Market Rasen & District Choral Society (Registered Charity No:103727) About our Society Join the Choir Management Committee Past Performances Future Events

 

Sing “A Sea Symphony” with us!
Symphony No. 1 by Ralph Vaughan Williams
with Lincoln Pro Musica Orchestra
May 8th 2010
“the most beautiful piece of choral music written in the 20th century”
Robert Shaw

Day School on “A Sea Symphony”
with Robert Dean (Guildhall School of Music)
March 13th Market Rasen Primary School

Rehearsals are on Tuesdays at 7.30pm at Market Rasen Primary School
Please contact the Secretary, Jo Johnston, Tel.07711 395237 Email: mrchoralsoc@aol.com
or simply turn up at the next rehearsal.

FUTURE EVENTS:
Twenty Fourth Season

Saturday 13th March 2010 10am to 5pm Market Rasen Primary School, Mill Lane, Market Rasen	DAY WORKSHOP Vaughan Williams' "A Sea Symphony" With Robert Dean - Professor of Voice at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London See application form for further details
Saturday 8th May 2010 7 30pm De Aston Sports Hall, Market Rasen	Vaughan Williams' "A Sea Symphony" Stanford's "Songs of the Fleet" with Lincoln Pro-Musica Soloists: Soprano: Ruth Kerr; Baritone: Mark Saberton

About our Society

The choir was re-established in 1987 and since its first year has registered an average of 75-80 singers. We now have a membership of over 100 and the choir is a permanent and important part of the local community for both participants and listeners.

The choir is open to all comers without audition. Members attend from a radius of about 15 miles and rehearse weekly at the Primary School, Mill Road, Market Rasen during the Autumn and Spring school terms.

The choir's existence and success is principally due to the enthusiasm and energy of its founder and conductor Thea Hogg who retired at the end of our 20th season in May 2008.

The choir's repertoire ranges through all periods and styles and two concerts are performed every year. Thea's introduction of a four yearly cycle of music chosen from Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Contemporary composers provides the basis for an exciting choice of music.

A further contrast is provided by alternating Christmas music every other year with a selection of music on a special theme, such as Victorian music or Songs from the Shows. The Spring concert usually involves full orchestra and professional soloists. Local musicians are regularly involved in the orchestra and children from schools in the area have taken part in the concerts.

Our new musical director, Colin Lesser, is in his second season with the choir. In addition to his many musical talents he has charmed the choir with his patience and sense of humour- and members look forward to many years of music making under his direction.
His choice of Vaughan Williams' "A Sea Symphony" and Stanford's "Songs of the Fleet" for our main concert in May has really set us a challenge - not only in the demands of the music, but also in the size of the project.

As a result the committee decided to apply for a grant from the BBC Performing Arts Fund - Choral Ambition Scheme to enable us to attract new and younger members.

We are delighted to announce that our bid for funding has been successful. Out of 375 applications only 98 choirs have been chosen and we are the only choir in Lincolnshire to receive a grant.

The competition encouraged choirs of any size from 8 upwards either to commission a new work or to develop the skills of singers. Our choir proposed a project around its wish to sing the Sea Symphony, and as part of this project is to help those who cannot read music we are offering a short 'theory' session before each rehearsal.

The project accepted by the BBC Performing Arts Fund also includes the running of a Day School on Saturday 13th March 2010. This will be led by Robert Dean, Professor of Voice at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. The aim of the day is to give singers a new insight into the music that they are learning and to help with vocal technique. The choir has run workshops in the past and has always appreciated the chance to spend a full day exploring the music and learning how to sing it more effectively.

Members of other choirs in the area have also joined us to seize the rare opportunity of performing this work. It is a magnificent sing, with sweeping choruses, a large orchestra and beautiful solos. The big orchestral sound means the choir also needs to be large: we are seeking to boost our numbers to about 120 and are well on the way to achieving this.

We are also involving schools in the area: secondary school students have been invited to join the choir or the orchestra and the primary school, where the choir rehearses, plans to develop an art project around the work.

