HARMONIC VOICES
and ADULT SINGING GROUPS IN COLCHESTER AREA
With Angela
Dennis
No music reading skills needed, as songs are taught by
ear, just the willingness to work towards singing in tune and in harmony with
others. Songs are sung ‘a capella’ - without instrumental accompaniment – and
cover a wide range of styles and influences. Beginners, improvers and more
experienced singers all welcome. Very
friendly and inclusive, no auditions - come along for a ‘taster’ session.
Although the emphasis is on singing for enjoyment, you will be welcome to
participate in occasional informal performances when you feel ready to do this.
Harmonic Voices Charles
Smith House, Ladbrook Drive Mondays, 7.30-9.30
First
& third Monday in month - £25 for six fortnightly sessions. Contact Angela
(see below)
Souterrain Singers Castlegate Centre, George Street Thurs 7.45 - 9.15
Thursday evenings term time - £25 per six weeks.
Contact Angela (see below)
Ladies in Harmony Kingsland Church Hall,
Lexden Tues 2-3.30pm
£21 per six weeks – contact
Jean Hammond 01206 577783
Ipswich Co-op Singers
The Co-op Singers meet on Wednesday evenings (re-starting
on 13th January) from 7.30 - 9pm at the Co-op Education Centre, Fore
Street, Ipswich. At the moment it is an all female choir but we are hoping
to open it to men in the near future, so any enquiries would be most
welcome. Contact Jill Blyth, 01473 831149 jill.blyth@btinternet.com or myself
Angela Dennis 01206 504246 sing.ang@ntlworld.com
MONTHLY WORKSHOP
No experience necessary - just the desire to enjoy
singing in a friendly atmosphere. Song styles range from African lullabies to
Bulgarian love songs, folk to gospel, inspirational to pop.
Sing From The Heart East Mersea 4th Monday in month, 7.30-9.30
£3.30 per session incl. refreshments. During the
winter months sessions are held in the village hall, whilst in the summer we
use the lovely setting of East Mersea church. Contact Jill Mann for further
details.
I also hold occasional workshops and co-host ‘Sing For
Water – Essex’, an annual fundraising day of song to raise money for WaterAid.
Please contact me for further details, dates, venues
etc. also tailor-made workshops for groups/organisations (WIs etc)
Angela Dennis MAHA BA (hons)
Natural Voice Practitioner
T: 01206 504246 – Mob: 07812 064550
Angela's New Year
Newsletter
Hello all you
singers - and perhaps potential singers?
I have decided to send this
to everybody who is on my contact list, whether you belong to one of
my singing groups at the moment, you have done in the past,
or if you have simply expressed interest in receiving information from
time to time. Because of a glitch with my computer I have had to re-enter all
my contacts and there is a slight chance I may have inadvertently
put people into this group who shouldn't be there - please forgive me if
this is the case, if you let me know I will remove you from my list
straightaway.
We have had quite an interesting
year, with HVoices performing with the Co-op Singers, a choir I run in Ipswich,
and the SSingers giving a joint concert with the Castlegaters, both back
in July, amongst other things. As well as their separate 'gigs', we
managed to form a small group - Anjelika - to sing some Eastern
European songs at a world music event in Castle Park in October. This consisted
of members from both groups, and even one or two singers who didn't belong to
either! This aspect has become quite a feature of the way my work has
developed, bringing together people from my various regular
groups with many of you on my emailing list. Quite a few of
you came along to the 'World of Song' workshop day in August, as
well as the Black History event at the Headgate Theatre and 'Sing For
Water- Essex' back in October. Some of you also took part in the Mercury
Theatre's production of 'Depot' - what a challenge that madrigal
was! Later on in the year there were various seasonal opportunities to
sing, whether it was carol singing in Colchester town centre, performing for
residents in sheltered accommodation, or the magical performance the Souterrain
Singers gave at Slack Space the evening all the snow started! For 2010 I
already have one request for a group to perform on Sunday 21st February, further
details will be on the way soon. And I would really love to re-instate the
annual concert that started as 'Joined Up Singing' in July 2008 in a church
hall in Wivenhoe and continued as the very successful 'Singers In Harmony'
concert at the Headgate Theatre the following year.
Harmonic Voices will resume on the 18th January at 7.30pm at
Charles Smith House, meeting on the first and third Monday of each month, and
the Souterrain Singers will
start back on Thursday 14th January at the Castlegate Centre, George Street,
meeting weekly thereafter, roughly during term time. Other groups I
facilitate but are organised by other people include Ladies in Harmony and Sing
From the Heart, both of which are included on the attached flyer.
One of the challenges I need to
address is the fluctuating membership, particularly as there had
been a slight decrease in numbers for both Souterrain Singers and Harmonic
Voices. I am very reluctant to consider the closure of either group, as I know
they bring lots of pleasure to so many people - myself included!
- but I may have to see how things go for this coming term. It would
be of great assistance to me if those of you on the list for
either group could let me know whether you intend to return or
continue so that I have some idea as to the viability of each one for the
future. If you HAVE moved on to anything else, whether it is singing related or
not I would love to hear how you are doing, and I wish you all the best
whatever choice you have made. I know that a few of you have
health or personal reasons that prevent you from coming regularly, which I have
already taken into account. Of course, if any of you who don't belong to a
regular singing group at the moment would like to join, you would be most
welcome, please get in touch if you need further information. I also extend a
very warm welcome to those of you who have been in touch to join either
Souterrain or Harmonic Voices this year. Whatever happens, I will endeavour to
continue providing opportunities to sing and perform for ALL those who wish to
do so, even if it means changing the set-up of groups in any way.
I look forward to sharing the joy of
singing with many of you once again in 2010, and hope to hear from you soon.
Warm wishes
Angela