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Salisbury Community Choir History |
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Salisbury Community Choir Today |
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Membership Information |
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Jeremy Backhouse: Musical Director |
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Friends of Salisbury Community Choir |
Salisbury Community Choir History
Salisbury Community Choir was formed in 1993 growing from an evening class entitled 'Singing for Non Singers'. Since Fiona Clarke became Musical Director in 1998 the choir has gained huge popularity and its membership has increased tenfold. With about 200 members, the choir is now one of the largest in the area.
In 2001 the choir embarked on its first European tour to Germany, in 2003 it travelled to Paris and in 2005 to Poland.
The choir has developed a reputation for giving performances which are both thought provoking and fun. Various institutions ask us to perform concerts for them, including the National Trust at Stourhead for their Festival of the Voice, Salisbury Cathedral for their lunchtime concerts and Studio Theatre at the Salisbury City Hall.
In July 2004 the choir provided the lunchtime concert in St Paul's Cathedral, London. A truly memorable occasion and a real milestone in its development.
We host many music workshops - open to all - and to date we have worked with Scott Stroman, Head of Jazz at the Guildhall School of Music; Ken Burton, Musical Director of the London Adventist Chorale; Bob Chilcott, one of Britain's leading contemporary composers, and Michael McCarthy, Director of Music at Washington Cathedral.
A number of visiting musicians have been invited to work and perform with us, including a joint concert with Derbyshire's Tideswell Male Voice Choir,
The Ebrius Brass Quintet and Sax Appeal. For two of our Christmas concerts we have been joined by children's choirs.
The big event for 2005 was a visit to Poland and the opportunity to perform in some venues which are historically important because of the place they occupied in more recent Polish developments. If you would like to see a few pictures of the tour then click here. In addition there are five slide shows of photos. The pictures should change automatically every 10 seconds. To see the slide shows click here for Poland 1. Click here for Poland 2. Click here for Poland 3. Click here for Poland 4. Click here for Poland 5.
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Salisbury Community Choir Today
This is a thriving choir. We have a membership of about 200 but each rehearsal brings new faces. We believe the choir fulfils a very definite need within the community for people who may not wish to join a more formal group simply to come together and share their love for singing.
Now a registered charity, the choir is run by a committee whose enthusiasm is matched only by its energy to ensure the choir's progress continues.
We think the success of the choir is built on a number of things. Especially important is the fact that we are open to anyone and everyone. There is no audition - a process that excludes the timid - and no need to be a music reader. The highly respected soprano, Fiona Clarke, is our musical director and she ensures that rehearsals are light hearted and enjoyable but that they also stretch the abilities of choir members.
Our repertoire is hugely varied - there really is something for everyone - and it includes jazz, gospel, African, popular, folk and classical. Most pieces are Fiona's own arrangements. We have a suggestions board for new music and programmes are based around those suggestions.
2004 was a year that saw the choir's most ambitious concert to date. We performed Karl Jenkins' 'The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace' on November 13 in Salisbury Cathedral complete with full orchestra. This was an exciting project particularly as the idea to perform such a piece grew out of the choir itself and the choice of Karl Jenkins' work was suggested by a choir member. In the true spirit of the 'Community Choir' we asked members of other choirs to join us and the concert was staged for the benefit of a number of charities. Sine then there have been tours of Poland and Cape Town.
We believe our choir is special. We give everybody the opportunity to join, to develop their singing and become part of a really good choir. Our enthusiasm for and enjoyment of what we do is best summed up in Fiona's words: 'whilst there's music to be sung - let's sing it!'
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Membership Information
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The choir meets every Thursday during school term time at Chafyn Grove School, from 7pm to 9pm. Members can pay by a monthly or annual payment.
We have a very simple auditions policy: no audition is required. Most - but by no means all - of the membership do not read music. The choir is open to anybody regardless of age, ability, disability, sex or creed. The only requirement is that you enjoy singing. All music and / or words are provided though there is usually a charge for purchased scores. For further information please contact Mike Hiles at mike.hiles@btinternet.com |
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Musical Director: Jeremy Backhouse
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Jeremy Backhouse is the new Musical Director and will start in January. For details of his career see http://www.vivacechorus.org/main/about_vivace.php?content=jeremy_backhouse |
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Friends of Salisbury Community Choir
| For an annual subscription of £10 you can become a Friend of SCC. Friends receive a periodic newsletter and they are also entitled to a discount on any tickets they buy for themselves. We also reserve seats for them and a friend. All this and a special Friend's liaiaon person to handle it for them. Please contact Dot Walker at friends@salisburycommunitychoir.org |
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