{"id":495,"date":"2019-11-01T09:14:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T09:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=495"},"modified":"2019-11-01T09:14:02","modified_gmt":"2019-11-01T09:14:02","slug":"seeking-a-place-in-the-choir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2019\/11\/01\/seeking-a-place-in-the-choir\/","title":{"rendered":"SEEKING A PLACE IN THE CHOIR"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SING MISS MELODY, SING<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent enquiry led us down new\nSidetracks and Detours and gave us this idea for this new post. It also took me\nhurtling back in time all across the arts\n<\/em>to the days when afternoons in Manchester city centre were peopled by someone\nat every street corner yelling out headlines, in a \u00b4grim up North\u00b4 accent, trying\nto sell to passers-by their copies of the latest edition of The Manchester\nEvening News. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among these street vendors, one\nwho caught particular attention was a young lady who would quickly scour a copy\nfor \u00b4good\u00b4 news headlines and then sing them out in a beautiful voice, in an\nattempt to lure buyers towards her pitch, if you\u00b4ll pardon that pun. I had just\nstarted working (in a bank!) in Manchester and would always buy my news time\nedition from her. I had, at that time, just begun to hone my craft as a writer\nand poet, (a bank, I know!) and was aware of a country song called Jimmy Brown\nThe Newsboy that I later bought on record by the wonderful Jimmie Dale Gilmour.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The song I wrote about our own news-seller\nwould eventually be performed in folk clubs a few times by a folk group I later\nformed called Lendanear. The chorus was<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4Sing Miss Melody, sing do, <\/strong> a song we can all sing along to<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4cos the words that you sing<\/strong> are like \u00b4a friend dropping in\u00b4*<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

so sing Miss Melody, sing do, <\/strong>Sing, Miss Melody, sing.\u00b4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course I hadn\u00b4t become Dylan\nThomas by then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The enquiry that led to this\ndiversion down memory lane came in an e mail from Carol, in the UK, a few days\nago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4I enjoy reading your reports on https:\/\/lanzaroteinformation.co.uk\/<\/a>  and your recent report on choirs\nprompted me to contact you, so I hope you don\u2019t mind me asking for your help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would you know of a community\nchoir in Playa Blanca?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am a member of the Baltimore\nSingers in West Cork, Ireland.  If there\nis no community choir already in Playa Blanca, our choir director, Katy\nSalvidge, has kindly offered to give me all her scores if I can find someone to\nrun a community choir in Playa Blanca. She records items and sends, on Dropbox,\nthe parts for Soprano 1 and 2, alto and men, so we can practice at home. Our\nrepertoire ranges virtually from A to Z, beginning with Adele, Beatles, Coldplay,\nand Leonard Cohen and continuing right through the alphabet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I shall be living in Playa Blanca\nfrom October 2019 until April 2020 and I love singing.  I am a member of local social groups on the\nisland such as Ladies Of Playa Blanca and The Lanzarote Swallows.  There are members of both groups who would\nlove to join a choir but like myself don\u2019t have the musical skills to run it. I\nwondered with your experience and connections if you could help?\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My reply, regular readers will\nnot be surprised to learn, was wordy but not particularly helpful, and I\nre-print it below if only to confirm your worst fears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4Hi Carol, thanks\nfor your query and for reading my articles on Lanzarote Information. I\u00b4m\npleased to share such a great platform as I think Miguel\u00b4s web site is a really\nuseful resource to residents and visitors on the island<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u00b4m really\ninterested, too, in the repertoire you talk about,..  Leonard Cohen work\nespecially. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is\nthat no choir in Playa Blanca comes to mind other than the Voices Choir which\nreally only performs at Christmas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a German\nrock choir that sings around the island but not specifically in PB. Another\nexcellent choir that performs quite extensively and excitingly is the Lanzarote\nGospel Choir. My wife has yoga friends who sing, too, in a Yaiza choir but that\nis a very small group and focuses on religious, ceremonial music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will, however, happily drop a piece into Lanzarote Information and into my Sidetracks And Detours blog and see whether somebody can identify a more locally based choir. