Happy New Year

Wishing you all a Happy New Year for 2010!

Have a good (and safe if you're driving) night out tonight

Snowing again ... joy !?

DT

One more sleep til Christmas!

Well, the height of the season is almost upon us!

We've had a busy December starting with a guest appearance with the Queen's University Brass Ensemble - very festive, and a talented bunch they were - i believe we might even have a new choir member out of that one ...

Then there's been the Carol Service in Down Cathedral - don't forget to tune into BBC Radio Ulster this evening (24th) at 5.00 p.m. and again on Christmas Day at 12.00 noon for two 1 hour programmes featuring words and music from last Friday night's service - CAROLS FROM DOWNPATRICK - a great service as ever and like i've said before - it's the gig of the year which we enjoy the most!

AND THEN THE SNOW CAME!!!

That made for an interesting journey to a wedding appointment just outside Warrenpoint on Tuesday. We wish the bride and groom all the best for the future and hopefully they're enjoying warmer climes for their honeymoon!

And now we're here on the Eve of Christmas - Happy Christmas one and all from the choir and sure, we'll see what occurs in the New Year!

Onwards and Upwards!

DT

Another December ... another BBC recording!

What do you know? It may have been Radio 3 and BBC 4 last year, but that was only show-casing 2 pieces really. THIS YEAR, BBC Radio Ulster are are coming along to Down Cathedral to record this, our 16th annual Carol Service for broadcast on Christmas Eve!

Great Stuff!

Can't wait to get back to Downpatrick - brings back lots of happy memories of my own school carol services held there all those years ago. But there's two dates before then to get right first - the hard work is starting to pay off! St John's Church of Ireland next Friday for the concert of many names and many lighting scenarios ...

:)

DT

And tonight Matthew, Grosvenor are under the guest direction of ...

Well it was last night actually and we finally found out we had an impressionist as a musical director!

He was doing his best to sound like either Sir David Attenborough, deep in some rainforest, Adam Sandler playing 'Little Nicky' or one of Marge's sisters in the The Simpsons ... and what a quiet rehearsal was had with everyone straining to hear him, but the voice did start to return near the end at least.


And the other landmark last night was Grosvenor reaching it's 16th birthday - nice to see we've managed to keep five of those founder members there too ... just so we can remind them of how old they are :)

Anyway - a week off next week, and then the big push continues towards Christmas!!!

DT

September comes and goes ...

I've said it before and i'll say it again, but WHERE DOES THE TIME GO???

The start of the new session has seen the choir grow in size to around 40! Exciting times all round (even if it does mean a steep learning curve for the new members (!) but you'll all enjoy it when it all comes together - i can guarantee it)

The next big thing coming up is a choral workshop day organised by the Ulster Society of Organists and Choirmasters in Carrickfergus on Saturday, where we get to be guinea pigs under the direction of Dr Martin Neary - i wonder what he'll think of Grosvenor compared to the choir at Westminster Abbey? No pressure ... i guess ...

DT

(... not at all phased by the news that there are distinct lack of other first tenors on Saturday either ... ooh er ...)

Practice makes perfect!

And it all kicks off again tomorrow night as we make our way back to St Johns!

Hope the members have been keeping those vocal chords in shape (and not just lubricated on a Saturday night out! ;)

But then again, there is a little kindness as we get the following Monday off for the bank holiday (not that i get it off in work - no more breaks til Christmas) but it's short-lived as there's a demo recording for a new Belfast based musical project on the Wednesday! Back with a bang!

Onwards and Upwards and i can't wait ...
DT

So much for the Summer !?

Not wanting to wish away the holidays, but come on - this weather is getting as bad as last year!!!

Well, i didn't get away on that wee spanish holiday i talked about in the past, but for all who know us, i can suffer that wee bit for the future benefits in the long run...

A month of our choir break is past. September, and a busy Autumn session beckons, but we did have our Lucy's wedding last Friday to keep us busy last week in the lovely surroundings of the Culloden Hotel. All singings went well and sure, we even had a little staircase sing-song while waiting for the bridal party to come over for photos.

(I hear the party was a bit of a hoot too (which i unfortunately missed) and i hear that nameless parties enjoyed themselves immensely until they had to head back to Tuesday, via 3 or 4 stop-offs at Saturday, Sunday, Monday on the way...)

Sure, we're only young once :)

DT

Summer holidays!

What do you know? The summer break is now upon us - what to do with our Monday nights? For me, it meant a glass (or two) of white and watching 5 sets under a new roof at SW1. Will the week end with the young lad from Dunblane being labelled (as Sir Terry has commented) the 'Dour Scot' or a British tennis great??? Time will tell.

Our last gig of the year was up in Carrickfergus in front of the Castle as part of the NI Armed Forces Day celebrations, and i have to say - i certainly enjoyed it! A nice mix of pieces ranging from wartime medleys and mixing some of our recent repertoire with an ultra current (and hastily arranged) little nod in the direction of the late Michael Jackson - i trust it came accross ok on the night :)

BUT - the summer shall be broke up just a little as we get to sing at the wedding of our Lucy - at the Culloden, don't ye know! Good luck with the last minute preparations.

