Who are we?
A brief introduction to the choir
The Early Days
The choir was formed in the autumn of 1997 in order to sing at a Christmas service at Central Hall run by the Community Church whose building it still is. Initially the choir was formed almost entirely from members of that church but it was never intended to be a church choir, and membership has always been open to all, we are from the wider community and sing in the community.
Initially the choir disbanded after this Christmas event and was reformed just for a similar event at Easter, and then reformed again for Christmas 1998. After this we decided to become a permanent choir to do other events throughout the year.
Easter 1998 at the Central Hall, the choir sporting some rather questionable home dyed shirts and somewhat more hair than now
By Christmas '98 we had ditched the dodgy costume, but you can't say the same about some of the other folk on the stage.
Births, Marriages and Deaths
There was a period during the early life of the choir when several members were having babies, and frequently there would be a sleeping baby in a car seat at the back of choir practice. The choir sang at the baby thanksgiving services for some of these children, who will now be about 20 years old, and one of whom has sung at a concert with us.
Usually the couple will come to a regular choir practice and
listen to what we have on offer, it's rather like a private recital
just for an audience of two. Needless to say, we have performed at the weddings of
some of our members because the choir is a bit like an extended family for the long standing members.
What would a wedding be without a gospel choir? We sometimes sing at weddings, filling in that awkward gap whilst everyone waits for the bride to arrive, during the signing of the register or just providing some Oomph to the singing where the wedding guests are not accustomed to singing.
Although we have been asked to sing at a number of funerals and memorial services, on a number of occasions for the Piam Brown children's cancer ward at Southampton General Hospital, it was not until recently that we sang at the funeral of one of our own.
The choir member in question had asked us to sing the Southern African song Shosholoza at her funeral because she enjoyed the song so much. The late South African president Nelson Mandela spoke about how he sung it during his imprisonment and it was sung at his funeral in 2013. We were pleased to be able to do
so despite the sadness of the occasion.
Recordings
Mandela's supporters singing outside his house on hearing of his death
Charity events
We have published two CDs. One has non-seasonal material on it, some from a workshop day which was run by Pete Churchill from the Guildhall School of Music, the other CD from 2004 has a wide range of Christmas music.
There is also in existence a cassette tape (Yes, remember those?) of Christmas folk carols from 1998, some of which made their way onto the later CD. Alas, no Edison cylinders are available.
One of the staples of the choir's year is to sing at charity events; be they concerts or just in a shopping centre, some organised internally and some under external auspices. One which regularly makes our calendar is The Big Christmas Sing, a concert with audience participation in support of Christian Aid. This usually takes place in the first week of December.
Also, biennially, the well known Comic Relief Red Nose Day event where we ditch the choir uniforms but don't actually sing anything funny – we let people who actually are funny get the laughs. Needless to say in these events we are usually joined by other folk, notably the Parkewood School of Dance, the Sing Out Choir and Highfield School Singing Club. In the past we sang regularly at the Wessex Cancer Trust annual Christmas carol concert at Romsey Abbey, a prestigious event in a very impressive venue. We also sing in less spectacular venues in support of local charities like Abby's Heroes and national ones like Shelter Box.
The logos below should link to the charities' and other groups' websites.
Psalm Drummers
Another group of musicians with whom we have had a long standing collaboration is the local branch of the Psalm drummers, an international organisation of Christian percussionists. As our repertoire has always included a range of African songs the addition of hand percussion adds an extra authentic dimension
to the sound, and when there's no Psalm Drummer
around, we try to have one of our number providing
some percussion.
Freedom Concert 2013
To mark the 180th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, a musical presentation written by
was given its première at King's Community Church in Hedge End. The piece took the form of
That's us there in our pink and purple kit
the recounting of a series of the pivotal court cases which led to the eventual abolition act in 1833. Several different types of musical groups and choirs took various parts in the retelling, including a certain gospel choir.
Hi-life Big Band
Several concerts and cabarets have been done in conjunction with the
Hi-life Big Band,
a full sized big band based
in Southampton led by
Andy Worsfold.
The Big Band was formed in 2001, to perform in the Hi- Life Christian festival, and over
the next several years played at various church events and also at charity concerts to raise money for organisations like Cry, Hope UK and Southampton City Mission
After an extensive break, the big band re-formed in 2018,
and the choir hope to collaborate
once more with them.
Choir trips away
On five occasions we have been away for a few days together, three times staying in Normandy,
2006 in the cathedral in St Lo, memorable for how cold it was inside the cathedral.
2004, performing at an event organised by the Vire British expat association,
2006 at a school fundraiser. An English lady we knew taught at the school.
In 2009 we returned to Normandy and made a number of performances in church and an old folks' home.
These trips proved excellent for getting to know each other better and tightening the group.
We have also made a couple of trips to Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour,
...but there are red squirrels.
which, whilst also across the water, isn't as far.
We stayed at the Victorian vicarage which was the nature warden's house. Normally this is
reserved for folk on conservation trips,
and the choir used this as a chance
to be together for a longer
period of time.
Music in the City
This is a free music festival which takes place in Southampton in the autumn.
It has now grown to include about 100 acts and 1000 musicians playing all across the city centre.
King John's Palace, but not us singing
Holy Rood Church
From its beginning in 2009 we have performed at each festival, (up until the covid pandemic stopped us) singing in a variety of places, the first being an empty shop on East St, which was rather strange, but later including some of the old vaults, King John's Palace and Holy Rood Church; which was bombed during the war and is now a shell and is maintained as a Merchant Navy memorial.
One year we were in the Bargate, joining in with a ceilidh which the next group were running
Those who have used this know
that it's not feasible to sing together
because of time lags (and that it tends to melt).
Since the choir's formation we have practiced at the Central Hall, but during the enforced shutdown on account of the
Covid 19 pandemic we
initially attempted to keep
in touch with Zoom.
So, as soon as we were permitted we gathered in accordance with the infamous "Rule of Six" in members' gardens, eventually retreating into a large summer house when it was obviously no longer summer.
Eventually the restrictions were lifted, but the future of the choir was put in doubt when our director became seriously ill.
We struggled on without her, now
as a whole choir,
though smaller
than before, and
even managing
to do a gig without
Mummy.
Clearly the photographer
was No.6
Here is the gig in question,
It is a church carol service in the depths of Covid. Our spots are at 36:15 and 1:03:15.
When our dear director was restored to us as a result of much prayer and medical skill we were able to become the group we are today, initially meeting in St. Albans in Tulip Rd, Swaythling, and taking on more events.
Since the move to St. Albans we gained several new members and so the choir is now back up to pre-pandemic size, and performing frequently.
More history to follow (when we make some)
Having said that, we became a bit too large for the room we used at St. Albans in the winter. It became uncomfortable and so the search for a new practice room led us to All Saints in Bassett.
