Bel Canto’s contribution at the All Saint’s Church 2023 Nativity Festival.
2023 Taize Singing Day with Susie Ennals
On Saturday, 23rd September, 2023 the choir celebrated its 20th birthday with a singing day led by Susie Ennals. We sang Taize and other sacred, short and easy songs in rounds and four part harmony. The results were wonderful! We were singing in a large circle with a central, beautiful flower display prepared by Linda, which created a peaceful and pleasant atmosphere.
Throughout the day, there were regular breaks, with really tasty biscuits and cakes – thank you Ruth. Thank you too to Nick for warming the room and Alec & John for your kitchen duties. Lunch was a picnic bring your own (except for shared, spicy pakoras which Susie brought). The day finished with tea and a special birthday cake made by Chris. It was beautiful, clever and really tasty!
Thanks to Christina, Ruth & Chris for the photographs.
Bel Canto’s contribution at the All Saint’s Church Flower Festival. Thank you Linda for the lovely arrangement.
The choir was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Jan Lewis on Thursday, 18th May 2023. Lovely Jan, with the beautiful smile, had sung with us for twelve years. She will be greatly missed.
In June, the choir said goodbye to Eszter when she returned to Hungary.
On Saturday, 15th April 2018, the choir sang at an afternoon tea fund raiser concert for Hannah, Dot’s granddaughter, who is preparing for a trip to Peru. The choir sang a mixed programme from our repertoire for a group of guests and then we tucked into a cream tea and cakes prepared by Hannah. The event raised a magnificent £413 towards the fund.
In August 2016, the choir helped Brenda celebrate her imminent special birthday by singing some of her favourite songs and with a cake at the coffee break. (We have now finally sung Il est bel est bon all the way through, but that was just one highlight of many musical moments in the rehearsal) !
Singing Day 2-Apr-2016 with Faith Watson Singing for Larks by Mary Hudson was a lovely, lovely day.
Faith had asked for a brief. ‘’Should it be swing, jazz, pop? Or should I just play it by ear, the acapella way? ‘’ My reply had been to make it fun and full of joy. ’Ah yes,’’ she replied, ‘’A mixed bag of good old acapella songs, full of fun and joy, sounds a good brief to me!’’
Tina introduced the day. She told us that at the heart of Faith’s work is a love of acapella singing, and a belief that everyone, no matter what their level of skills, confidence or experience, can enjoy the thrill of singing in harmony. Faith has amazing musical ability together with a lovely warm teaching style, deeply engaging, and also very clear in organisation and structure. The singers feel safe, excited, and eager to do their best.
Faith launched straight into a simple song, and set the scene for a beautiful day. ‘May this day be filled with joy, and harmony’
Anxiety and uncertainty disappeared from faces, to be replaced by concentration and smiles! Within no time, everyone was experiencing
the magic of singing in harmony….listening, singing and totally focused on Faith! No words, no script…flying free!
And then came the warm up exercises. Who will ever forget singing from the chest a la Marlena Dietrich…..’I want to be alone’, singing
from the neck area as John Major,….‘No Edwina, No!’, and from the nose as Kenneth Williams….’Oh, stop mucking about!’
We were encouraged to be aware of our whole bodies, releasing tension and thus improving breathing and quality of sound. We learned that we were using the left side of the brain to hear a tune , then copy …….then remember it, AND the words! We were exhausted!
The day continued learning a few simple songs with 3 or 4 part harmonies taught by the natural voice method…….Faith singing phrases, us repeating them….(How does she keep all those parts in her head, and still keep smiling?) My favourite was, ’ When I rise, let me rise, like a bird etc’.
This was followed by the wonderful ‘Georgia on my mind’, in 4 part harmony. We spent 2 lengthy sessions on this……but the high voices never tired of singing their final phrase, which sounded wonderful! And Charles revelled in his luscious low line!
The day just whizzed by. Everyone, including Faith, struggled to keep awake after the delicious lunchbreak. By 4 o’clock, the gathering of Bel Canto members and friends were one harmonious choir! As I said at the outset…. A lovely, lovely day.
Many thanks to all who had made the day happen. Dot and Nick for patiently and lovingly working with us over the years and sharing their own love of music, Tina and Ruth for making contact with Faith, and Rosemary for her wonderful organisational skills and attention to detail. Names on water bottles was inspirational! And she sang a beautiful soprano line in ‘Georgia’!
Thank you
Macmillan Cancer Support Fund raiser 24-Sept-2015
Another wonderful singing 
evening where we raised the magnificent sum of £231.22 on the night, and then rounded up by an additional donation to £250, for Macmillan! The evening started with an inspiring few words from Dot’s daughter Claire who is a Macmillan nurse at Christie hospital – it is good to know that experience, expertise and compassion is available to so many when people are dealing with cancer.
Many people had nominated songs from our repertoire list (for an optional donation) – there were some regular favourites, but one at least which we have not sung for many years. The choir was in good voice and prepared to give everything a go – the sound was lovely. There was also the added treat of Jo playing flute on Gail’s lovely Scottish Air.
At the break, in addition to the normal cuppa, there were delicious cakes (the choir can cook!), a Tombola (with all prizes generously donated by the choir) and a cake, jam and plant stall. After the break, more wonderful singing.
Many thanks to all ot the members for making it such a big success.
Nepal Disaster Fund Raiser 28-May-2015
A fabulous £280 was raised at a special session to raise money for the Nepal Disaster Fund. This amount is a total credit to all who participated : nominating songs in exchange for donations; leading us in singing lots of wonderful songs; singing so beautifully; donating raffle prizes; buying raffle tickets; donating goods to the Bring and Buy stall an buying from the Bring and Buy. A wonderful evening!
10th Anniversary Celebration 10-April-2014 (by Steve Kleiser)
Song to Mark 10th Anniversary
The choir is practising a special song called Viva Bel Canto, written by one of the members, Gail Brentnall. The music is new but the lyrics are recycled from some of our favourite songs. Watch this space for a sound clip when we are ready.
Singing Day : 19th October 2013
The choir held a singing workshop as part of our 10th anniversary celebration. Forty people, old and new faces, sang a variety of English, African, Georgian and French songs, in rounds and in harmony, led by Jane Read, a ‘natural voice’ singing teacher. Wonderful music the whole day – for one round, the choir was singing in eight parts and the sound was amazing! Lovely lunch. Thanks to all the helpers – especially Jane, Rob, Dot, Esther & Hannah.