On Saturday 13th July, when you come along to Hand in Hand – our 30th anniversary festival, you won’t just be watching us Pinkies! We’ll be joined by a whole host of other LGBT choirs from around the country. Over the next week or so we’ll be posting a series of spotlights on each of the choirs you’ll be able to come along and see performing. Not got your ticket yet? Buy yours now! They’re going fast! First on our tour of the LGBT choirs from around the nation, it’s those lovely chaps from the seaside, the Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus!
Is it too big? Can we fill it? It was with much excitement that a gaggle of us Pinkies converged on the Troxy near Limehouse last Sunday to get the answers to these questions. The Troxy is a new venue for the Pink Singers in that we’ve never performed there before, but we really needed a larger venue for the Hand In Hand concert we are putting on on 13 July. In fact, the title “concert” is itself a bit of a misnomer as what were are actually organizing is a whole day of vocal workshops, followed by a concert in the evening featuring not just us, but LGBT choirs from across the UK, and our signature aftershow party, this time on a scale like we’d never done before. So, a real smorgasbord of activities for the audience to choose from then! Continue reading “Hand in Hand: sound-checking at the Troxy”
Plan your visit now to Singing The Changes, our free exhibition about LGBT history in the UK spanning the last thirty years! The exhibition opened last Thursday night to a selection of guests who’d helped the exhibition come into existence (an army of volunteers over 50 strong, plus our academic advisers and the extended Pink Singers family). As part of this project, as well as a ton of factual and image research as mentioned by Hester, the choir has recorded over 16 hours of video footage collected from oral history interviews with choir members past and present.
Jess and Karin
The clips from these personal histories really bring this rich and fast-moving history to life; from stories of secretive liaisons and active persecution back in the 70s and 80s; right through to coming out to close family members over email in more recent years. London’s vibrant cultural mix, reflected in the choir, becomes evident as our video histories take us all over the world, from Singapore to Nottingham, from South Africa to South Wales, from Trinidad to Tooting. Personally, over the last few months I’ve been responsible for co-ordinating the filming, transcribing and editing of these oral histories along with a small army of around 25 volunteers from the choir. I have genuinely laughed and cried (sometimes both at once) whilst watching the stories of those involved. It’s been a very humbling experience. I’m the same age as the choir itself, and my big take-out from the exhibition and the tales of individuals is just how dramatically the landscape of LGBT community has shifted in just a couple of generations, and how different my experiences have been compared to my peers who are just a few years older/younger. You can see a sneak preview of the exhibition below.
Plan your visit now
14 June – 12 July 2013 Thursday & Friday evenings 6–9pm Saturday & Sunday 10am–6pm Audit House, 58 Victoria Embankment Tube: Temple / Blackfriars 15 July – 18 August 2013 Daily 10am-6pm The Guardian, King’s Place Tube: King’s Cross Free admission
We round up our series of posts about our vocal workshop leaders for our upcoming Hand in Hand festival by introducing the sensational Loré Lixenberg, who, for our purposes, will be quite the renaissance woman… Workshop #4: Medieval Mash-up
Loré Lixenberg conjures up some ethereal sounds from the middle ages in this exploration of unaccompanied vocal music.
Loré Lixenberg
Loré has performed in operas, concert recitals and music theatre across the world and recently featured in Anna Nicole at the Royal Opera House. She has also arranged and directed a wide range of musical styles, from medieval plain chant to electro-acoustic pieces, featuring videos and improvised choreography. An extremely accomplished mezzo soprano, Loré has performed internationally at many festivals including those of Salzburg, Lucerne, Donaueschingen, Aldeburgh, Witten, Edinburgh and Huddersfield, and at the Wien Modern and Oslo Ultima festivals. She has performed with orchestras and ensembles including the Hallé, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontemporain, London Sinfonietta, Klanforum Wien, BCMG Ensemble Aventure, Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and Danish Royal Opera. Her workshop will include teaching harmonies in plain chant in a few short pieces from various medieval and renaissance composers, including the French Machaut and Arbeau, as variations around the theme of courtly love in the style of medieval troubadours. Get involved! If you fancy a fun day of vocal workshops in a variety of styles, taught by leading professional musicians, get yourself signed up. And why not bring a friend, too! Workshop tickets are a bargain at £39 (£34 concessions) and include the chance to enjoy (and perform in!) our evening concert at the fabulous Troxy theatre in Limehouse, London. Hurry, as sign-ups close Sunday June 30, 2013.
In the third of four posts about our festival Hand in Hand on Saturday 13 July, we introduce another of our fantastic workshop leaders to give a taste of what’s in store on the day. Workshop #3: West-End workout Loosen your larynx and buff up your belting in this vocal keep-fit session from one of the West End’s top vocal consultants, Louise Shephard (with Sarah Kershaw)
West End vocal consultant, Louise Shephard
Louise Shephard is a West End singing coach and teaches musical theatre at the Royal Academy of Music. She is also the leader of the Oxford School of Drama 6-month course ‘Acting in Musical Theatre’. She has worked on national productions including Sound of Music and Wizard of Oz and at the moment for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. In her private practise she also works for singers in the pop/rock industry and is currently working with a member of Take That for his upcoming tour… Her workshop will feature a range of techniques and postures for stage singing, bringing life and expression to your favourite tunes! She will be accompanied on the piano by Sarah Kershaw, a performer, composer and singer who graduated from the Birmingham conservatoire; she is the co-founder of a new collective of composers and songwriters known as Priniciple Six who debuted at Latitude Festival last year to critical acclaim. Between them they have worked with artists such as Lana Del Ray, Bat For Lashes, The Hidden Cameras and Baby Dee. Sarah’s own composition work has brought many commissions in the theatre world, particularly her adaptations of Shakespeare sonnets. Get involved! If you fancy a fun day of vocal workshops in a variety of styles, taught by leading professional musicians, get yourself signed up. And why not bring a friend, too! Workshop tickets are a bargain at £39 (£34 concessions) and include the chance to enjoy (and perform in!) our evening concert at the fabulous Troxy theatre in Limehouse, London. Hurry, as sign-ups close Sunday June 30, 2013.
