than that!

Free Song Recital in Glasgow

Margaret Walker, daughter of the Director of Music of RSCM Scottish Voices, will be presenting a song recital in St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, 300 Great Western Road, Glasgow at 7pm on Friday 26 August 2011.

Margaret is studying in Cambridge, where she has been a choral scholar in the world famous choir at Trinity College, and has spent the last year studying singing at the Conservatorio G Tartini in Trieste. She will be accompanied by Timothy Ravalde, a former organ scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge and currently Assistant Organist at Chichester Cathedral. The programme, which will last about an hour, will include music by Vivaldi, J. S. Bach, Mozart, Bellini and Tosti. Admission is free, with a retiring collection.

Programme:

A. Vivaldi: “O servi, volate” from “Juditha Triumphans”
J. S. Bach: “Blute nur, du liebes Herz” from “St. Matthew Passion”
G. F. Handel: “Non disperar” and “Se pietà di me non senti” from “Giulio Cesare”
F. J. Haydn: “Nun beut die Flur das frische Grün” from “The Creation”
W. A. Mozart: “Als Luise die Briefe”
V. Bellini: “L’Abbandono”
V. Bellini: “Dolente immagine di Fille mia”
F. P. Tosti: “Sogno”
F. P. Tosti: “Il pescatore canta”

Biographies:

MARGARET WALKER: Born in 1990, Margaret is in her Third Year studying Italian at Trinity College, Cambridge. She has just finished her year abroad where she studied singing at the Conservatorio G Tartini in Trieste.

Brought up in Glasgow, Margaret was a pupil at Notre Dame High School for Girls, was a member of the RSNO Junior Chorus for 11 years, and was also a member of the National Youth Choir of Scotland. She has sung in regular broadcasts on BBC Radios 2 and 4 with the Choir of St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, and reached the finals of BBC Radio Young Chorister of the Year in 2006. Margaret has also featured on TV, twice featuring as a soloist on BBC ‘Songs of Praise’, and also singing solo on BBC Scotland’s Watchnight Service on Christmas Eve 2006. During her first two years at Cambridge, Margaret was a Choral Scholar in the choir of Trinity College, touring to Germany, California and Australia, and featured on several critically acclaimed CDs. In addition to her regular choir commitments, Margaret regularly performs in concerts, recitals and student operas. In June 2011, she returned to Cambridge to sing soprano in a one-to-a-part performance of the Bach St Matthew Passion with Nicholas Mulroy and Margaret Faultless, and also sang the soprano solos in the Mozart Coronation Mass in the St. John’s College Choir May Week Concert conducted by Andrew Nethsinga with members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Future projects include the role of Mabel in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance at the Minack Theatre, Penzance in September.

TIMOTHY RAVALDE: Timothy Ravalde is the Assistant Organist of Chichester Cathedral where he is responsible for accompanying the daily choral services and assisting with the training of the choir. He was educated at the Nelson Thomlinson School, Wigton. While in sixth form he was Organ Scholar of Carlisle Cathedral and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, before spending a year as Organ Scholar of Salisbury Cathedral. Timothy graduated from Cambridge University in 2010. As Organ Scholar of St John’s College he accompanied the choir for numerous tours, the famous annual Advent broadcasts and three critically acclaimed CD recordings with Chandos, as well as the daily chapel services. He also acted as Musical Director of the St John’s Singers, the College’s mixed voice choir and won the 2009 Brian Runnett Prize for organ playing. He has also recently been appointed Musical Director of Fernhurst Choral Society, and will take up this position in September 2011.

In Memoriam Diana McNaughton

We have recently received an anonymous donation to the funds of RSCM Scottish Voices in memory of Diana McNaughton who was always very supportive of church music and its practitioners.

Rest eternal grant unto her, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon her.  May she rest in peace, and rise in glory.

Missa Brevis

The first four YouTube videos below feature the beautiful Missa Brevis by Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina (c.1525-1594), which is one of the pieces RSCM Scottish Voices will be rehearsing during our forthcoming residential rehearsal weekend for use in future services.  As an extra treat at the end is the lovely Ave Verum Corpus by William Byrd (c.1539 - 1623) which is on the music list for the same sevice in which we'll be singing the Palestrina Mass.

The Mass recordings below are by the excellent Tallis Scholars (as appears to be the Byrd), and I would recommend buying the CD from Amazon and the sheet music can be downloaded free from CPDL as a PDF from here

For those who know about such things, you may notice that the Credo is missing, but that's simply because we won't be singing that movement in the Mass.

