Only two weeks until the first night of Ocean World!
Tonight we had the final rehearsal with members from Stithians Male Voice Choir – next week we meet again but rehearse with the band for the first time.
Tickets are selling well – in fact they are very nearly sold out. The remaining tickets are available from the Stithians village shop, and a few are still left via choir members.
Tickets for the Saturday evening performance are nearly all sold out! The only remaining tickets for that night, 15 November, are available from Stithians Spar Shop. So if you’re intrigued by the thought of a 15ft whale in a church and looking for something completely different to do in Stithians in the middle of November, get your tickets quick!
Ocean World: Thursday 13, Friday 14 and Saturday 15 November, 7pm Stithians Church. Tickets £5 each – available from Stithians Spar Shop, Du Barry, in Truro, or from Stithians Ladies Choir.
Rehearsals for Ocean World are back in full swing now, as the performance dates approach. There were a few little lapses in memory after the summer break but we’re back on track now. This week, we’re looking forward to a rehearsal with our crew of fishermen hauled in from around Stithians.
We are delighted to have received funding from FEAST to help with putting on the production of Ocean World. FEAST is a programme to make great art happen across Cornwall. FEAST harnesses the talents and energy of Cornwall’s artists and communities, generating new opportunities for everyone to enjoy the arts. The focus is on bringing people together to share experiences as audiences or participants, and on animating local celebrations and cultural life. Investment in FEAST comes from Arts Council England and Cornwall Council. The programme is managed by Cornwall Arts Centre Trust.
We’re back to rehearsals tomorrow evening (7.30pm Stithians Bandroom) after taking a break in August. We’ll be concentrating on Ocean World, getting ready for the performances in November. More updates, including where to get tickets, coming soon.
After an enjoyable concert last night at Chacewater Church, we have another concert on Monday 14 July. We’ve been invited to sing at the annual Stithians Show concert which takes place on the Showground in the evening, with St Stithians Band. The concert starts at 8pm and tickets will be available on the door.
We’ll also be performing a few days later with Stithians Band in the evening concert after Stithians Show, on Monday 14 July, on the Showground; so a busy week coming up!
Our choir is joined by its first male!
This is Kim Hanson and her son Curtis and they are both singing in our production of Ocean World in November. Both are experienced singers living in Stithians, although Kim says it is a while since she was part of a choir. She joined Stithians Ladies recently when her son auditioned for a solo part in Ocean World. Curtis in almost 12 and has a beautiful treble voice. He joins choir member Anne-Marie Gillow in a duet between the dolphin and the mother whale and they will be singing this at the concert at Chacewater Church Flower Festival on Friday 11th July and at the Stithians Show evening concert on Monday 14th July. Rehearsals for Ocean World are going very well indeed and we are really looking forward to giving some concert goers a preview of the music.
The choir is delighted to welcome a genuine Stithians lady ( and her talented son! ) into their midst to continue the tradition of excellent singing in the village of Stithians.
We had a great time in Cardiff – a very enjoyable weekend.
It began early on Friday morning as the coach picked everyone up en route to the A30, slightly delayed by some scenic detours caused by a couple of road closures – and that was before the coach even arrived in Stithians!
Despite the usual half term traffic we made it in good time to Cardiff. It didn’t seem the mad panic rush to get ready and out of the hotel as expected (maybe that was just my perception!). We got to the concert venue, St Teilo’s Catholic Church, Whitchurch, with enough time to run through our pieces with Becky, one of Cardiff Male Choir’s accompanists. (We were grateful for her help, and very impressed with her playing, especially since she hadn’t had the music long or played with us before, and pieces such as Weep No More can be tricky.)
The concert was very enjoyable; I think the Welsh anthem went ok and everyone remembered the words. I particularly liked the men’s arrangement of the theme from tv’s Band of Brothers, done by a former MD. I heard that at one point members of the audience were moved to tears only a few bars into our The Lord Bless You and Keep You (hopefully in a good way!) Afterwards we were invited by Cardiff Male Choir to a local rugby club for something to eat, which was quite a spread, and it was great to meet members of the choir.
Saturday provided us with free time for all sorts of activities. For those who wanted there was a coach trip to the Physic Garden in Cowbridge, which apparently took in some of the sights of Cardiff (several times!). For others it was a chance ‘to shop till you drop’… (if anyone’s got anything to add about the Saturday trip please write in the comments below – I went shopping…!)
Before heading back to Cornwall on Sunday we visited St Fagans, which was lovely. It was very interesting to explore the old buildings, particularly impressive was the 1520s church with biblical wall paintings; in the Last Supper it looked like one person was holding a Cornish pasty! In a 16th century farmhouse, while talking to some costumed guides the subject of music came up and someone mentioned we were in a choir… half the group scarpered leaving two of us to be asked to sing something – being put on the spot we panicked and chickened out!
The return to Cornwall was uneventful and the coach was quite quiet after a busy weekend. Thanks to everyone who was involved in the organisation of the trip and concert. There’s already plans afoot for another trip next year, so we may have to brush up the Welsh anthem again in future!
Our next concert takes us to the great city of Cardiff, a place the choir has not yet visited. We go as the guests of Cardiff Male Choir for a summer concert entitled “Together in Harmony”
Cardiff Male Choir
The concert is on Friday 30th May at St Teilo’s Church, Whitchurch.
St Teilo’s Church
We certainly relish the prospect of sampling the delights of this great city – the architecture, the sights and sounds and, of course, the shopping!
One of Cardiff’s beautiful buildings – the Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay
We really look forward to meeting the gentlemen of this highly regarded Welsh choir and to sharing some fine music with them and their team. We are particularly indebted to their accompanist who agreed to play for us since our dear George will not be with us. No doubt the highlight for us will be singing Trelawny and the Welsh Anthem – singing in Welsh is a newly acquired skill!
Watch this space for an account of our travels …
and if you have never been to Cardiff click here to see what you are missing!
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The concert on Saturday with Tamar Valley was very enjoyable, with some lovely and moving performances by both choirs and the soloists. The evening included some amusing stories by Adrian Wilton, the compere, who had the audience in stitches on a couple of occasions.
It was also the first outing of our new purple uniform tops – our summer look – which is a bit cooler than the red and black worn in the winter. We received several compliments on the new look and also on the singing, which Bea has described as some of the best we’ve produced.
STITHIANS LADIES CHOIR 