The nautical theme of the concert seems apt for Lincolnshire with its long coastline and many associations with the sea. The choir has invited the RNLI, which supports three lifeboat stations in our area, to participate in the project with the primary school and to have a significant presence on the concert night on Saturday 8th May 2010.

Our hope is that the project will widen opportunities for the growing communities around Market Rasen to take part in our music making.

Joining the Choir

New members are always welcome. We are open to all comers without audition.

Rehearsals are held on Tuesdays from 7 30 pm - 9 30 pm at The Primary School, Mill Road, Market Rasen during term-time from September to May.

Our annual subscription for adults is £44 - 2 payments of £22 in September and January. £5 per term for students.

For further information please feel able to contact any of the Committee members listed below or come along to our rehearsals and meet us.

Non-singing supporters of the choir are invited to consider becoming Friends of the Society for just £20 pa. This entitles them to free seats for all our concerts, priority booking for friends and family, the satisfaction of supporting a successful and progressive local Society, and involvement in Society affairs.

Management Committee

The committee is elected at the Annual General Meeting held in October and members meet 3 or 4 times a year to organise the programme.

Chairman	Midge Thomas	01652 678365	E-mails: mrchoralsoc@aol.com              midgethomas@btinternet.com
Secretary	Jo Johnston	07711 395237	E-mail:   mrchoralsoc@aol.com
Treasurer	Pat Hage
Librarian	Thea Hogg	01673 828478
Soprano Rep	Enid Fowler	01472 851717
Alto Rep	Anna Sharp	01652 678551
Tenor Rep	Clive Ross	01673 878293
Bass rep	Cyril Gray	01673 844932
Marketing / Publicity	Debbie Goffin	07930 326022
Conductor	Colin Lesser		E-mail:   colin.lesser@fastmail.fm

 

Past Performances Include:

1987	First concert on 16th December was of "Christmas Music"
1988	Fauré's "Requiem"
1989	Handel's "Acis and Galatea" and Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas"
1990	Britten's "St Nicolas" and Flanders and Horovitz's "Captain Noah and His Floating Zoo"
1991	Mozart's "Requiem" and Monteverdi's "Beatus Vir
1992	Orff's "Carmina Burana" and Llewellyn's "Lincolnshire Voices"
1993	Bach's "Magnificat" and Handel's "Messiah" Parts 2 & 3
1994	Verdi's "Requiem" with the Grimsby Bach Choir
1995	Haydn's "Stabat Mater" and Pergolesi's "Magnificat"
1996	Vivaldi's "Gloria", Walton's "Façade" and Carter's "Musick's Jubilee"
1997	10th anniversary - Mozart's and Fauré's "Requiems" and Monteverdi's "Beatus Vir"
1998	Handel's "Israel in Egypt" with Grimsby Bach Choir
1999	Puccini's "Messa di Gloria" and Rutter's "Requiem"
2000	Haydn's "The Seasons" with combined Grimsby choirs Bach's Cantata "Wachet Auf" and Handel's "Messiah" Part 1
2002	"Songs of the Sea" including Tony Hewitt-Jones' "Seven Sea Poems"
2002	Rossini's "Petite Messe Solenelle"
2003	Haydn's "The Creation"
2003	'CHORAL FAVOURITES' everything from Opera to the Beatles !
2004	An evening of American Music 'Hiawatha's Wedding Feast' by Coleridge Taylor 'Feel the Spirit' (a new work by Rutter based on Negro Spirituals) and 'Four American Folk Hymns'
2004	"Something Old, Something New" With Market Rasen RPC Band
2005	Handel's Acis and Galatea and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas
2005	'MORE CHORAL FAVOURITES'
2006	Mendelssohn's "Elijah" with Gainsborough Choral Society
2006	Handel's "Messiah"
2007	Brahms "A German Requiem" with the Grimsby Bach Choir
2007	Christmas Music
2007	Rotary Club Carols
2008	Fauré Requiem and Mozart Requiem
2008	"A Night at the Opera"
2008	Rotary Club Carols
2009	Haydn 'Nelson Mass', Monteverdi 'Beatus Vir' and Vivaldi 'Gloria'
2009	"Great Christmas Choruses" with guest soloists
2009	Rotary Club Carols