Kyrie



Gloria



Sanctus & Benedictus



Agnus Dei I & II





Ave Verum Corpus

Photographs from Aberdeen

A few photographs from Aberdeen

www.flickr.com/photos/gordonrasmith

Breakfast with Archibald Simpson

Breakfast in the local Wetherspoons pub, an enjoyable day of rehearsing, leading towards an excellent Choral Evensong followed by an equally excellent fluid-replacement session back in the Wetherspoons made for a delightful day for RSCM Scottish Voices in Aberdeen at the weekend.

We were a little low on numbers, with a couple of sopranos having to boost the alto part, but notwithstanding that it was a good number of the choir who made it to the furthest north we've travelled as yet in the choir's short existence.

The welcome and hospitality shown to us by St Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral was second to none, and we'll definitely make a return trip there in the future.

Choral Evensong in Aberdeen

Choral Evensong will be sung by RSCM Scottish Voices at 4pm tomorrow, Saturday 18th June 2011 in St Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral, King Street, Aberdeen.  See the poster below for details of the music list.

New page added to our site

The keen eyed amongst you will have noticed that we now have a new page on the sidebar on the right hand side listing all our future diary dates and venues with as much detail as is available at any given point, which will be updated on a rolling basis.

So rather than have to scroll down and find the once-per-year post listing a new season's events if you want to find out where you can come to hear RSCM Scottish Voices sing, just look at the "Future Services and Events" page and it'll all be there in date order.  If I remember to update it!

RSCM Music Sunday

RSCM Music Sunday and the end of Glasgow's West End Festival 2011 will be marked on Sunday 26th June when members of RSCM Scottish Voices join with members of St Mary's Cathedral Choir, Glasgow Chamber Choir and Glasgow University Chapel Choir in a spectacular Choral Evensong accompanied by the St Mary's Cathedral Festival Orchestra, all conducted by our Musical Director Frikki Walker.

In addition to orchestral music being played before and after the service, the music to be sung, all in their exciting orchestrated versions, will be:

• Responses: Richard Shephard
• Psalm 122: I was Glad (Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry)
• Canticles: Sir Charles Villiers Stanford in B flat
• Anthem: Blessed city, Heavenly Salem (Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow)
• Te Deum: Sir Charles Villiers Stanford in B flat

More details about RSCM Music Sunday can be found on the main RSCM website by clicking here, and the website of St Mary's Cathedral can be found here.

Rehearsal assistance for Aberdeen

Below are a few videos I've found on YouTube which feature some of the music we'll be doing at Choral Evensong in St Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral in Aberdeen on Saturday 18th June 2011.  They may be useful if some choir members haven't sung the pieces before.  The quality of the singing is a bit varied (although the magnificent Westminster Abbey Choir does feature), but it gives an idea of the notes!

Ayleward Preces, sung by the Trinity Singers of Westbury on Trym Parish Church, Bristol



Ayleward Responses (which for some unknown reason omits the first two Amens), sung by the Trinity Singers of Westbury on Trym Parish Church, Bristol



Harwood in A flat Nunc Dimittis (I couldn't find the Magnificat) sung by St Andrew's Schola Cantorum of Pittsburgh USA



Stainer - I saw the Lord, sung by Westminster Abbey Choir



I bind unto myself today (tune: St Patrick's Breastplate) sung by the choir of Keble College, Oxford

Fit like?

After a successful and very enjoyable visit to St Mary's Parish Church in Haddington last Saturday where we sang a devotional sequence for Easter-tide followed by a similarly enjoyable and successful trip 100 yards down the road to the Tyneside Tavern by a big crowd of choir and friends, the next time RSCM Scottish Voices will meet and sing together is on Saturday 18th June 2011 at 4pm when we will be making our first visit to Aberdeen, to St Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral in King St, to sing Choral Evensong, and we're all VERY much looking forward to it!

The music list has been announced today, and it will consist of:

• Introit: God the Holy Trinity (David Halls)
• Responses: Richard Ayleward
• Psalm 147
• Office Hymn: Bright the vision that delighted (tune: Redhead No 46)
• Canticles: Basil Harwood in A flat
• Anthem: I saw the Lord (Sir John Stainer)
• Final Hymn: I bind unto myself today (tune: St Patrick's Breastplate)

St Andrew's Cathedral, which is pretty much in the centre of Aberdeen, is an historic place with special links to the Episcopal Church of the United States of America, and of significance to the whole Anglican communion, and this is clear when you read the following extract from the cathedral's own rather good website:

The congregation here is much older than the present church building. Its roots go back to the time when Episcopalians were forced out of the parish churches of the city after the deposition of James VII (James II of England). Early records are lost, but it is known that the  congregation existed in 1716 when Andrew Jaffrey, formerly parish minister of Alford, became minister of this congregation. A number of meeting houses were used before John Skinner built his house in Long Acre in 1776, the upper room of which was used as a chapel.

