Choral Singing Begins…
Just as I had been influenced to try singing by Gareth Malone’s TV series in 2009 a number of Calderdale Council colleagues had been too.
An initiative led by Sarah Gordon of the Children and Young People’s service in conjunction with Kevin Rivett of Calderdale Music Service was launched to establish a community choir. This choir was for adults that wanted to sing for the first time or those returning to singing. Kevin and Sarah successfully recruited a well proven musical director, Lynn Meredith (nee Hudson) who also led the acclaimed Halifax Young Singers. I understand that a meal and red wine may have helped to secure her services!
I joined CSI:Halifax in Jan 2010 after attending their Christmas concert. Lynn turned out to be hilarious. But she was also quite determined that we should aim high, despite our humble community choir objective of being accessible to new singers. Every rehearsal, especially initially when held on Monday evenings, provided a much anticipated and entertaining social adventure in itself but also contributed towards the excitement of the enabled performances.
In June 2010 our first concert beyond our rehearsal space took us to The Victoria Theatre, Halifax where we were guests of the Calderdale Music Service to appear in ‘Thank You for the Music’.
The following 7 years provided many challenging and enjoyable events. I learned so much and gained in confidence as a singer. It was a wrench when personal circumstances and commuting brought this era to an end.
Since I moved on to other musical adventures the choir evolved into the Carlton Community Choir and moved to the Carlton URC, a venue that had hosted many of our uplifting concerts.
#TillWeSingAgain
Thank You For The Music
Our first external gig saw us support a Calderdale Music Trust event.
We sang two songs:
- Fields of Gold (Sting)
- The Storm is Passing Over (Charles A. Tindley)
- Then joined in the finale with Abba’s ‘Thank You for the Music’.
The Armed Man
Halifax Minster
We hosted a ‘Come and Sing Event’ performance of Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man, a fundraiser for the Overgate Hospice. This inspiring event saw many local singers come together and attracted some from afar.
CSI:Halifax and guests including The Overgate Hospice Choir performed Karl Jenkins ‘The Armed Man’ at Halifax Minster on 12th March 2011. This Gregorian style chant was performed by the Bass and Tenor sections
The Armed Man final rehearsals at Halifax Minster performed by members of the Halifax Young Singers, CSI Halifax, Todmorden and Halifax Choral Society, and Overgate Hospice Choir conducted by Thom Meredith.
Sanctus from The Armed Manrehearsals at Halifax Minster. We were accompanied by an orchestra made up of instrumentalists from The Orchestra of Square Chapel, Kirklees Youth Symphony Orchestra and other volunteers. 12/03/11
Halifax Festival 2012
The Halifax Festival saw us make a fun summer’s evening return to Halifax Minster in 2012 for ‘An evening of Community Choirs, Music and Dance.
CSI:Halifax Choir opened and closed this varied evening. with our usual mix of sacred and secular, modern and classic songs.