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another avenue for\nyou to follow might be to contact a couple of the excellent musical directors\nwho lead choirs on Lanzarote and see whether they can recommend anything, or\nmight even be interested in taking on a newly formed choir of friends at The\nLadies Of Playa Blanca and Lanzarote Swallows. I could include in my article a\nrequest that any such person interested in that role might contact you or a\ncolleague.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You would\npresumably require someone English-speaking, but I have to say I have only ever\nheard musical directors over here address their audiences, who are of\ncourse primarily Spanish, in Spanish! However, I think the leader of the German\nchoir can speak English so I could have a word with her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My understanding\nis that the musical directors \/ choir leaders over here work at least on a semi-professional\nbasis so that might mean weekly fees or some such for any choir you can\ncollate. That said, I think they perhaps also receive some funding from The\nDepartment Of Culture at The Cabildo, the \u00b4government\u00b4 building in Arrecife.\nWhilst the staff and council officers are mostly Spanish speaking they seem\nreceptive to ideas that promote cultural awareness and tolerance, and I think\nif you made it clear that your \u00b4English\u00b4 choir would be looking to perform and\nintroduce new sounds to a Spanish audience that could be an idea they might be\ninterested in promoting. (Brexit notwithstanding !!) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would certainly\nbe worth trying to make an appointment with an English speaking person in that\ndepartment. It\u00b4s a lovely building to visit, anyway, and we have always found\nthem very receptive when we visit to reserve tickets or make enquiries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, I\u00b4ll put\nout some feelers and place an article and if things move along I could even\ncirculate residents on our complex here in Playa Blanca, to see who fancies\nsinging a bit of Adele! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regards, Norm\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I then made a note\nof people who might be able to help me, thinking of friends and acquaintances\nlike Dena Emerson or Christine Want who we know sing in various choirs, or\nJacqueline or Isabel from Coro de Yaiza, or perhaps Marianne who \u00b4manages\u00b4 and\nconducts some excellent choral productions throughout the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were some\nevents due in the following week or so that would afford me the opportunity to\nmake further enquiries, on Carol\u00b4s behalf, of those contacts I thought might be\nhelpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I could get\nthat aatada (all across the arts detective agency) into full swing, though,\nthere came another reply from Carol, presumably seeking to give me further details\nthat might help me in gathering relevant information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4Thanks\nvery much for your prompt reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nimportance of our community choir was that there were no auditions and it was\nabout community.   We all paid and at its height we had about sixty\nmembers.  We opened a concert for the Hothouse Flowers and were asked to\ncome back again and do a repeat the following year.   We were paid to sing\nat weddings and took part in the Cork Choral Festival as well as being a\nrequested group at Christmas events.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katy\nSalvidge, our musical director, is very much the professional but now winters\nin the Algarve.  Some of our choir travelled out to do workshops with her\nlast January. We sang Cohen\u2019s Hallelujah and also a wide range of popular songs\nto which Katy re-wrote the scores to suit our choir members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although\nwe have several other choirs in West Cork, delivering a different range of\nmusic, my interest is in the joy of singing with a choir. To also do that during\nthe period of each year that I live on Lanzarote would be brilliant.   I\nwould expect to pay a regular fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the\nbest. Carol\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nI had hoped I might, I bumped into the hard-working and ever helpful Marianne\nWhelpdale at a musical event a few days later and pretty much told her Carol\u00b4s\nback story and request for information. She promised she would give it some\nthought and drop me an e mail with some information to pass on to Carol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True to her word she sent me an e mail a few days later of two or three choirs Carol might like to approach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much help this will be to Carol, I am not sure. Playa Blanca is on the southernmost tip of Lanzarote, and to be honest, it being a tourist centre for young families, it doesn\u00b4t present as many arts events as other places on the island. It therefore, perhaps does not have as many arts groups, such as choirs, to choose from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Lanzarote Gospel Choir<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

