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    • newCHOIR blogger
      • Oct 13, 2020
      • 3 min read

    Choir in Corona times

    At last newChoir Oxford are back together again, singing in times of Covid, thanks to the high motivation and hard work of all our committee members – we are lucky to have you! 

    It’s a new term and one that could not be missed despite Covid, with the inspirational leadership of our conductor and director Janet Lincé – who has so expertly led this developing choir since its inception in 2012 – being celebrated, as she heads half way across the world to share her skills in the Southern hemisphere. Some might say she is simply trying to avoid Covid but we know better!

    Our loss is certainly New Zealand’s gain but what fun to have 8 weeks to celebrate what has been an amazing partnership.

    Two weeks ago we none of us knew what to expect – we gathered nervously in a dark, damp, autumnal carpark trying to figure out who was actually in our socially distanced group of six at our new and airier venue that is Holy Rood Catholic Church.

    Our group structure is an interesting challenge – we keep social distance and have mixed voices in each group. Certainly means one has to learn one’s part – no hiding this term! 

    As I’m a second soprano – there are not many of us – a fellow second soprano who is on the opposite side of the room and I have decided we would need semaphore to communicate with one another standing about 100 m apart. And as for being near our accompanist, the social distancing means we need binoculars to see him. In terms of hearing others, initially I could only hear the very good tenor behind me but I felt we could hear each other en masse better the second week.

    The great thing is we can all see Janet, who conducts clearly, so professionally and encouragingly, taking all these difficulties in her stride. She has coped with the challenges and somehow or other, with her usual aplomb, after a tentative start, has succeeded in generating a reasonable rendition of our new music in a very short space of time.

    It has been a pleasure recognising familiar faces we have not seen for 6 months. 

    Covid has made me realise how much one gains from choir, not simply the inspiring music but the joy of being a cog in a well-oiled wheel and working as a team. Not only have I missed the music but prior to Covid I completely underestimated the 

    value in social terms of singing together, simply making weekly eye contact with that familiar alto across the room. . . And the words – how I’ve missed the words! Particularly if one has a stressful job, as many of us do, the unexpected therapy of chanting beautiful English poetry and familiar ecclesiastical verses as part of your normal week is a great bonus. I get it now, Janet, and fully comprehend that words are an enormous part of singing!


    It is a real pleasure being back and – masks or no masks – you only realise what you have missed and why when it’s been taken away. How lucky we are to have a great committee who made it possible to return to the magic that is newChoir ­– perhaps a little bit of fairy dust scattered in these painful times.


    Looking forward to a happy term.

    Judy Graham




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    • newCHOIR blogger
      • Mar 3, 2019
      • 1 min read

    Choral Genius

    Updated: Mar 17, 2019

    The clocks won't yet have gone forward when newChoir greets the newborn spring with Choral Genius, our upcoming concert. We will perform Monteverdi's exhilarating Cantate Domino, followed by Bach's towering, much-loved Jesus bleibet meine Freude. Next up, a clutch of German romantic pieces: Bruckner's delicious Locus Iste and Ave Maria, and Brahms's meditative Geistliches Lied. Arvo Pärt's Beatitudes, with their deceptively simple yet subtle harmonies, Howells' O pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and Gerald Finzi's God is gone up will round off an evening of profoundly moving, spiritual music. We look forward to welcoming friends old and new.


    Exeter College Chapel provides a beautiful setting for this concert, and tickets are now on sale at £12 advance price (£15 on the door), £5 under 18's -

    https://www.newchoir.org.uk/concerts

    https://www.wegottickets.com/event/463771


    Our posters are now on display in and around Oxford

    #exetercollege #springconcert #oxfordconcert #oxfordmusic #oxfordevents #wegottickets #ticketsonsale



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    • newCHOIR blogger
      • Jan 21, 2019
      • 1 min read

    Painting the music!

    Our open workshop, “Sing the Words, Paint the Music”, on the second Saturday of

    January was an exhilarating musical launch into 2019. Here are just a few of the

    many very positive comments we received from participants:


    “Incredibly well-structured… a very clear narrative to the

    session, thinking about vowels and consonants, meaning

    and colour. The pieces used as exemplars were similarly

    well chosen… The best three hours of singing I've spent in

    the last year, bravo!”


    one of the pieces we studied at the workshop
    'O Radiant Dawn' by James MacMillan, one of the pieces we studied at the workshop

    “I loved the entire workshop… Janet's instruction was

    fantastic… I learned how to adapt my voice and

    pronunciation to get the desired effect, which seemed (to

    me) to create a beautiful ensemble.”


    “Really interesting to focus on a proper warm-up and

    understand articulation. It was well timed and the break

    was good. Gorgeous music and interesting, interested

    friendly people attending.”


    “Clear organisation and instructions; music ready and

    available; interesting selection of music; well-paced and

    planned workshop, with Janet giving us the benefit of her

    buckets of experience; being able to sense improvement

    and refinement with each pass through a musical phrase.”


    There were many helpful suggestions for future workshop

    themes, too. We’ll keep you posted!

    #workshop #vocalworkshop #choralworkshop #oxfordevents #singinginoxford #choirinoxford #oxfordchoirs

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