Here is the fourth in a series of videos to lift our spirits in challenging times. The Ladies are joined by their fabulous accompanist Rico Gerber.
Sung at the Choir’s celebration for International Women’s Day at Falmouth Methodist Church, March 8th 2020.
ENJOY!
🌈The use of rainbows was deliberate! 🌈
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Here is the third in a series of videos to lift our spirits in challenging times. Stithians Ladies are joined by their friends from Mabe Ladies Choir, soloist Simone Hellier, accompanist Rico Gerber, ‘cellist Becky McGlade and the Saxy Maids.
Let There Be Peace on Earth, written by S and J J Miller and arranged for SSA by Craig Courtney. Recorded on March 8th 2020 at our musical celebration for International Women’s Day.
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Join us for a fabulous evening celebrating inspiring women who have founded charities.
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BECKY McGLADE
Becky joins us again at this year’s International Women’s Day and has agreed to repeat her performance of “Ladies In Lavender “ Not only is it a beautiful piece for ‘cello and piano but it has to be the most apt title imaginable!
COME AND JOIN US
and don’t forget to wear something purple!
SUNDAY MARCH 8th 7.30 FALMOUTH METHODIST CHURCH
SEE YOU THERE!
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SIMONE HELLIER
After a resounding success last year, Simone joins us once again to help celebrate International Women’s Day. She will be singing a couple of solos, accompanied by the fabulous Rico Gerber, and joining the massed choirs to sing the solo part in Let There Be Peace On Earth for our finale.
Simone Hellier trained in classical singing at the Conservatoire in Basel, Switzerland. She has performed in La Traviata at the Hall for Cornwall and in The Marriage of Figaro and Madam Butterfly at the Minack Theatre – sharing the part of Suzuki with Jenny Oldfield, and played Carmen for Duchy Opera, which toured all over Cornwall. She also had the opportunity to tour internationally with the Cornish cirque troupe Incandescence.
Simone has collaborated with Jenny Oldfield and Kyla Goodey on a Trifle Gathering project in the Gyllyngdune Gardens at Falmouth Pavilions. She sang alongside baritone Mike Dewis and other wonderful singers, in UNICEF`s Concert for Nepal in London, to raise money for earthquake victims. In August 2017 she gave a classical recital at St Mary`s Church in Penzance and also took part in a show called If you go down tothe woods today performed in Trebah Garden with the Vertical Dance Company Yskynna singing the Lakme Flower Duet and the wonderful Aria from the 5th Element Il dolce suono Lucia di Lammermoor.
In April 2018 Simone performed Strauss’s Four Last Songs at St Mary`s Church, Penzance under the baton of Nigel Wicken and a lovely video of the performance can be found >>here on YouTube.
Simone’s broad reaching repertoire and engaging personality have ensured numerous performance opportunities with many more to come and we are honoured that she is joining us for our celebration.
💜COME AND JOIN US and don’t forget to wear something purple!💜
SUNDAY MARCH 8th 7.30 FALMOUTH METHODIST CHURCH
SEE YOU THERE!
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FIFTY SHADES OF PURPLE – well, more like 100!
March 8th is International Women’s Day and this year, for the first time, the Ladies hosted a musical celebration to mark the event. They were joined by Mevagissey Ladies Choir who were invited following our visit to them last year in the beautiful St Goran church.
They were also joined by the wonderful ladies barbershop chorus Celtic Chords – their current MD, Isabel Austin, sings with our choir. The Kenwyn Quartet also came along to play in the finale. The soloists were soprano Simone Hellier and ‘cellist Becky McGlade, both talented and engaging musicians and all the performers received a warm response from the capacity audience.
The Ladies were joined by Sarah Newton MP
The purpose of the concert was to celebrate the lives of inspiring Cornish women and during the evening narrators Sue Whitmore and Oriel Bennett kept us enlightened and entertained with facts and stories about Mary Kelynak, Emily Hobhouse, Rowena Cade, Suzanna Hext, Esme Page and Anne Glanville. These are all remarkable women, setting us all an example through their achievements, determination and sheer ability to get things done.
