- Big Sing Performance (2024 Workshop)
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Date Posted: Thu, 9 May 2024
It is now just five weeks before we start rehearsals for our Gloucester Cathedral concert on July 12th. Adrian has signed up a small number of additional singers from Gloucester Cathedral, the BBC National Chorus of Wales and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama to strengthen our numbers, these are tenors, basses and a few sopranos.
This is being sent to you because you sang in our Workshop in April. It would be very helpful if you could confirm that you intend to take part in the main concert as I have a great deal of work to do with the programme and the various rehearsals If it helps payment may be made by postdated cheque dated 1st June 2024. If you have already told me that you will not be taking part my apologies.
I attach the booking form. I also attach a bus booking form, we will be running a bus from Thornbury to all 7 Gloucester and Cheltenham rehearsals which may well suit those of you from the Bristol area.
I have tickets for our concert in all price ranges, let me know if you require any and I will send you details of what I have available.
Jos Gregson
South Cotswold Big Sing Group
www.bigsing.org
- March 2024 Update (2024 Workshop, 2024 Big Sing, 2025 Big Sing, Pre-2024)
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Date Posted: Sat, 2 Mar 2024
Reply to Jos Gregson,
18 Willoughby Close,
Alveston,
Bristol BS35 3RW
Tel: 01454-411652
Email: josgregson@gmail.com
2nd March 2024
Dear Singer,
This is being sent to you as you have either sung with the South Cotswold Big Sing Group before or have signed up for our April Workshop on Holst’s Hymn of Jesus and Poulenc’s Gloria with the possible intention of singing in the July performance of these works.
BOOKING FOR THE APRIL 20th WORKSHOP
Bookings may be made by accessing the South Cotswold Big Sing Group website at www.bigsing.org and downloading the booking form. If you are a member of Bristol, Gloucester, Stroud, Thornbury or Wycliffe Choral Societies and require scores these will be handed out by either Adrian Partington, Steven Kings or choir representatives. Otherwise they will be posted to you.
CRYPT SCHOOL APRIL 20th 2024 WORKSHOP
This will take place at The Crypt School, Podsmead Road, Gloucester GL2 5AE and will run from 10am-4pm. We will be rehearsing both works as well as the Messiaen “O sacrum convivium”, see the note below.
Teas, coffees and biscuits will be served in the morning. Please bring your own lunch. There will be no afternoon tea break.
Timetable:-
9.30am: Arrival and registration
10am-11am First rehearsal
11am-11.30am Coffee break
11.30am-1.00pm second rehearsal
1.00pm -2.00pm lunch break. PLEASE BRING A PACKED LUNCH.
2.00pm-4.00pm third rehearsal
CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL CONCERT 2024
The date for this will be Friday July 12th 2024 in the evening. Usually our concerts are on a Saturday with our rehearsal to sort out the seating plan on the Friday. We have the Cathedral booked for Thursday July 11th 2024 so that we can do this. The performance will be accompanied by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Adrian Partington.
ADDITIONAL WORK
In addition to the Holst and the Poulenc the choir will sing Olivier Messiaen’s “O sacrum convivium”. Scores for the Messiaen will be handed out at the Workshop and there will be no additional charge for these scores. The orchestra will also play Vaughan Williams’ “Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus”.
SCORES
A reminder that you may keep your score/scores between the Workshop and the June/July rehearsals and performance with no charge for the second hiring. If you only do the performance there will be the normal charge of £2 per score, again with no charge for the Messiaen.
SOUTH COTSWOLD BIG SING GROUP CONCERT 2025
The Cheltenham Festival have asked us to move our planned June 2025 concert to July 2025 and make it part of the 2025 Cheltenham Music Festival. This will be on Saturday 5th July 2025. This is helpful as it means that we will be using the Cheltenham Festival’s publicity and ticketing facilities.
This concert will be accompanied by the British Sinfonietta and conducted by Adrian Partington.
The full programme will be as follows:-
Messe des p?cheurs de Villerville by Gabriel Fauré and André Messager – for women’s voices.
Alto Rhapsody by Johannes Brahms for men’s voices.
Te Deum by Hector Berlioz.
There is a full rehearsal schedule on the website, Choir 1 comprises singers south of Stroud and will rehearse in Alveston, Choir 2 consists of singers from Stroud and north and will rehearse in Stonehouse. Joint rehearsals for both choirs are either at The Crypt School, Gloucester, Christ Church, Cheltenham, St John’s Northgate, Gloucester or in Gloucester Cathedral.
BUS
There will be a bus from Thornbury to Gloucester for the Workshop on 20th April. This will leave from outside Aldi at 08.45 and return from The Crypt School at 16.15. Tickets will cost £15 and can be obtained from Jos Gregson (email jos@josgregson@gmail.com, tel. 01454-411652)
SINGING NUMBERS
Choir numbers will be limited to 150 by the organisers so as to comfortably accommodate the choir. The Holst is written for three choirs, the third choir will consist of Gloucester Cathedral choristers and these will be seated separately. There will be a small group of six lay clerks who will be accommodated among the main choirs so that we will only have space for a maximum of 144 singers.
