On the 4th and 5th of October 2013, the Pinkies made the 150-mile journey from London to Cardiff to perform with the South Wales Gay Men’s Chorus to a sell-out crowd as part of their 5th Anniversary celebrations. In this post, Pete shares his four reasons to head back immediately!
#1. Croeso i Gaerdydd!
…or in Welsh, “Welcome to Cardiff!” My first time to Wales, I thought thought that I would drive over the bridge and be met by dragons, sitting on castles waving their leeks at me, chanting, “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch!!” Alas, my fantasy was crushed by Gary, Paul and Ben (my trusty road-trippers), who, in between me trying to pronounce the road signs, took the responsibility of letting me know the truth. Wales is actually like most of the UK – but with its own special version of awesome. For instance, we walked to the venue via Cardiff Castle, we stayed opposite the Millenium Stadium and topped of the weekend brunching on Cardiff Bay (next to the Dr. Who experience).
In summary… Wales is an amazing place, even if it is lacking dragons.
My tip? Make sure you go for more than 24 hours and take time to look around.
Simon, Multimedia Director There are more than a few Welshies in the Pink Singers (or Y Cantorion Pinc, to give us our Welsh title). As one of our leek-loving contingent of Pinkies I’m thrilled to be announce that we’ll be joining the South Wales Gay Men’s Chorus in concert in Cardiff on Saturday, 5th October, at the stunning Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. It’s not the first time we’ve sung with the boys from Caerdydd and we’re thrilled to be joining them once again in such a brilliant venue to celebrate their 5th anniversary. If you’re local then do come along, it promises to be an excellent night! Tickets are available now at just £9.
We are still recovering from what was an amazing 30th anniversary celebration for the choir. So much hard work and preparation went into commemorating our last three decades with our exhibition, flash-mobbing and performing our special commission from Richard Thomas, our festival day Hand in Hand featuring over 20 LGBT choirs from around the country. We definitely earned our summer break this year.
That said, we’re already looking to a fabulous fourth decade of song. The Pink Singers are looking for new members for our next season starting later this month. If you love singing and want to be part of a fun, friendly and vibrant LGBT community then why not come along for a taster?
On Sunday September 22nd we’re opening our rehearsals and inviting you to come and get a feel of what it’s like to be a Pinkie. If you like what you see (or hear) then you can come back and try out.
For more information, please see the Join us’ page of our website and drop me an email at joining@pinksingers.co.uk. I’ll send you all the details to get you started. We already have loads planned in the run up to our next London concert in January 2014. So why not Sign up to our mailing list (right), like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to keep in touch and see what we’re up to.
We have just returned from our annual foreign choir tour. In recent years we have been lucky enough to travel to Paris, Malta, Athens and Lisbon Prides to name a few; for our 30th birthday trip we knew we had to go somewhere special. After a close vote in rehearsals, Reykjavík came out on top – Pinkies in Iceland was about to become reality. Confession – I only voted for Iceland because I was informed there were fewer cobbles and hills than the other choices.
Hinsegin Kórinn and Pink Singers performing together
After Lisbon in my wheelchair I was ready for a flat holiday! Iceland was somewhere I knew nothing about – but I wasn’t sure there would be much to do, I didn’t imagine it would be a particularly fun place and I never imagined in a million years I would have anything in common with the locals. How wrong my perceptions would prove to be.
What an astonishing place. From geysers to puffin colonies, from lunar volcanic landscapes to lush green fields and streams, you were never far away from a sight that would simply take your breath away. We have all, I’m sure, come away with our own personal treasured memories. For me a favourite is the view from the top of Gullfoss, an amazing waterfall just outside of Reykjavik. A view made even more special by the efforts it took to get me (and wheels) up the 150 or so stairs and steep gravel path to the summit. It was at the top I realised how very lucky I am to have such good friends, who without question or complaint, made it possible for me to have that experience.
However beautiful the landscapes, nothing could compare to the sight of the standing ovation we received from the incredibly generous and supportive audience during our joint concert with the Reykjavik Queer Choir, Hinsegin Kórinn. I felt so privileged to be invited to perform for (and with) such a wonderful group of people; I was extremely proud to be a Pinkie that night.
The Queer Choir describe themselves as a provider of a prejudice free environment where queer people can sing together. They are similar to us in that they sing a wide range of repertoire – from Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody to traditional Icelandic folk songs. For me a highlight of their performance was Coldplay’s Fix You – an stunning arrangement which moved quite a number of us to tears. Which we incidentally had to swallow quite quickly as we were back on stage straight afterwards! It’s hard to believe such a charismatic, talented and able choir is just two years old.
Reykjavik Pride itself was another unforgettable experience. The parade route was packed with people, it felt like the whole town had come out to celebrate with us. The crowd was a sea of rainbow necklaces, almost every shop was decked out in some sort of pride decoration. It was inspiring to see so many young families there – Pride in Iceland felt like a true community event, for everyone – with even the mayor dressed up for the occasion and joining in the march.
Ahead of us marched the Queer Choir. Talented yes but did I also mention lovely? Generous? And fun. So much fun. Together we’ve rehearsed, performed, marched, ate, drank and partied the night away. The Pink Singers are lucky to have made some fabulous friends in Iceland and I think I can be confident to speak for everyone when I say we can’t wait to see them again – both in Dublin for Various Voices 2014 (a festival of LGBT choirs in Europe) and when (we hope) they accept our invitation to sing with us in London. Thank you so much for making our trip to Iceland as wonderful as it was.
2013 was a big year for the Pink Singers and a very special one at that. It was a year of celebration, both for the choir and also the country. Our landmark 30th year saw our 2nd CD Recording as well as our ‘Singing the Changes’ Exhibition. But we had a very special invitation: to sing at No. 10 Downing Street to celebrate the legalisation of Gay Marriage in the UK.
I remember the day we received an email saying that we had been asked to sing at No.10 but at quite short notice (if I recall it was within a matter of days). We managed to form a small group of us quickly and I was lucky enough to be part of the experience, as my Manager at work allowed me to take an extended lunch break to go and sing at quite a momentous occasion.
We all convened on a hot Summer’s day in July 2013 outside the main gates of Downing Street and excitedly gathered outside the main door. I had imagined a Martine McCutcheon-like person to greet us at the door (just like Love Actually) but obviously it was a little more formal than that!
We were given a rehearsal space in one of the Prime Minister’s rooms they used for dining and John, our accompanist, led a warm up for us. Everyone was so spirited and raring to go. We made our way downstairs into the gardens of No.10 and had the opportunity to network with some of the guests who had been part of local society and were LGBT figures and role models, including Clare Balding!
We sang a 20 minute set that consisted of some of our Summer Repertoire including L-O-V-E and Seasons of Love from our previous Winter Season. It was perfectly apt for the occasion and David Cameron even took the time to introduce himself and thank us for our contribution. What stuck in my mind that day is that it wasn’t about what the current government had managed to do, as Cameron specifically thanked Tony Blair and Labour for ‘starting the process’ of allowing Gay Marriage to be legal.
The afternoon finished with celebrations amongst the guests with some Pimms and Lemonade and general high spirits all round. That day I had never been prouder to be a Pinkie and it’s something I’ll never forget. Once again, the Pink Singers made important history and reinforced how important it is to have such communities like ours in this current time.