And sure - if the notion takes me, there might just be some more updates on here!

Onwards and Upwards!

DT

Word for the Day

The word for today is "mawkish"

The meaning:
1. Excessively and objectionably sentimental
2. Sickening or insipid in taste

My thesaurus adds these thoughts:

Adj. 1. mawkish - effusively or insincerely emotional; "a bathetic novel"; "maudlin expressions of sympathy"; "mushy effusiveness"; "a schmaltzy song"; "sentimental soap operas"; "slushy poetry"
hokey, kitschy, maudlin, schmaltzy, schmalzy, bathetic, sentimental, slushy, soppy, soupy, mushy, drippy

emotional - of more than usual emotion; "his behavior was highly emotional"

Thanks to banjo for bringing this word to our attention - i have learnt something today

:)

... i shall try to keep my interpretation to the upper side of mawkish ;)

DT

Nearly there - July approaches!

It's nearly the holidays but then again, unless you're a teacher or a student (of which there are some number in this choir ... bluffers, all of them of course ;) nothing really changes for the rest of us, except for getting Monday nights off practice at Grosvenor.

But it's nice to get a break. Just the choir dinner at Eight South to contend with tomorrow night - i have no idea what i ordered, but i'm assured Thomas does, thankfully. Grosvenor dinners are always fun - especially when it comes to working out the bills - make sure someone brings a calculator, and watch for the fiends who order drinks and add them to the total bill - like i said - never a dull moment! :)

***Stop Press*** Another gig has landed in our laps though at the last minute, and an open air one, none the less! We've been asked to sing at the final night of Armed Forces & Veteran's Week Celebrations at Carrickfergus. That should be fun as long as the nice weather come's out to play on Saturday evening (27th June) There may well be fireworks in the air later that night, and while on that subject, i hear that a certain percussionist is coming to partake in performances - fun fun, though all escape routes to establishments of refreshment are cordoned off til well after - i don't think there's any mentions of green eggs and ham this time anyway gordy ...!

Onwards and Upwards
DT

Here comes the sun ...

Well, i suppose it actually already here ... finally!

And that means we're almost at the end of the choir year. A well earned break approaches, but we have another couple of engagements before the end of the month and there's always the choir dinner to enjoy, once somebody organises it!

So - what plans has anyone for the summer then? (just to see if anyone ever reads the blog?) All those poor teachers get a well earned break while the rest of us continue the torture :)

Anyway, i'm off to a sunny spanish island in just over a month - can't wait!

DT

(oh - almost forgot to mention - the new committee was voted in last night ... and there's even room for a dodgy tenor - times must be tough! Thanks to last year's committee members for all their hard work)

Are ye right there Michael?

What am i on about - you may well ask?

We finally had our first proper public performance this week since December, and it was quite an eclectic mix of pieces in an after dinner performance for the folks of The Percy French Society at their annual dinner in North Down.

Even if you don't recognise the name, you should most definitely recognise at least one of Percy's most famous songs, 'The Mountains of Mourne'?

For me, it brought back childhood memories of playing an old 78 rpm record on a small record player that belonged to my grandmother which featured the songs of Percy French sung by Brendan O'Dowda - a famous Irish tenor, who became closely linked with French's songs, releasing albums and touring his own one man show centered on the life and work of Percy French.

The songs are perhaps not to everyone's taste, but French became famous for his comic folk songs such as Slattery's Mounted Fut, Abdul Abulbul Amir and Are Ye Right There Michael, Are Ye Right? - a song ridiculing the state of the irish railway system in rural Co Clare.

So if you like a bit of a laugh and a catchy folk tune - go onto google and try Percy French and indeed Brendan O'Dowda and have a listen to or see some great performances of some of Ireland's most memorable folk tunes! IMHO

DT

Happy Easter

Just a quick thought this morning - hope everyone enjoys whatever breaks they get!

Bit like Christmas i suppose - trying to remember the real meaning for the season under all the commercial stuff!

Happy singing

DT

It's been a while but ...

Well, we've been busy working away.

Last Friday night saw the first of a number of recording sessions as we endeavour to hopefully put together a new album this year, as well as getting some other tracks together for airplay on the radio.

I have to say though - with all the business and goings-on towards the end of last year with Choir of the Year and Christmas etc, these first few months of 2009 have seemed a little quiet :(

But, saying that - we've covered quite a bit of new repertoire and delved back into the archives and our own back catalogue, to refresh (and re-learn)some old favourites. It's easy to forget sometimes how many changes there have been in the ranks over the years, but it's good to get back into some of the older stuff again and re-visit some of those old favourites that you might have forgotten and learn them again with newer choir members ...

Hopefully they like them too!

It's good to try some new things ...

Ok, so maybe interpretive dance should be struck off that list after this evening, but it hopefully gets a smile going ... :)

Six weeks into this new year, and we've weathered the colds and flu and even the snow and ice - now we just need the remainder of the soprano and alto sections to come back from the Caribbean and the Land of the Long White Cloud and we should be set to proceed!

Some very interesting repertoire in the pipeline too, which is coming together quite nicely ...