Check out "The Choir" on BBC America

Have you guys seen the show, The Choir? It follows the choral director of the London Symphony Community Chorus, Gareth Malone, as he establishes choirs in places where they don't have them to drum up interest in singing and classical music. He then motivates them to do amazing things, such as perform in the Choir Olympics. It's an interesting program, and it shows that you don't have to be a professional singer to put out good music. If you've got BBC America, you should check it out.

Spring Concert Approaches: Where In the World is the Cheshire Community Chorus?

Find out on Saturday, May 1st at 7pm as the Cheshire Community Chorus takes a trip around the world through song. This season's concert will be showcasing folk songs, international music, and geographically-themed standards.

The journey begins at Dodd Middle School, 100 Park Place, Cheshire. Ticket fare is $12 for adults and $10 for students and senior citizens. Globetrotting has never been so inexpensive! Refreshments will be available, and the Chorus will be accepting donations to benefit the American Red Cross. Hope to see you there!

New Season! Welcome Back! Also, Fall Festival Moved to Sunday!

The fall season started, and we jumped right back in with a refresher of the songs we'll be singing at the Fall Festival this weekend. Due to the rain, the festival was moved to Sunday. We're still meeting at the Gazebo at Noon, and we'll still be setting up the information table from 11-3. Be sure to let Kate know if you can still make it so she can get an accurate head count.

Next weekend will be Bob and Kendle's wedding. Take advantage of the CCC calendar. Hard copies were handed out at the last rehearsal, and there's a Google Calendar version at the bottom of this page. Those of you in the know may be able to sync it with their own google calendars.

Now onto the Chorus Update, courtesy of Kate:

Hi Everyone,

It was good to see many of you on Tuesday! I'm sending our first update a little early as we already have two gigs and about a million details to keep track of. Here's this week's update:

1. We worked on our songs for Fall Festival and Bob's wedding. We will sing Love will Keep us Together, God Bless the USA, Beatles medley, Cantique de Jean Racine, and Love in Any Language (with sign language). For the wedding, we'll sing the Beatles and the Cantique.

2. Fall Festival - Meet at the gazebo in Bartlem Park at 12:00pm.. We will sing at approximately 12:15-12:45. Please wear khaki pants and green chorus shirts.

3. Bob's wedding - the wedding is at something? Methodist Church in Trumbull at 11:00am on September 19th. We will meet at 10:30 to get ourselves organized and ready to go. Please wear formal concert dress - long black skirt and long sleeved white blouse for women and black pants and white dress shirt for men. Directions to the church and reception are forthcoming.

4. Dues for the year are $60. Make checks payable to Cheshire Community Chorus and give to Sue Neal (treasurer) by September 30th.

5. Membership Profiles - Please fill out a new form only if you have any changes to make to your profile, especially contact info. I will send out an updated Membership Roster at the end of the month.

New Season Starts in September!

Get ready to start singing! A new season with the Cheshire Community Chorus is right around the corner. Rehearsals begin on Tuesday, September 8th at the Highlands Health Care Center on Rt 10 in Cheshire. As always, new singers of all voice parts are welcome, and tenors and basses are especially needed. Come share in the gifts of singing and camaraderie with the Cheshire Community Chorus!

Joint Board Meeting and Music Committee Meeting forthcoming.

Happy Summer, everybody! There will be a joint board meeting for current, incoming, and outgoing board members on Tuesday, July 14th (That's Bastille Day, if you're observant.) at 6:00 at Bill's house. The meeting will start with dinner (outside if weather permits). Drop an email to the mailing list if you need the address.

Also, be on the lookout for a Music Committee meeting tentatively scheduled for late July (possibly the 28th). This meeting will be held either at the Highland Health Center or at Molly's mother in law's house, and it is open to any chorus member who is interested in choosing the music for the coming season.

Chorus Update for the week of March 3

Courtesy of Kate:

1. All polo shirt orders are due no later than Tuesday, March 17th.

2. Regarding the polo shirts: Some of you have asked questions about sizing. I am unable to get sample shirts from the company. I was told that the shirts run pretty true to size. I'd like to ask a favor of a few present members: Would a few of you bring your chorus shirts with you to this week's rehearsal for a little size show and tell? The sizing won't be exact as the shirt we are ordering comes in unisex sizing only. Marianne tells me that when she was able to order men's and women's sizes when shirts were last ordered. Thanks you!!

3. We worked on Love Will Keep Us Together and Love in Any Language. A note for Love in Any Language - At the end where we split into choir 1 and 2, the first time through everyone will sing the melody - choir 1. The second time through those who will do sign language with me will sing choir 1 and everyone else will sing choir 2. We also ran through Cantique de Jean Racine and Bill Bailey.

4. Homework from Lisa: Work with your CD, especially the Pinkam piece. We will work on Pinkam in detail on Tuesday while we still have Amy. (Have a great vacation Amy!) We will also work on Bill Bailey.

Chorus Update for the week of February 23

Courtesy of Kate:

It sounds like March is definitely going to come in like a lion. At least they're no longer predicting snow for Tuesday . . . Here's the update for this week.

1. Some member news - I mentioned this at the general meeting, but am including it here in case you missed it or couldn't hear. Liz Hetherington's daughter-in-law passed away a few weeks ago. She had a kidney transplant and experienced complications.

2. We are ordering chorus polo shirts. If you need a shirt, please complete an order form and return to me with your payment by March 10th. I'll place one order for all of us. The shirts run pretty true to size. I am attaching the order form to this email for your convenience.

3. A favor for your Membership Chair - A few members have asked if it was possible to see actual shirts for sizing purposes. Would a few members - 3 or 4 - who already have chorus shirts be willing to bring them to rehearsal on Tuesday for a little size show and tell? Thank you!!

4. We listened to recordings of the Armed Forces Salute, Love in Any Language and Wedding Cantata. We also worked on both the Pinkam and Love in Any Language. We also ran through Love Will Keep Us Together (Lisa says we'll start with this one on Tuesday).

5. Last, but most important - homework from Lisa: Work with your part CD. Review all of Pinkam, especially the first movement.