Can you believe it? Here we are almost at the end of the calendar year and, by the time you read this, we are nearly half way through our 2001/2002 choral year.

Summer Social

Our Summer Social, held on the 11th July, at Paul and Heather Taylor's house was very well attended. The evening was thoroughly enjoyed by one and all and proved to be a fitting end to a very successful 2000/2001 choral season.

Autumn Concert

As readers will know from the Autumn issue of Rollestonian, our Autumn concert has been arranged to take place on Saturday 24thNovember, at St Peter's church, Stapenhill.

The music for this concert is to be Mozart's "Mass in C Minor" and Handel's "The King Shall Rejoice". The Mozart is a particularly difficult piece to sing and in order to do it justice the choir has been rehearsing hard since 5th September.

Outstanding soloists have been engaged to help us in our presentation. The soprano part will be sung by Lucy Crowe. Lucy, a local girl, was born in Marchington. She is currently studying, with considerable success, at the Royal Academy of Music. We are really looking forward to her debut performance with us. Margaret Langford, who is to sing the Mezzo-soprano part, really needs no introduction. Margaret is well known locally as the Musical Director of the Needwood singers and as an accomplished soloist, who has sung with Rolleston Choral Society a number of times before. The tenor part is to be performed by Keith Halliday. Keith, who lives in Nottingham, has sung with us a number of times so we are familiar with, and confident in, the quality of his performance for us. In Tom Oldham, the bass soloist, we have a somewhat unknown quantity. Tom was, until recently, a pupil at the Abbot Beyne High School. Whilst at school he actually sang in the choir a time or two but, it was really as a talented piano accompanist that we really got to know him well. If his developed singing abilities match his piano playing abilities we really have something to look forward to. Finally, our organist for this concert is also somewhat of an unknown quantity only this time it is the other way round. John Evanson (another local product, now studying music in London) has sung with the choir a number of times as a very, very competent bass soloist, but never has he performed with us as an organist. However, John comes to us with enormous experience and high qualifications and we look forward with great anticipation to his performance on 24th November.

Christmas Concert

As reported in the autumn issue of Rollestonian, this year our Christmas concert will be held on Wednesday 19th December in the Methodist Chapel, Rolleston. The concert will take the usual format of Christmas Readings and Carols and there will be plenty of opportunity for you to participate. Please come along and help to make this a happy festive event leading up to Christmas Day.

That's all for now folks.

Ken Green (Publicity)

At the time of writing, the choir is "resting". In other words it is enjoying its summer break. On September 5th we start rehearsing for our 2001/2002 concert programme.

Regular readers of the Rollestonian will know that the final concert of our 200/2001 programme was a performance of Haydn's Oratorio "The Creation". This was given in the Parish Church of St Mary and St Modwen, Burton, on 19th May. A very large and appreciative audience enjoyed the concert which is said to be regarded by our "critics" as one of the best to have been performed by the society for some time.

The final event of this year's programme was a social one. It was our annual get-together where we tried to entertain ourselves and our guests with a little light music before getting down to the serious business of eating and drinking. This year Paul and Heather Taylor hosted our Summer Social at their home in the Hall Grounds and thanks to them and their helpers a very enjoyable and successful evening was had by one and all.

When we resume rehearsals on 5th September initially we shall be preparing for our Autumn Concert. This is to be a performance of Mozart's Mass in C minor, supported by the singing of Handel's "The King Shall Rejoice". The concert is to be given in St Peter's Church, Stapenhill on Saturday 24th November, (not 19th November as printed in the summer issue of Rollestonian) at 7.30pm. Ideally we would like to stage a choir of about sixty singers for this performance, so we have room for a few additional singers (soprano, alto, tenor or bass). If you would like to join us, please do so on 5th September in the Methodist Church Schoolroom at 8.00pm, a warm welcome awaits you.

In November, rehearsals start for our annual Christmas Concert. Traditionally this is a concert of Christmas readings and well known carols providing for full audience participation - these days I suppose it could be called an "interactive" concert. It is always a popular concert, which is followed by an informal get-together where there is lots of talking over the seasonal fare of mince pies, tea or coffee. You will really enjoy it - just the thing you need to get you in the mood and motivated for the Christmas shopping expeditions that are to come. Make a note of the date, the place and the time - Wednesday 19th December, the village's Methodist Chapel at 7.30pm.

There are other concerts planned for 2002 but I will save the details of these for the Winter issue of Rollestonian.

that's all for now folks,

Ken Green (Publicity)

It is April 28th already, and although this morning the sun is shining, the forecast is for yet more heavy showers by mid-day, not that the dismal spring weather has had any adverse effect on the enthusiasm of the members of the Choral Society. We have been rehearsing hard since the beginning of the year for our Spring Concert, which as regular readers of Rollestonian will know, is to be a performance of Haydn's oratorio "The Creation". The performance will be given in the Church of St Mary and St Modwen, Guild Street, on 19th May, so it will have come and gone by the time you read this article.