WEBSITE
The new website is now up and running, the address is www.bigsing.org. There have been a few minor teething problems but Mike Elcock has worked very hard over the summer and autumn to integrate the old database and we now have the system running to Mike’s satisfaction. The website is always kept up to date, so please refer to it for the latest news and events.
Jos Gregson
Chairman South Cotswold Big Sing Group
www.bigsing.org
Please do not reply to this email. If you want to unsubscribe from our emails, please email webmaster@bigsing.org.
- Chorus Notes for 2024 (2024 Workshop, 2024 Big Sing)
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Date Posted: Wed, 3 Jan 2024
Adrian Partington has made a number of adjustments to the scores of Holst's Hymn of Jesus, Poulenc's Gloria and Messiaen's "O sacrum convivium". for our July Cheltenham Festival concert
These are attached. Please pencil those relevant to your voice part into your score (apart from the Messiaen unless you have your own copy of the score). Messiaen scores will be handed out at check-in on Workshop day on 20th April.Attachment: 
- October 2023 Newsletter (2024 Workshop, 2024 Big Sing, 2025 Big Sing, Pre-2024)
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Date Posted: Wed, 4 Oct 2023
Dear Singer
Welcome to the new South Cotswold Big Sing Group website. Our Webmaster Mike Elcock has worked very hard over the summer months to set this up in conjunction with Making Music and all future group email communications about Workshops, Big Sings etc. will come through this website.
The website address is https://www.bigsing.org and you are invited to look over it and make helpful suggestions or comments. It is very new and Mike can add extra features according to requirements and also adjust any entries where necessary.
Our next event is a Workshop on Saturday 20th April 2024 at The Crypt School in Gloucester where Adrian Partington will introduce us to Holst’s Hymn of Jesus and Poulenc’s Gloria which we will be performing in Gloucester Cathedral on behalf of the Cheltenham Music Festival on 12th July 2024. Rehearsals for the performance start on 13th June in Alveston and 18th June in Wycliffe.
Enjoy the new site, the committee will be making every effort to publish all relevant information with timings, dates etc. for relevant events.
Jos Gregson
Chairman, South Cotswold Big Sing Group
www.bigsing.org
Tel: 01454-411652
email: jos@josgregson.plus.com
4 October 2023
PS Please let us know if you wish to be taken off our mailing list.
- July 2023 Newsletter (2024 Workshop, 2024 Big Sing, 2025 Big Sing, Pre-2024)
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Date Posted: Thu, 6 Jul 2023
UPDATE JULY 2023Reply to Jos Gregson
18 Willoughby Close,Alveston,
Bristol BS35 3RW
Tel: 01454-411652
Email: jos@josgregson.plus.com
6th July 2023
Dear Singer
I am now in a position to give a date for our July 2024 Cheltenham Festival concert and more detail on our own June 2025 concert.
CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL CONCERT 2024
The date for this will be Friday July 12th 2024 in the evening. Usually our concerts are on a Saturday with our rehearsal to sort out the seating plan on the Friday. I have ensured we have the Cathedral booked for Thursday July 11th 2024 so that we can do this.
We will be performing Holst’s “The Hymn of Jesus” and Poulenc’s “Gloria”.
SOUTH COTSWOLD BIG SING GROUP CONCERT 2025
As the Cheltenham Festival were not happy with our suggestion of the Berlioz Te Deum for their 2024 we will be putting it on in Gloucester Cathedral ourselves on Saturday 21st June 2025.
The full programme will be as follows:-
Messe des Pêcheurs de Villerville by Gabriel Fauré and André Messager – for women’s voices.
Alto Rhapsody by Johannes Brahms for men’s voices.
Te Deum by Hector Berlioz.
NEW SECRETARY FOR SOUTH COTSWOLD BIG SING GROUP
Rosemary Robinson has now stood down from the office at her request. Our new Secretary will be Naomi Buckler and we welcome her to the position. We are still looking for a Concert Manager.
The Committee would very much like to thank Rosemary for her years of sterling service, while also acting as the Wycliffe liaison.
WEBSITE
Our Website Manager Mike Elcock will be changing over the website from the one currently in use. The existing website was taken over many years ago from the one produced by John Hicks of Tyndale Choral Society. The existing website uses Serif WebPlus software which is now no longer supported and is outdated. The new website will use software supplied by Making Music (the Making Music Platform) which is specifically written for music groups and incorporates modern functionality. It is already used by several local choirs. It will combine the existing website and also the current mailing list database also supplied by John Hicks. We have only just sent payment and there is a lot of work in the changeover so it will probably be 2-3 months before we can make the switch.
If you wish to access the current website it is at SCCG.info, the new website will have a slightly different address.
Jos Gregson
Chairman South Cotswold Big Sing Group
