It is always difficult to judge how well a concert goes when you are in the middle of the Choir.   So it was interesting to listen to members of the audience as they left the Chapel after the concert last Saturday.

“Coming to this concert marks the start of Christmas – I hope that the rest of the season goes as well as this did.”

“Magical – I felt transported to a different place.”

“The concert was very enjoyable, but a bit like a fruit salad – lots of different tastes and styles – perhaps one or two too many.”

“The Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols was fantastic and the best piece of music in the program!”

“Everything was wonderful – but I’m still not a great fan of Vaughan Williams.”

“This was the Choir’s best performance ever!”

“Could there not have been an encore – even just a short one?  I did not want the concert to end.”

“The Choir just goes on getting better and better!”

A small number of us from the Choir enjoyed a wonderful afternoon last Sunday in the not-so-preposessing confines of the Ryde Civic Centre.  Carlos was conducting the Ryde Hunters Hill Symphony Orchestra in an ambitious program, one which he previously admitted was proving extremely challenging and possibly stretching themselves just a little too far.

Well it did not show.  From the arresting first chords and precisely timed intervening silences of the opening of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, it was clear that the orchestra and conductor meant business.  What followed was a masterful and authoritative reading of a short but complex work.  From that the orchestra moved on to the sublime Harp Concerto by Gliere, with the Choir’s friend Georgia Lowe as soloist.   What a delightful work!  The second movement especially, a theme and variations, was captivating in its charm, with an apparent simplicity which I suspect masked a lot of inner workings.

Then came Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony.  The horns declaimed the opening theme with firmness and style, setting the scene for a performance that was engaging and full of high-class musicianship, yet full-bloodedly Romantic, at times so exciting as to appear to be at the edge of the conductor’s control.  The applause at the end was indeed well-deserved, as the audience had enjoyed a memorable musical experience.

It never ceases to amaze me how much we sing without understanding the words. One instance which stays with me was taking part in a performance of Carmina Burana in Yorkshire in which the most rumbunctuous singers of the Drinking Song were a number of ministers from the Methodist strongholds up the valleys – absolutely teetotal, of course.  To this day I wonder if they knew what they were singing about.

So to sing, as we did last night in the carol “Sir Christemas”, “Wherefore sing we at a brayde” set me thinking that, as I had no idea what a brayde might be, I should try and find out.

The Internet is a wonderful thing.  Click here and there is an explanation that “at a brayde” can mean in an instant or immediately, a usage from the times of Chaucer.  The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary refers to to it as a corruption of the word “braid”, giving several possible meanings including that above, and also with fervour or with passion. Both meanings could apply.  I am sure Carlos will be delighted with both – as he is always exhorting us to sing both immediately, ie with his beat, and with full expression.

Sunday 20th September was the day of the joint concert with the Odawara Doctors’  Choir from Japan.  I think it is fair to say that everyone involved, choirs and audience alike, thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  There was a brief rehearsal in which we got to know each other and ran through the items we were singing together, and then we were straight into the concert.

The choir from Japan were delightful, both to listen to and to watch.  The ladies’ cream long sleeveless dresses and peach evening gowns (a mere male’s description) will no doubt give MW Choir’ s costume department food for thought!

The songs they sang were most enjoyable, especially a harmonised version of ” Doh, ray, mi”  from ” The Sound of Music” .  Their tone was pure and clear, their singing precise and with feeling.

Our own contributions were very well received.  Maybe we enjoyed singing all the more as we knew the music so well that we could afford more than just an occasional glimpse towards Carlos, which Carlos himself seemed to appreciate.

The joint items worked well.  The ” Cantique de Jean Racine”  was conducted by our own Carlos Alvarado and ” Sakura” by Hiroko Yamada – the latter started and finished together despite the MWC scores seeming to miss out a few extra beats which the Odawara Choir had in their versions.

There was time for a number of speeches and presentations, and a long interval for refreshments.

Odawara is one of Manly’s sister cities.  This afternoon brothers and sisters joined together do something special – to make music.  Once again, no scientific study is needed to prove the beneficial effects of making and listening to music – it was just self-evident.

Many thanks to Mark Renton for the photographs on this page.  Click here to see some of the pictures taken by Manly Council’s photographer.

The Choir AGM was held at the start of rehearsal on Thursday August 26th.  The President, Roger Pratt, spoke of our four successful concerts in the year from July 2014 to June 2015, and reported that the financial position is healthy.  Carlos Alvarado, our Conductor and Musical Director, complimented the Choir on yet again raising the standard of performances.

The Treasurers, Jan Gilham and Ros Dobis, resigned from the Committee due to other pressing commitments.  Roger thanked them warmly for all their efforts over the past year.  Anne Scollon (Tenor) was voted in to take over the position.  All other Committee members remain in post.

Joe Micali offered the Committee a vote of thanks for all their hard work in arranging rehearsals and concerts.  Roger responded by saying that although there were sometimes frustrations, he and all Committee members found the work most rewarding.

A number of questions and issues were raised by members, which the Committee will follow up over the next few months.

The meeting lasted half a hour, and then we were free to do what we go to CPPS on Thursday nights to do – SING.