Seek first the Kingdom

First choir rehearsal of the new season last night, and it felt really weird. Several old friends returned, but several OTHER old friends have left. I know things have to move forward but it'll be a while before we're used to this change, I think!

In a way it's a pity it's The Kingdom that we're starting with this year, because I have to admit it's not one of my favourite pieces, although it does have some good bits. (Quick summary for those who don't know it - it's about what the apostles do after the Ascension. Longer summary here.) Lots of us bought our own copies of the score last time we did it, and I know I wasn't the only one who kept finding quotes I'd written in the margins. Here are a few of them (note: these may not mean much to you if you don't know who's being quoted - and I can't say who it is - but those who DO know who it is will smile!):

"Have you thought about that part of your body today? Why not?"

"We don't do diction here - we do words."

"Altos, this is where your chests come into their own."

"Sing the end loud, but piano."

"Gonzo chicken bit." (I have NO IDEA!)

"It shouldn't really sound like Flanders and Swann, but it does."

"In cricket they have a thing called the TFC award. It means 'thanks for coming'. Tenors, you just won it."

"Sing as if you've got a rhino horn." (a soprano suggests he means a unicorn horn) "No, I'm talking about the TYPE of horn, not the position."

"I've always wondered why 'monosyllable' has so many of them."

"Hulme Bridge bit!"

"Eddie Izzard, 2nd clarinet sketch."

("Where are we breathing?") "You know what, I was actually hoping 'never'."

"When you've got two notes together which are the same pitch, the first of which is correct and the second of which is not... I'm not sure I can help you."

"What I think you need to do is be a little more ambitious, pitch-wise."


Tonight, by way of a change, I had another rehearsal, this time for a wedding at which I'm singing (along with some other Pleiades) on Saturday. I have a bit of a curse on Pleiades rehearsals - someone is almost ALWAYS ill or unavailable at the last minute. Tonight no-one was ill, but there was an accident on the M60 which meant that the whole motorway was closed after junction 17, which is where we had to come off to pick Lindsey up. I've never seen anything like it - it took us 45 minutes to get from the start of the J17 sliproad to the far side of the J17 roundabout. The police were trying to clear the bit of motorway UNDER the roundabout by bringing traffic up the other sliproad the wrong way. This traffic was being added to an already gridlocked roundabout. Unsurprisingly a few people tried to get away by driving across the grass verges. Total chaos.

(EDIT: Turns out a minibus had overturned.)

Anyway, we were already stupidly late by the time we got to Lindsey's in Whitefield, so plan A, which was to go to Claire's in Chorlton, had to be abandoned, because there was no way to do it without crossing the motorway, and there was gridlock as far as the eye could see in every direction. So we rehearsed at Lindsey's without Claire. It'll all be fine on the day though - it's not as if Claire doesn't know the songs. Maybe one day I'll organise a rehearsal that's not cursed!

(I'm praying my curse doesn't extend to the mini-choir I'm organising for Dr Liz's wedding - the rehearsal is organised, although it took SEVEN WEEKS between the first time I asked the singers about their availability to the final confirmation! Very much looking forward to that rehearsal though - some fun arrangements to try!)

I'm still enjoying The Choir, although I would have liked to see more of how he taught them to sing in harmony and less of the ANNOYING INTERVIEWS. And I'm a bit suspicious of the fact that when he decided he didn't have enough men, and the ones he had were a bit woolly, he miraculously managed to find a load more really good ones. But while I'm mentioning the programme, I should remind you about the BBC's Sing page, which includes both The Choir and the Sing Hallelujah project. They also have a new Performing Arts Fund which may be of interest to those of you who run your own choirs. (I found out about this via A Cappella News.)

EDIT: I just looked at the Radio Times and discovered that next week Gareth wants his choir to try something classical, so they will be singing the BARBER AGNUS DEI. *boggle* Because that's an obvious, easy first piece to try.... right? I suspect they won't show much of how he actually does it!

The MEN tells us that this year's Manchester International Festival was a big hit. And also that the Opera House North thingy will be split between the Palace and the Lowry.

Talking of things moving north, the London Evening Standard points out that because most of the BBC's sports staff are moving up here, they'll have a £3 million bill getting them all back to London for the Olympics. Good planning, eh?

Here's a nice feature about the fact that it's 40 years ago this month that Chet's became a music school.

There is an interesting looking free festival in Piccadilly Gardens next weekend - Platform 4 Piccadilly. (Note: despite the name, it's not at the station.)

In other wacky Manchester news, Urbis is to be recreated as an ice sculpture. (A friend of mine works in an office that was involved in the decision as to whether or not this would happen, and he had me in tears of laughter describing their discussion about where one might obtain a jelly mould of Urbis. I can't remember now why it was so funny - I suspect you had to be there!)

Has anyone had a go at Beatles Rock Band yet? It came out on Wednesday. I don't own a Wii etc. so I'll have to wait to try it at a friend's house, but the plans to do so are already in place. Should be fun! Oh, and here's an interesting article about whether or not Guitar Hero is discouraging people from playing ACTUAL guitars.

A thought-provoking list of 50 things that are being killed by the internet.

Members of my choir may be interested to know that on 23rd September both United AND City are playing at home, and both games kick off at 8pm. Oh, and United are also at home on 30th September. (I've given up maintaining my own online schedule because I don't think anyone's looked at it in ages - if I'm wrong about that, please tell me, because it would be easy to reinstate it! - so I'll just mention football fixtures here.)

Oh, and a final question, which I was asked last week but didn't know the answer to: do any of you know of a swing band or big band in Manchester or Salford or Cheshire, which is accepting new members? The person who asked me is a Grade 8+ tenor sax player who is keen to find a band to play with.

Yet again I seem to be months behind with my email, which is a bit ridiculous considering I've also been unemployed for months and therefore at home most of the time! I do intend to try to clear the backlog soon, though, so if I owe you an email, sorry for the delay and I hope to get to you soon.