As a matter of interest, when researching the programme notes for this concert, I found that, simply by coincidence, the first public performance of Haydn's "Creation" took place on 19th May in the year 1799. the performance was sung in German and it was given in Prince Schwarzenburg's Palace. This means that our performance will have been given on the 202nd anniversary of this first performance.

Is it not incredible that music written so long ago is still as popular now as it was when it was first performed? In fact it is true to say, (although it might be claimed that the words might be a bit dated) much of the music written by Haydn and his contemporaries has increased in appreciation and popularity over the years.

This leads me nicely on to announcing our Autumn Concert. The proposed date for this concert is to be 19th November. The concert venue has yet to be confirmed, but the music to be sung has been decided. The choir will sing Mozart's "Mass in C" and Handel's "The King Shall Rejoice". Rehearsals for this concert are underway but, if you would like to sing with us, please come along to the Methodist Chapel on a Wednesday night, we would love to see you.

The Society's next social event is to be held at the Bass Museum on May 4th when members will enjoy a meal whilst being entertained by an "Umpah Band" - bit different to choral music. Our traditional Summer Social, at which we concentrate on entertaining ourselves instead of entertaining others, will follow this.

Quite a number of members have been very active in other musical directions. A group attended a Regional singing Day at Tamworth. Not only was this a very educating day as far as singing was concerned, it was also extremely enjoyable. The enthusiasm of the professional musicians leading the day was infectious to the extent that it really did bring out the best in those participating.

Another group from the society performed with the Stafford County Chorus in its production of the Verdi "Requiem" referred to in the last issue of Rollestonian. This concert was held in the Victoria Hall, Hanley 23rd March. There were seventy three musicians in the orchestra, forty sopranos, thirty four altos, eighteen tenors and twenty five bass in the adult chorus, and twenty one sopranos, twenty altos, four tenors and seven bass in the youth choir , making a joint choir of nearly 170 voices. It was a night to remember.

The next opportunity on the horizon for some extra practice is a Brahm's "Requiem" Singing Workshop. This will be held on Sunday 6th May, in the Guildhall, Lichfield 10.00am - 5.00pm. The day has been organised by the British Choral Institute.

Advance Notice - Rolleston Choral Society Presents Mozart's "Mass in C" & Handel's "The King Shall Rejoice", 19th November, 2001. Make a note in your diary. Full details to follow later.

That's all for now.

Ken Green (Publicity)

To end its year 2000 concert programme, the society held a Remembrance Concert in St Mary’s church, Rolleston, on Saturday 11^th November. The concert had two distinct parts. The first part was a performance of Faure’s Requiem. This was followed by the community singing of songs that were popular during the dark days of two world wars. Although some of the memories arising from this concert were sad and very moving, some memories were also glad and inspiring. It was a well-appreciated performance by the large audience in attendance.

The final event of the year was our annual Christmas Concert. This was held in the Methodist chapel in Rolleston. As ever, this popular village event – of Christmas music and readings, followed by tea or coffee and mince pies – was well attended and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Everyone went home full of the Christmas spirit (and mince pies).

Following the Society’s very successful performance of Verdi’s Requiem, as the finale to Burton on Trent’s Festival 2000, the choir has now commenced rehearsals for a performance of J. Haydn’s oratorio ‘The Creation’. This performance will be given in the church of St Mary and St Modwen, Guild Street, on 19^th May. An orchestra will support the choir and invited soloists will perform the principal roles of Raphael, Uriel and Gabriel. As normal, rehearsals are held in the Methodist Chapel schoolroom, Rolleston every Wednesday evening starting at 8.00pm. A warm welcome is extended to singers (all voices) who would like to join the choir and sing this very popular work. Interested singers can contact Meg Moore (01283 813769), the Society’s secretary, or they can simply turn up at the next Wednesday evening rehearsal.

Going back to the subject of the Verdi Requiem, a number of members of the Society are rehearsing this work with the Staffordshire County Chorus. This is a large choir, which combines adult singers with the Staffordshire Youth Choir. The County Chorus is organised by the Performing Arts Department of Staffordshire County Council. Internationally recognised soloists have been engaged to sing the principal roles in the Verdi performance and the orchestral music is to be provided by the Staffordshire Symphony Orchestra.

That is all for the present, hope to see some of you at our next rehearsal.

Ken Green (Publicity)

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Last updated: 23 November 2002