Dear Friends,
I hope you are all having a good summer.
It’s time to let you know plans for the Society’s 2024/2025 Season - a very special year for the choir as we mark Val’s 50th year as our conductor since she reformed the choir in 1975. Sadly, this will be her last season with us as we will be saying farewell to Val when she retires next summer. We want to make this a very special year for her and we look forward to opportunities to celebrate her remarkable time as our musical director of OCS and thank her for all she has done.
Autumn Term and Christmas concert
Our main season starts on Wednesday 11 September at 7.45pm in St Mary's Church Hall, Stoke D'Abernon with a social and singing evening to welcome everyone back with a glass of wine and time to catch up. This is also a great opportunity to introduce and welcome new members, so if you have any friends that you think might enjoy a new challenge, do let them know.
Our traditional Christmas concert is scheduled for Saturday 14 December. We are hoping to be able to hold the concert in St Andrew's Church in Oxshott, but if the planned building work in the hall and vestibule areas of the church is still going on, we may have to find another venue, watch this space. Music for the concert is Vivaldi Gloria plus a selection of carols and Christmas music.
Spring Term and the Leith Hill Music Festival
OCS will be taking part in the Leith Hill Music Festival Day on Saturday 12 April and we are excited to be singing Elgar's Dream of Gerontius in the concert. This is a wonderful opportunity to sing this great choral work in Neil Ferris's first season as our Festival Conductor. Though starting rehearsals for this major work in the Autumn (together with Christmas music), we will really concentrate on it in the Spring term as well as enjoying learning our three recital pieces for the Festival competition.
Friends
Should anyone be so moved: we are always grateful for any donations of time or money. Please contact me if you would like to support us in any way.
Membership
If you, or anyone you know, has thought about joining a choir even after a long break from singing, do get in touch. All we ask is that you can pitch a note and sing in tune, there is no testing though of course it helps if you can read music. We do spend some time learning the notes in rehearsal and we have lots of rehearsal aids which you use at home. We would love to meet everyone who is enthusiastic about singing but particularly lower voices – altos, tenors and basses. Please come along, and invite your singing friends, to our opening evening on 11 September at 7.30pm to enjoy a glass of wine and an introduction to the choir. It’s helpful to know if you are coming so that we can have music available, email membership.sec@oxshottchoral.org.uk.
With best wishes for the rest of the summer,
Mike Newman
chairman@oxshottchoral.org.uk
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