It was in Aberdeen on 14 November 1784 that Samuel Seabury of Connecticut was consecrated Bishop for America, the first Bishop outside the British isles of what we now call the Anglican Communion. A plaque in the Quadrangle of Marischal College commemorates this notable event.

Seabury's consecration by Bishop Kilgour of Aberdeen, Bishop Petrie of Moray and John Skinner, who was Rector of this congregation and Co-adjutor Bishop of Aberdeen, forced the established Church of England and Parliament to legislate; making it possible for bishops to be created for the Colonies. Had this not happened, the Anglican communion might be very different from what it is today.

RSCM Scottish Voices will be paying its first, but doubtless not its last visit to Aberdeen, and we're proud to be a small part of the ongoing tradition of worship in this fine building.  That said, with one former member of the cathedral choir and one current member of the Cathedral Voices choir singing with us, we aren't exactly complete strangers to the city or cathedral, but we're all very much looking forward to being there in a few weeks.

Devotional service of music and readings for Eastertide

At 4pm in St Mary's Parish Church in Haddington, a Devotional Sequence of Music and Readings for Easter-tide will be performed by RSCM Scottish Voices.

Following the service all are invited to join us for a refreshment at a local pub, probably the Tyneside Tavern just along the road.

Easter Sequence

The next time you can hear RSCM Scottish Voices sing is at 4pm on Saturday 21st May 2011 in St Mary's Parish Church in Haddington when we shall be taking part in an Easter Sequence with music including:

• Gaudete Omnes – Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
• O God thou art my God - Henry Purcell
• Surgens Jesus - Peter Philips
• Morning Glory, starlit sky - Barry Rose
• O Sons and Daughters Let us Sing – Henry Walford Davies
• Hymn: This Joyful Eastertide – Charles Wood
• Hymn: Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem [tune: St Fulbert]
• Psalm: The Easter Anthems

Gotcha! Or did we?

Yes, you're absolutely right, yesterday's post was an April Fool joke, we admit it.  Were you fooled?

It'd be a boring old world without laughter and RSCM Scottish Voices, while a serious (and seriously good) choir, is a group made up of people who are full of laughter and fun while making music, and that's how it should be.  Laughter is a wonderful thing, as the words from Genesis 21:6 suggest: ."....... God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me." 

That said, while clearly we meant no disrespect whatsoever, sincere apologies if anyone saw yesterday's post in anything other than the spirit in which it was meant.

So, we have no sponsorship deal with Tennents or anyone else, but it is true however that we'd be exceedingly pleased to talk about sensible options for such a deal if anyone with a bit of cash to spare or the clout within a company to help us out is reading this.  We won't put any logos on choir robes, no matter how good the offer, but other options are available for discussion!

Please contact us via the administrator's email address listed in the sidebar.

New Sponsorship deal for RSCM Scottish Voices

RSCM Scottish Voices is still a relatively new choir, and as a self funded venture it's sometimes hard to rein back the wonderful plans for the future to match our disposable income.  Ideas include our own robes, tours of English Cathedrals, recordings, and lots of other stuff.

We haven't mentioned this previously in case it came to nothing, but over the past few months a lot of hard work and negotiation has been going on behind the scenes by Gordon and me to try to secure sponsorship to help us achieve some of these goals, and I’m pleased to say that only today, the start of April 2011, we’ve finalised a deal with a Glasgow based company who have an international reputation and who are happy to lay out their hard cash simply because we've convinced them that the reputation of RSCM Scottish Voices has become such that their sponsorship money will pay them dividends by getting their name and brand linked to our name and brand which their marketing department are now convinced will unlock a whole new marketplace for them, with the ultimate aim of their leading brand product replacing sweet sherry as the after-service refreshment of choice in refined churches across the land.

Inevitably when a commercial company is willing to provide annually a significant sum of tax free money to be spent by us on whatever we want, then we have to play ball with them to a certain extent, so while the sponsorship deal is in place, and it’s initially for a 3 year period, we will be known as RSCM Tennents Scottish Voices, and a new logo will be used to reflect the harmony between us and their world renowned product.

Below is the new logo, and under that is a mock up of how it is proposed that it will be displayed during the period of the sponsorship deal, when we have the robes which this money will allow us to purchase.

I think you'll agree it's striking, and I welcome any feedback or comments.