To be honest though you can never\nbe more than forty five minutes away by car wherever you might be on the\nisland, so Carol might come to consider she has a much wider choice of choirs\nthan she first thought. Looking at the kind of material she has covered before\nin Cork, she might be impressed by our incredibly impressive and energetic\nLanzarote Gospel Choir. On the other hand, even a quick reference to the programme\nfor the recent San Gines Festival 2019 might provide her with half a dozen\nother choirs, including the wonderful Cora De Yaiza, always directed impeccably\nby Nuvy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I looked into my archives to see\nwhat I had written about this event, featuring six choirs, in my review on\nhttps:\/\/lanzaroteinformation.co.uk\/ and on re-reading my notes I am even more\ncertain that any of these choirs might suit Carol\u00b4s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theatre\nVictor Fernandez Gopar “El Salinero” recently hosted several musical\nevents, of very different styles, all organized by the Cabildo de Lanzarote, in\nthe course of one wonderful week The choral performances were designed under\nthe co-ordination of \u00d3scar P\u00e9rez, Advisor, and as they had been in previous\nyears, were aimed at promoting one of the most popular manifestations of\nLanzarote music. Choral singing is entwined in the long tradition of folk lore\nmusic in particular and with other genres of music too. These showcases aimed\nto raise awareness and give value to the musical work done by these cultural\ngroups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was\na larger venue than has been used in previous years and although it is renowned\nfor its wonderful acoustics, this Arrecife city centre theatre takes some filling.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite\nthe best marketing efforts of the choirs themselves, and of  Juan (aka by us as \u2018The Cabildo Kid\u2019) and all\nhis enthusiasm from the arts box office, I have to say the hall looked to be\nholding a disappointingly low turn-out by the time lights were dimmed on the\nfirst evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was\nespecially disappointing because we know from previous years how well these\nchoirs can perform, and a ticket cost of only 5 euros was not at all\nunreasonable. With three choirs, on the first night, each of more than fifteen\nmembers, we could have expected somewhere between 150 and 180 friends or family\nof the singers to attend. The event had been well enough publicised, in The\nCabildo\u2019s monthly cultural agenda booklets and Miguel had published what\ndetails he had in his weekly newsletter what\u2019s on column over the previous\ncouple of weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless I invite\nartists or those serving as publicists for groups such as choirs or drama to\nsend their advance information of events to me here at all across the arts on normanwarwick22@yahoo.com<\/a> . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That way we can perhaps\nwrite a preview article to place on these pages, or perhaps even print an\ninterview with an artist or organiser concerned with the event. Whether that would\nhelp increase audiences I\u00b4m not sure, but it couldn\u00b4t do any harm could it? We\nwould certainly reach an English speaking audience that The Cabildo or artists\nindigenous to the island might not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first choir to perform on the opening night was\nthat of El Cribo Canta, founded in 2002 by Mariola Ferrer. Since then,\nconductors Cristian Morales and Beni Ferrer have had time directing the choir,\nwhich is now under the baton of Arnold Bonilla. El Cribo Canta was originally\nformed by members who had themselves, or had family members and friends who\nhad, suffered with mental health issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
El Cribo Canta<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The aim of the choir, therefore, was to raise\nawareness of, and open doors to, the social inclusion of those suffering poor\nmental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sartorially, at least, this was to prove the most\ncolourful of the choirs over the two nights, though they began with a lovely,\nbut slightly dark Hallelujah. That, though, seemed to settle any nerves they\nmay have had and their musical director, whilst playing guitar, led them into a\nsong of softer colours and more carefree times. He clearly took great pride in\ntheir performance and his choir patently adored and trusted him, and the male\nmembers of the choir, after a somewhat rigid and nervous start now began to\nrelax and were seemingly having the time of their lives, taking lead vocal\nduties on the romantic folk lore song that followed. An a capella offering was\nlively and joyful, and the last couple of songs in their set continued to\ndelight the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good number of other nationalities are actually\nrepresented under the banner of Coral Alemana (German Choir), In Dulci Jubilo.