Stithians Ladies Choir will be supporting the work of the MS Society when they present their next concert.
Come along to Carnon Downs Methodist Chapel on Saturday 18th May and hear some fine singing from our guests, Imerys Mid Cornwall Male Choir, and of course ourselves.
FIFTY SHADES OF PURPLE – well, more like 100!
March 8th is International Womenâs 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 âcellist 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 Womenâs 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 â Let There Be Peace On Earth,â we spilled out to partake of a huge feast and enjoy each otherâs 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 Womenâs 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 Womenâs 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 ) Â 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!
đCome and join us and donât forget to wear something purple!đ
Becky is becoming a regular at our concerts  – we are building up a lovely repertoire of songs for Ladies Choir with âcello solo and she always brings along her beautiful tone and winning smile. We are thrilled that she can be our guest again for International Womenâs 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 âcellist, composer, and piano and âcello teacher. She performs regularly with various orchestras and ensembles including the âClassical Strings Trioâ and the cello quartet âCello Cornwallâ. 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 âThe Queenâs Sixâ 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: Â www.rmcglade.com
đCome and join us and donât forget to wear something purple!đ
INTERNATIONAL WOMENâS DAY CELEBRATION
A few people have asked if this is a women only event. The answer is: nearly all the participants are women but please bring a man ( or half the tenors in a male voice choir ) if you want to. They are very welcome to celebrate with us!
Simone joins us for the first time to help us celebrate International Womenâs 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, Â which toured all over Cornwall. Â 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 to the 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 Straussâs 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.
Simoneâs 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.
đCOME AND JOIN US and donât forget to wear something purple!đ
We would like to highlight all the wonderful guests who are coming to share our forthcoming Gala Concert.
Part two: Celtic Chords barbershop chorus
Celtic Chords are a relatively small Ladies Barbershop Chorus who meet to rehearse every Monday evening at Devoran Village Hall. An extremely close knit group, they thoroughly enjoy singing together and also love to share that enjoyment with others. Many of their âsing outsâ are at memory cafes for people with Alzheimerâs and it always gives them great pleasure when the audience joins in.
Though not overly ambitious, they have competed several times at the Sweet Adelines Convention in Newcastle and Nottingham, and in 2016 successfully competed in the Llangollen Eisteddfod.
They are always looking for new singers â neither experience nor the ability to read music are necessary. Their current Musical Director, Isabell Austin, is also a member of Stithians Ladies Choir so she is going to be a very busy lady at the International Womenâs Day Celebration!
         Visit their web site  www.celticchords.btck.co.uk
đCOME AND JOIN US and donât forget to wear something purple!đ
We would like to highlight all the wonderful guests who are coming to share our forthcoming Gala Concert.
Part one: Â MEVAGISSEY LADIES CHOIR
The Choir was established in November 1985 starting with just 16 members, mainly wives of some of the Male Choir singers. The numbers have fluctuated over the years, the younger members taking time out for families or some retiring due to ill health but at present there are 40 members and newcomers are always welcome to join these happy and friendly Ladies.
The members cover a wide age range and come from all walks of life, some from fishing and farming families, others are career ladies and a number are retired. Many of the members live in Mevagissey and Gorran Haven but others come from the St Austell area and outlying villages. Some of the founder members are still singing in the choir.
The Musical Director, Barry Farley, is very highly qualified in the music field and joined in January 2008. The pianist is David Robinson an excellent musician who lives in Par, joining in 2015.
The choir has performed in many parts of Cornwall and at various places around England and Wales. They all take great pleasure from music and enjoy entertaining with their singing, Â always happy to help raise money for Charity .
 Visit their website: http://mevagisseyladieschoir.co.uk
đCOME AND JOIN US and donât forget to wear something purple!đ
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