A bit of impromptu singing at the Newbies Party. Photo by Pete Stean.Fiona
I’ve always loved singing and the sound of harmonies in unison, but had never considered joining a choir until I downloaded some tracks from the Pink Singers website, I was lucky enough to have caught the audition date in October and popped along to the space where the Pinkies rehearse, dragging my nerves with me. As soon as I arrived the choir welcomed me and made me feel at home. The first part of the day involved listening to the readings of the songs. They were so good, and I was so terrible I wanted to run a mile, but the alto section looked after me and I soon relaxed, singing along when I felt confident that I’d picked up the tune. What fun! Continue reading “Newbie Fiona on becoming a Pinkie”
When I grow up, I want to be fit and healthy and be able to run for miles and miles…
Well, at the start of 2012 I realised that it probably wasn’t going to happen automatically, so I took up running. Only short distances at first, and slowly, but gradually improving, so by April I was running about 5km a couple of times a week.
Then one of the Pink Singers, who’s also a member of London Frontrunners, publicised the Pride Run – a 10km run in Victoria Park in September, in aid of the Albert Kennedy Trust. September seemed a long enough time away to make 10km feasible, so I signed up as part of the 20-strong Team Pink Singers.
Fast forward to the morning of September 15th, and I arrived in Victoria Park with running kit, my race number (721!) and a whole heap of trepidation – how could this have been a good idea?! But the other Pinkies started arriving, and we donned our specially-made bright pink shirts, pinned on our numbers and warmed up, and my nerves settled down and excitement took over. We were a team – strength in numbers!
We made our way down to the start line, which was marked out with sections relating to expected finishing time – the lean and fit club runners jostled for position around the 40 minute mark; my fellow novices and I went back to behind the 1 hour line. Then after a short pause the sound of a starting pistol had everyone surging forward. It took a minute or so for us to cross the start line, where we were waved on by Sir Ian McKellen – LGBT royalty!
Then we were off – I’d been warned about setting off too quickly in all the excitement, so I established a steady (ok, slow) pace. Several non-running Pinkies had come to cheer us on, and their encouragement was brilliant motivation as we jogged round the 3 lap course. Even the other supporters and enthusiastic volunteer marshals were vocally supportive, shouting “come on Pink Singers!” – proving that our distinctive shirts were a worthwhile investment!
The first two laps passed steadily; we enjoyed the percussion band positioned at the bottom of the loop, and the water station near the top (it turns out that drinking from a cup while running is a skill I need to work on), and we started to overtake a few people, whilst being lapped by the super-speedy leaders. By the time we started the final lap, I was feeling good – 7km down and nearly there! My enthusiasm for reaching the finish unintentionally manifested itself into me speeding up, which my running buddy Frances pointed out meant that she ran out of breath for chatting!
We counted down the kilometres, until the finish line was in sight. With the Pinkies who’d already finished cheering me home, I even managed a sprint finish to celebrate my first 10km achievement in 1 hour and 5 minutes! After cheering on the remaining members of the team and collecting our well-earned post-run snacks, we all made our way (slowly) to a nearby pub for lunch, feeling tired, but happy, and immensely proud of Team Pink Singers.
Now….how long is it ok for me to keep wearing my medal…?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lDWO0U2vlw In 1983 a group of gay and lesbian Londoners gathered in Oval House and, under the guidance of Mark Bunyan and Brian Kennedy, sang a few songs together. They would never have thought that three decades on, the Pink Singers would not only still be around, but bigger and better than ever! In 2013, let’s celebrate 30 years of London’s LGBT community choir. It is going to be great!
Not only did we have 15 shiny new Pinkies taking their first steps at our end of season concert at St John’s Smith Square, it was a little bit of a baptism of fire for them with a new venue and many new languages to learn for this season’s Olympic inspired ‘Around the world’ concert. Those new faces helped take the audience on an incredible journey, got an amazing buzz and were rewarded for all their hard work with a standing ovation and later a party into the small hours – what more of a welcome to our Pink family could have they asked for?! Continue reading “Come and join the chorus – in our 30th year!”
Five months, eighteen rehearsals, a lot of belly laughs and tears of pride later, our Around The World concert is over! And what a concert! Murray, our Musical Director – fresh from working on Dr Dee at the ENO and a multitude of other projects, along with our Artistic Director Oli, skilfully guided us through a tough final afternoon rehearsal as we got to grips with new venue acoustics, percussion and the heat of the spotlights.
After donning our roses and gathering for a final bit of briefing in the green room, suddenly the concert hall filled, the colourful lights came up and it was time to hit the stage.
For me, it was a particularly special evening as it was my first concert with the Pinkies. Nerves nearly got the better of me before we went on. But many mornings rehearsing the lines and choreography on the bus to work (to the amusement of fellow passengers) paid off. I popped my pinkie cherry before a packed audience of hundreds (and one pigeon) at the beautiful St John’s, Smith Square.
This season’s whistle-stop tour of the globe, a celebration of London as a host of the 2012 Olympics and World Pride, saw us get our mouths around a whole host of languages including French, Hebrew, Italian, three Indian dialects, Portugese, Zulu, Swahili and Jiangsu Mandarin.
We were privileged to be joined by the super Gloria choir from Dublin, brought to the stage and conducted by Ian Packham, sporting a cheeky grin. After a grand set nestled around the interval, both choirs joined forces to perform the beautifully elegant Cantique de Jean Racine.
There were a few notable highlights for me – Hsien and Rafael flawlessly opening the concert with Baba Yetu, brimming with confidence; Gloria’s soulful rendition of the heartbreaking And So It Goes by Billy Joel which made me well up; and the lady Pinkies strutting their stuff during a medley of songs from Cabaret (several of the basses had to be held back from bursting onto stage to join them).
No concert is complete without an after-show party, and we let our hair down in style thanks to Gary, our social secretary, who organised a proper knees-up with plenty of dancing and, of course, singing. A fitting way to celebrate the culmination of so much hard work and effort from everyone involved. Many of us wandered home in the daylight some hours later!
After a busy spring, the Pinkies are having a little rest over the summer. I for one can’t wait until next season – it’s one of the biggest in the choir’s long and vibrant history as we turn thirty next year (and, co-incidentally, so do I!). There are big plans afoot! Put Saturday 19th January 2013 in your diary right now as our next concert promises to be a real firework.
