Past Performances

Thu, 29 Sep 2022

On Thursday September 29th the chorus assembled at Hampden House Care Home in Harrogate. The event was attended by a large number of residents, all of whom enjoyed themselves as evidenced by the warm applause and by the way many of them joined in the singing, particularly when the Ukes were playing.


 

Wed, 24 Aug 2022

Tonight a short concert was held for friends and family to celebrate the completion of our latest Learn-to-Sing course.  The concert opened with a demonstration of the chorus' warm-up techniques, followed by each harmony part singing its test piece as a demonstration.  A rendition of all four parts in harmony then followed, as did the song learned by the new recruits as part of thier course - Under the Boardwalk. 

Certificates were presented to the 3 course members who were able to attend, with 2 other certifictes awaiting new members' return from holiday. 

Following a break for refreshments the Misspent Ukes gave a 3-song set, followed by 3 songs sung by the chorus, with a finale including all the new recruits, 
 

Pictures courtesy of Les Whitworth.

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New Members Presentations

Richard Dean

Mark Bradford

Alan Ross

Sat, 7 May 2022

On Saturday May 7th the Chorus performed a sing out at the Ascot House Hotel in Harrogate at an event organised by chorus member Terry Byrne in memory of his late wife, Monica. The repertoire included many of the old favourites, and was introduced by "What a Wonderful World", a particular favourite of Monica and Terry's. 

The audience, who were friends and family of the Byrnes, had been treated to a lovely lunch at the hotel, followed by the concert, and Terry generously provided drinks and refreshments for the chorus after the set was completed. 

Nan Weeks was in attendance and kindly acted as photographer.

Wed, 24 Nov 2021

Last Wednesday evening the chorus staged a concert for the family and friends of those who attended our learn to sing course at St Peter’s Church in the town centre.

The course began on 20^th October where attendees were introduced to four-part harmony singing. Over the following weeks they performed various songs to warm and relax their voices and learnt and mastered two songs which they sang alongside the chorus. After the concert the attendees were awarded with course completion certificates which were jointly presented by our music director Les Whitworth and chairman Keith Riggs. Of the seven men who joined the course four have decided to join us and they look forward to learning our repertoire of popular songs and joining us for local concerts.

We are all now looking forward to our concert at the Wesley Methodist Memorial Hall, a well deserved break for the Christmas and New Year holiday, and our annual dinner at the Ascot House Hotel on 7^th January.


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Fri, 13 Dec 2019

The last of four December performances for the "Dancing for Well-Being group", this time performed at Chain Lane Community Centre in Knaresborough. What a joyful occasion, with Jackie and her team really getting into the spirit of the event and getting people on their feet dancing to our music.

The day was topped off with a presentation Christmas Card for the chorus, which is shown below. KInd words indeed and we very much look forward to being invitred back next year, 

Tue, 10 Dec 2019

Our first visit the the Harrogate Bloomers WI event was full of fun and (bad) jokes from our compere, Harold Blackburn. In addition to a repertoire of our normal songs, we sang five Christmas numbers, including a solo entree by Keith Barker for White Christmas, and a German verse of Silent Night by Keith and Mike Tasker.

Harold also entertained the ladies with one of his famous monologues; this one a tale of unrequited love by a vegetarian librarian - very amusing. 

The Misspent Ukes put in an appearance with three singalong songs to get the audience involved.

Afterwards the chorus were invited to partake of a magnificent spread proided by the Ladies of the WI, for which we were all very grateful. 

Wed, 13 Nov 2019

Well, what a night it was. Peter Bryant came to coach the chorus and in the 2 hours he was with us he managed to transform our performance of several numbers, including, significantly, Perfect when for the first time we felt that we really were closing in on a performance-standard rendition.

After the normal physical warm-up we sang a well-know Polecat, followed by several of our popular numbers including Sunny Side of the Street and Sentimental Journey. In every case Peter managed to bring out the best in the chorus and we all left feeling uplifted.

Well done Peter, and we would welcome you back any time. 
 

Further words from Mike Tasker

Wonderful inspirational coaching session by Peter last night, and I am sure you will all agree, he showed the way to enable us to raise our game in the art and craft of harmony singing.

Also a hearty welcome to new singer Bob Vickers.

The coaching by Peter on ‘Perfect’ was really something different and gave us a new perspective on the song.
I hope I can cover the main points of his advice

1. This song should not be considered as a classic Barbershop song, the audience will expect to hear something of Ed  Sheerran in the singing, and will be disappointed if they don’t.
2. The pace of the song as we were  singing it in the past was too fast - needs to be sung at approx. half the speed. This should help avoid the gabble when the leads have their lead ins. 
3. The leads are way more important in this song than the harmony parts, so for the most part of the song the latter need to sing lightly so that the melody line comes through and reflects the way it is sung by Ed Sheeran.  
4. Bar 31 needs a crescendo on the word ‘Home’.

These are the main points I remember, you will perhaps remember much more.
 
I just wish that we had been able to record some/most parts of the evening, for us it was a master class.  Our challenge now is to remember the advice and tips Peter gave us and to apply them in our future singing.
Super evening.

Regards,
Mike

Fri, 8 Nov 2019

The chorus entertained the residents of the Thistle Hill care home today, when the audience contained 92-year-old Betty who was treated to a special rendition of "Happy Birthday"

The 8-song set also included two Polecats - "Wait 'til the Sun Shines Nellie" and "Let me Call you Sweetheart", both tunes well-known my many of the audience. 
 
Some of the up-beat numbers also tempted on or two residents to have a little dance, ably assisted by the care home staff.

The Ukes did a 3-tune set including a new one for them - Lonnie Donnegan's "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour On The Bedpost Overnight" which went down a treat. 

Sat, 22 Jun 2019

The Chorus was once again asked to perform a repertoire of 40's songs at the magnificent 40's day that is held every year in Valley Gardens Harrogate.  In previous years we have sung on the main stage where singing without microphones makes it difficult to hear for all but those near to the stage. This year we sung on the colonnade and at other impromptu locations around the event. Here are a couple of photos from the event at which once again the Yukes performed a singalong medley. 

 

Thu, 20 Jun 2019

The Chorus was welcomed back to Hampden House this year where we performed a varied repertoire of songs old and new. The Misspent Ukes also put in appearance with a singalong feature which many of the residents enjoyed. 

Fri, 17 May 2019

Tue, 3 Oct 2017

This was a great day learning "Can You Feel The Love Tonight"