As many of you will know, I am our choir’s elected member on the Various Voices 2009 Planning Group. To clarify, the responsibilities of Planning Group members are as follows:
– to represent the interests of the stakeholder choir to which they belong (whether this is the Pink Singers, LGMC or Diversity)
– to act as a conduit for communicating information between their choir and the Planning Group and vice-versa and
– to work collectively as a Group to ensure the successful planning and delivery of VV09.
Continue reading “Various Voices update – January 2008”
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Tales of the Pinkie – Andy Quan
“I had tried out another choir. Their rehearsal space was in a basement, the tea break chaotic, and we were required to stand for the entire practice. When I wandered into the Pink Singers, into a room with light streaming through the windows, there were chairs to sit down, and we had our break in the Drill Hall cafeteria with tasty snacks!
But of course, those were minor pleasures. The greater ones were found in the people there who welcomed me warmly, the songs we sang (if I remember correctly, we sang No One Is Alone and Big Spender on my first day), and who was this east European fellow at the front of the room directing with such humour and skill? I joined the Pink Sisters and sang with them for over a year, from 1998 to 1999. It was not a large group of people and I liked it that way. With only a few tenors, it was important for me to be there for rehearsals and performances and I felt needed! I loved the mix of people, women and men, from many countries. Most important was that London was the largest city I’d ever lived in, and I’d found it tough to make friends, and if succeeding in that, arranging to match up our busy schedules. After a while in the choir, I realised that the Pinkies were giving me connection and community. I felt a satisfying glow to see the same people every week and to do something together that we loved. Continue reading “Tales of the Pinkie – Andy Quan”
Winter Concert: Amour and More
A special dash of ooh-la-la
All you need for a magical night out is three ingredients: dazzling singing, a supportive audience and a special dash of ooh-la-la. Apologies to our French guests for that dreadful reference, but their presence really made Amour And More, our winter concert one of the most memorable ever!
Continue reading “Winter Concert: Amour and More”
Mind the gap
London: Bright lights, Black cabs, Ab Fab and Free Love. Armed only with this optimistic vision and my Mum’s backpack (both c1968,) I stepped off the plane and into the abyss. Mind the gap indeed.
Looking not unlike the wide-eyed naif from the antipodes I in fact was, I strode jauntily through the streets of London singing the Beatles and seeking…I wasn’t sure what. But I was assured Big Cities Cater to All Tastes, and I guessed I’d know it when I saw it.
I hoped for something with a generous helping of Culture, lashings of Fun and a big dollop of Queer on the side. My demands were not so unusual. Certainly the less well-lit bystreets and alleyways of Soho have seen and satisfied far more particular appetites than mine. Still, I searched for weeks, to no avail. Continue reading “Mind the gap”
Beaming Pinkies
What will the people be like? What music will they do? Will they be good? Will I be good?” I think the phrase ‘bag of nerves’ about covers my first walk from the tube up to the slightly-imposing Royal Academy of Music. Luckily, a group of equally-jumpy individuals standing at the bottom of the stairs looking alternately at their feet and at each other showed that I was not alone. Our first rehearsal with the Pink Singers! Our shaky introductions were interrupted by a sudden influx of beaming Pinkies welcoming us & showing us up to the rehearsal room. Everyone was chatting, people of all ages & experiences, some just meeting and others having clearly known each other for years.
The warm-up cleared the dust off some of my vocal muscles, and reminded me why I love singing with others so much. Mladen the Musical Director got us all in line & we knocked through some of the pieces for the season. This was the reason I’d got interested in joining the Pinkies – the music. All the choirs in London since I moved here a couple of years ago seemed to be Latin-only, gospel-only or something else. With the Pinkies we were switching from Latin to jazz, French to pop, all over the course of a rehearsal! Continue reading “Beaming Pinkies”