Peterborough Choir head to Abbey Road Studios
Peterborough Take Note, a mixed voice community choir, have just celebrated their first year and are now looking forward to a very exciting second year. We spoke to Chair Joy Bradley to find out more
You formed a year ago, how has the first year gone?
The first year has been fantastic. Peterborough Take Note started as an idea that four very motivated people had (Andy and Louise Coles and Jan and Tony Forster) to provide the opportunity for anyone who wanted to sing the chance to do so. At the moment we have over 80 members and are still recruiting! In our first year we managed to pack in several performances, including singing in the Lights of Love Concert to help raise money for the Sue Ryder Hospice; performing in the Queensgate Centre to raise awareness of the fantastic work done by SAFFA as part of celebrations to commemorate the First World War; and we ended our year on the amazing high that was our Christmas concert at the Voyager School.
How has the choir changed and progressed over the first year?
Obviously the choir has grown in size but I am proud to say that our ethos of openness and friendliness is still very strong.
What was the choir’s highlight of 2014?
In the Christmas concert we performed Snow Angel – a beautiful choral work by Sarah Quartel that had never been performed in England. This was balanced with a range of modern and traditional carols and some wonderful audience participation.
What is coming up for you in 2015?
We will be singing Faure’s Requiem on 17 May at the Voyager School and will be running a series of Saturday workshops throughout the year. These workshops are open to the public and cost £10.We are very pleased to have Alex Ashworth, Professor of Singing at The Royal Academy of Music, running a workshop on singing technique. In June we are travelling down to London to the world-famous Abbey Road Studios to make a recording, supported by the multi-Grammy nominated producer Anna Barry.
What do you think makes you different from other local choirs?
The choir is open to anyone to join and is run by its members through an elected committee. It is a mixed choir welcoming men and women from all ages and backgrounds, with or without experience. There are no scary auditions just lots of opportunities to develop your singing at your own pace whilst having lots of fun.
Who is the choir aimed at and how can they join?
Everyone – that is what makes it so special. If you want to join you can just turn up for a trial session on a Wednesday night at 7.45pm at St Johns Hall Mayors Walk Peterborough. If you want to find out some more information first have a look at our website www.peterboroughtakenote.com or give me a call on 01733 380969.
You have supported a group of adults with learning difficulties to create their own choir, can you tell us a bit more about this?
Club 73 provides social and leisure opportunities for and by adults with learning difficulties. Members of this group approached PTN asking for assistance in setting up their own singing group. As a result one of our members, Katie Gooddale, who is a qualified music teacher, directs this very special group of adults. She is supported by members of the main choir who give their time freely to support this group. They did their first performance at our Christmas concert and managed to move some of the audience to tears when they sang Silent Night.
They are working hard to prepare songs for our summer concert and are very excited about being able to come to Abbey Road recording studios with us.
What are the differences between the Peterborough Take Note Choir and ‘Take Note Consort Singers’?
‘Take Note Consort Singers’ is a small ensemble of our more experienced singers who are given opportunities within the choir to learn and sing more technically challenging works or who are able to learn music with minimal support or time.
This group is in many ways self-selecting with the repertoire being offered to all and those who feel able to have a go are actively encouraged to do so. This allows us to stretch and develop more experienced singers but not to pressurise those who prefer to learn at a different pace.
Can you talk us through the monthly singing workshop that you run? What would a typical day involve?
They are all quite different. The idea is that members choose topics or perhaps a community group who wants to work with us, suggests a topic and we find a way of incorporating these ideas into a workshop.
Typically the workshops run from 11 am to 4 pm on a Saturday and have covered topics such as ‘music-reading for the terrified’ – beginner and then a more advanced course, vocal techniques, workshops to focus on a particular movement of music we are working on, consort workshop. We are also hoping to fit in workshops on conducting, developing/singing specific genres of music, breathing techniques and possibly a collaboration with a local folk writer
The choir meets on a Wednesday night 7.45 – 9.45 pm in St Johns Hall Mayor Walk in Peterborough. Interested in joining or just want to find out more? Call Joy Bradley on 01733 380969 or take a look at the website at www.peterboroughtakenote.com
Club 73 singing group rehearse every Monday evening from 6 – 7pm at The John Mansfield Centre.