\nWe saw some members of this choir perform recently, and brought a review of\ntheir excellent performance of a Handel piece to these pages. They reprised a\nselection from that show here at El Salinero. The music they sang and played\ntonight all emanated from workshops of Baroque music that became a presentation\nof the oratorio, L\u2019Allegro, Il Penseroso ed Il Moderato. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The guest conductor that night, in the smaller\nteatro of Tias, had been specially commissioned from his home in Argentina and\nhe had made much delight that although this music was a contrast between\nMelancholy and Merriment, it was perhaps in the piece called Moderation where a\nhaven was to be found.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonight Marianne Whelpdale stepped out front from\nthe orchestra to musically conduct the choir from her keyboards. Haste Thee\nNymphs, with its libido and calls for hedonistic delights, was a sparkling\noffering but Come And Trip It As Ye Go was, in both title and type, like one of\nthose contemporary but traditional sounding English folk songs, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could have been written by a wonderful group of\nthe sixties, The Incredible String Band. I know that those my folksy friends of\nthose days would have loved what In Dulci Jubilo achieved here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the British of a certain age it is also almost\nimpossible to listen to a work entitled Come Pensive Nun without thinking of\nthe somewhat less reverent song of a similar title and ilk by Jake Thackery,\nalso from the nineteen sixties. However the choir erased all such memories from\nour minds with an engaging and engrossing delivery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The splendidly moustachioed Alan Taylor, a\nubiquitous figure on the choral music scene in Lanzarote, gave us a solo\nperformance of joy and mirth with Oh Let The Merry Bells Ring. Harmonies on the\nfinal number, These Delights If Thou Can Give\u2019st, and indeed, throughout the\nperformance, were of the precision and excellence we have come to expect from\nthis choir, who were all dressed in dazzling white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Coral De San Bartolome<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The evening was brought to conclusion by Coral De\nSan Bartolome, founded in 1997 at the initiative of the town\u2019s council. The\nfirst director of the choir was Professor Carmen Siverio, but that role is\ncurrently undertaken by Mariola Ferrer. This is no simple task, for the choir\nis comprised of thirty female voices, who can deliver in three, four, or five\nthreads depending on the harmonic requirements for the music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In direct contrast to the previous choir, San\nBartolome were attired completely in black, but painted a pallet of warm\ncolours for us with their song selection. From an offering that was a gentle a\ncapella piece, they jumped comfortably into a song that was full of complex and\nlovely melodies. They were equally at ease with their choice, too, of folk lore\nwith a dance feel and high harmonies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonight\u2019s repertoire included titles like Dos\nGardenias, You The Beautiful Lola and When The Sun Warms Up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This had been a lovely evening of  \u2018ordinary\u2019 members of the public taking their\nhobbies and learning to levels of excellence they might never have dreamed of\nwhen setting out on this road, by \u2018nipping out to join the local choir.\u2019\nIndeed, such had been the height of this excellence that we were already\nlooking forward, even as we left the building, to returning the following\nnight, to see three more choirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we did return on the Saturday evening we had\ngrown from two into four, and settled into our seats near the front of the\nstage as if we were X factor judges. Indeed, we were perhaps more like Cowell\nand his acolytes than we would have liked as our foursome now included my wife\nDee, and her visiting friend Lynne, and these two were once colleagues in\nRochdale Festival Choir. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lynne continues to sing with the choir that was\nalmost devastated by my wife\u2019s emigration over here to Lanzarote. Any choir\nwould miss such a great mime artist as my wife !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opening choir on this second evening took to\nthe stage before another slightly lower turn out than we might have hoped for,\nbut Coral Polifonica San Gines are the best known and perhaps best loved choir\non the island, so we had no doubt they would rise to the occasion. They are\nalso one of the longest established choirs on Lanzarote and have been around\nnow for almost fifty years, with Braulio de Leon currently serving as musical\ndirector. He has performed all over Europe including the UK, France, Italy and\nPortugal as well as across The Canary Islands. The choir has collaborated with\nchamber and classical orchestras and even solo musicians such as acclaimed\ntimple player Jose Antonio Ramos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonight\u2019s delivery was entitled Limelight and\naccompanied by a backdrop of edited silent shots from silver screen classics\nthat added hugely to our interest in the songs on offer. As an example, I Will\nWait For You, which I had forgotten was included in the soundtrack for the film\nThe Umbrellas Of Cherbourg, was beautifully sung.