Jeannette Preston spoke about the charity Pants Cancers and a very useful amount was raised in the collection.
The colour adopted by International Women’s Day, and worn throughout the world, is purple and Falmouth Methodist Church was beautifully decorated, awash with varying hues worn by performers and audience. This added to the lovely celebratory mood of the evening which was warm, relaxed and buzzing with bonhomie. Sharing a common purpose always brings a genuine feeling of togetherness and, following a grand finale where almost a hundred performers joined to sing “ Let There Be Peace On Earth,” we spilled out to partake of a huge feast and enjoy each other’s company.
This was a memorable event and the Ladies pulled out all the stops, enlisting their menfolk to help, cheerfully undertaking the host of jobs involved, looking resplendent in their purple, singing like angels and proving once again that Stithians Ladies Choir is a force to be reckoned with.
We need to advise anyone still thinking about joining us at our concert for International Women’s Day that tickets have gone very quickly.
There is still a chance for you to be there and share this lovely event but we recommend you get your tickets ASAP!
* International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated annually on March 8.
* The day has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911.
*The day is not country, group or organization specific – and belongs to all groups collectively everywhere.
* So why not make International Women’s Day your day and do what you can to truly make a positive difference for women? Stithians Ladies Choir will be celebrating with a concert where the majority of performers are women and we will be collecting for a local charity which was launched by a courageous woman, Jeannette Preston of Pants Cancer.
International Women’s Day is all about unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy and action – whatever that looks like.
Internationally, purple is a colour for symbolising women. Historically the combination of purple, green and white to symbolise women’s equality originated from the Women’s Social and Political Union in the UK in 1908. Purple signifies justice and dignity. Green symbolises hope. White represents purity, but is no longer used due to ‘purity’ being a controversial concept.
JOIN US FOR A PURPLE CELBRATION!
We welcome Oriel Bennett and Sue Whitmore as the narrators for our special event for International Women’s Day. In between musical items they will be telling us about the lives for inspirational Cornish women, past and present.
Oriel, ( right ) a dance and fitness instructor, has been an actor, director and producer in many theatrical productions and is known throughout the County for her dynamic approach to dance, drama, music and comedy. Sue, ( left ) a musician who loves singing and choral music has also featured in many productions, specialising in forthright old ladies who play the piano. They have been friends for many years and enjoy travelling to far-flung places and taking on new challenges. We are grateful that they have accepted the challenge of turning our concert into such a special event!
💜Come and join us and don’t forget to wear something purple!💜
Becky is becoming a regular at our concerts – we are building up a lovely repertoire of songs for Ladies Choir with ‘cello solo and she always brings along her beautiful tone and winning smile. We are thrilled that she can be our guest again for International Women’s Day.
Becky McGlade was educated at Tremough, studying piano with Paul Comeau and maths with one of our Choir Ladies! She studied music at Royal Holloway, University of London, and after graduating, returned to Cornwall where she now leads a busy musical life as a ‘cellist, composer, and piano and ‘cello teacher. She performs regularly with various orchestras and ensembles including the ‘Classical Strings Trio’ and the cello quartet ‘Cello Cornwall’. Becky developed a love of singing at an early age and her interest in sacred choral music grew during her time as a member of the Royal Holloway Chapel Choir. She now composes mainly choral music and draws much of her inspiration from her Christian faith. Her works include psalm settings, carols, and settings of other texts, both biblical and secular.
Becky has also written numerous songs and works for string ensembles and many of her compositions have been performed at local venues. Her carol Clouded with Snow was recorded by the ensemble ‘The Queen’s Six’ and In The Bleak Midwinter was recorded by Truro Cathedral Choir and has been played on BBC Radio 3. Here is an excerpt …
Visit her website: www.rmcglade.com
💜Come and join us and don’t forget to wear something purple!💜
STITHIANS LADIES CHOIR 