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is perhaps why I and too, some people like\nfreelance arts curator Estefania Camejo, enjoy multi-disciplinary arts\npresentations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One art form often works in such collaborations to\nlead us to further investigation of the other, and after hearing many of this\nchoir\u2019s selections tonight I found myself not only wanting to hear more of the\nfilm score each came from but also wanting to see and understand more of the\nnarrative of the films that had also informed this offering. The choir had\nfully captured the interest and attention of the audience and safely opened the\ngate for the following choirs to step through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Agrupacion Vocal De Yaiza<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Next on stage was the choir we were all\nparticularly looking forward to. We have seen Agrupacion Vocal De Yaiza many\ntimes, in performances that have been for public entertainment and sometimes,\ntoo, as part of a church service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group also includes several ladies who are\nmembers of my wife\u2019s yoga group and Dee had been extolling their virtues to\nLynne all week. The performance of the choir justified Dee\u2019s recommendations of\nthem and under musical direction from Nuvy Tavio Garcia they gave us a\nrepertoire that included Dindirin Dindirin (not as similar to the Dr. Who theme\ntune as it might sound) and Ay That I Come and Vive Tutte Le Vezose. These were\nall lively and beautifully delivered and some members, like our friend\nJacqueline, were clearly having a great time. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That brought Coral Polif\u00f3nica Villa de Teguise on\nstage to close the event. Founded in the year 1988 driven by the municipality of Teguise and\ndirected then by Josefina Gonz\u00e1lez Gil, this choir now boasts more than thirty\nyears of history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout\nthe year, it works both in Teguise, and beyond its borders and has worked in\nthe Canaries and on the Peninsula in various festivals and musical events.\nTonight they delivered Nobil Pacem by W. A. Mozart, Oh Sad, That I Come by Juan\nde el Encina, Piel Canela by Bobby Cap\u00f3 and their version of Viva Tutte Le\nVezose, composed by Felice Giardine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the\nchoirs then united, in response to the shouts of bravo and encore from the\naudience. Their combined power in the encore they delivered was simply amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love to hear these wonderful\nchoirs delivering complex pieces, with great timing and harmonies. This is\ndespite the fact that, for some of them, no audition is required, as Carol had mentioned\nwas similarly the case in Ireland for her. Sadly though, I wouldn\u00b4t pass even\nmy own audition as a singer. Even with my own band, Lendanear, in the nineteen\nseventies, I used to come off the stage with my ribs black and blue where Colin\nand Pete had kept elbowing me to stop trying to join in with the vocals !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Choir Of The Voice Unspoken<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Much as I love singing, I know I\ncan\u00b4t. In fact, when I was fourteen, my dad came home from a parents-evening at\nmy school. He burst through the front door and began bellowing at me at the top\nof his voice. \u00b4Its alright,\u00b4 he yelled, \u00a8We\u00b4ll get help for you. Mr. Wilson\nexplained. Don\u00b4t worry about it.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worry I did indeed, though, all through the darkness until I could ask my music teacher Mr. Wilson what had been said to my parents the previous night. It transpired he had told mum and dad that although I obviously loved music I was, in his opinion, tone deaf. With supreme irony, dad mis-heard him and had come home thinking I was stone<\/strong> deaf !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be some forty odd years later that I formed a poetry choir in Rochdale, called The Choir Of The Voice Unspoken. It was the only way I could think of to join a choir without actually having to sing, and I enjoyed some wonderfully anarchic performances with them. Our version of Singing In The Rain might have lacked some of the magic of the silver screen or Broadway but we all had fun, though our audiences might not have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know that song that says \u00b4All\nGod\u00b4s Children Got A Place In The Choir,\u00b4\u2026.. well, the following line should\nsay \u00b4except Norm.\u00b4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SING MISS MELODY, SING A recent enquiry led us down new Sidetracks and Detours and gave us this idea for this new post. It also took me hurtling back in time all across the arts to the days when afternoons in Manchester city centre were peopled by someone at every street corner yelling out headlines, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}