RSCM Residential Course, Kingswood School, Bath - August 2014

I visited Bath on a singing course in August. There, I stayed at Kingswood School. It was a beautiful school about 15 minutes away from the city-centre.

I made many new friends and I sang in Bath Abbey which was an experience I will never forget, it was beautiful! I enjoyed singing a few pieces which I already knew- 'And I Saw A New Heaven' by Edgar Bainton and 'Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis in C' by Charles Stanford- but I also enjoyed singing some new pieces- especially 'Shall We Gather By The River' by Aaron Copland, 'The Heavens are Telling' by Joseph Haydn and 'Lie Still from St John Passion' By J. S. Bach.

I enjoyed the meals we ate at the school, the rooms were comfortable and there was even a swimming pool! Although I missed my parents and life at home, I was kept busy with lots to do. We did have some 'free time' where we could go down into Bath centre and look around. It was beautiful and there were lots of tourists.

On the last day of my visit when we sang in the Abbey to the public, we sang some very grand pieces that echoed around the gorgeous building and I thought the sound would never end! I really enjoyed my visit and would love to go again. Thank you very much for the opportunity.

Abigail B (Librarian 2011 - current)

RSCM Millennium Youth Choir, Gloucester Cathedral - August 2014

Recently I had the opportunity to sing for a week with the RSCM Millennium Youth Choir in Gloucester Cathedral, including singing eight services, one of which was broadcast live for BBC Radio 4's Sunday Worship, and an evensong which was recorded and will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 29th October and repeated on 2nd November.

The start of the week was very busy and quite hard, as we were learning new music which we then performed for that day's evensong, and at the same time rehearsing music for the broadcasts later in the week. We sang a range of music, including Canticles and a Mag and Nunc setting composed by two members of the choir, and anthems by Kelly, Sumsion, Taverner, Kodaly and Harris. Sunday was our busiest day. Singing live on BBC Radio 4 was really interesting, as we had to do various practices with the producers, to check sound and running time. I was also given the opportunity to sing in a semi-chorus at the beginning of the broadcast, which was an amazing experience. It was very different to singing a solo in a service, as you can't see your audience, but you know there are a lot of people listening! The only downside was we had to get up at 5:30 am, so that we could rehearse before the broadcast, but the Cathedral gave us tea and bacon sandwiches afterwards! 

The whole week was a fantastic experience, challenging enough to push us, but also really fun and rewarding, and I learnt a lot and sang a fantastic repertoire.

Charlotte H (Head Chorister 2010 - 2012)

RSCM Residential Summer School, Scotland - July 2014

I attended this very excellent summer school in Dunblane in July.    It is centred at Dunblane Cathedral.  Although it is a Scottish Presbyterian church the Church of Scotland  continues to refer to Dunblane as ‘Cathedral’ like its other mediaeval cathedral churches.

There were about 60 of us on this course with some having travelled from Australia, North America, and Sweden.   The course director was Gordon Appleton who was regional director and adviser in the north of England for the RSCM.

We practised every morning and afternoon before singing the evening service in the Cathedral.  We sang three services in the Presbyterian tradition and one Anglican choral evensong.   I had forgotten how long but extremely interesting were the Presbyterian sermons! We sang a variety of anthems. A few were from the New Church Anthem Book which we use here in Lechlade .   We sang the canticles by Wood in D and Stanford’s Te Deum in C.   The most challenging piece and probably the most beautiful was Beatus Vir  by Monteverdi.

We were well looked after and had some excellent food.   A few hardy souls made it to the pub opposite the Cathedral each evening.

I could recommend this course to anyone and with the added bonus that it is set in the most lovely scenery in Scotland.

Mrs P Scott (Alto!)

RSCM Residential Course, Kingswood School, Bath - Summer 2012

Over the summer I attended a choral course at Kingswood School in Bath. It was a great experience and one I thoroughly enjoyed.

We sang a variety of music from gospel songs to Handel’s Messiah. We even sang in different languages like Spanish! There was definitely something for everyone.  Admittedly sometimes it was hard work, but you can only get out what you put in and it was worth the effort.

Firstly we would practice in houses, which we were put into according to age and vocal range, so that we could focus on our vocal skills and practice our own parts of the music. Then we would all come together for a full rehearsal. I enjoyed house practice because the other girls were really friendly and I learnt some great tips from our leader, Tansy, who taught us about tone, posture, breathing and diction.

The full rehearsals were good too. It was amazing to hear all the parts together and our conductor Geoff was great. I especially enjoyed singing ‘Ave Virgo Sanctissima’ and ‘Hallelujah Chorus’.

Not only did I sing some amazing music I also made some really good friends. Everyone was really nice and even though I started off the week not knowing anyone, I’d made some really good friends by the end.

The school itself was nice too. We slept, ate and rehearsed there. The rooms were good and the beds were really comfy. The food was great too! We had a cooked breakfast every day!

We were also given the opportunity to go into Bath in small groups if we wanted to. Bath is beautiful and the abbey is incredible! Singing there was a wonderful experience that I will never forget.

At the end of the week we were given an individual report on how well we did and what we could do to improve our singing.

Overall I had a great time and I would definitely recommend it. I hope I will get the opportunity to go again soon.

Georgia H (Head Chorister 2012 - current)

Letter from India - Summer 2012

We've been in India for 5 full days now, and it's hot and fairly humid, but we haven't had all the rain that we expected considering that it is supposed to be monsoon season!

We've done so much already, spending most of our time with the children, who vary in age from Jeevan (2 years old) through to a lovely young girl called Suma who is around 14. As soon as we approach the orphanage in the morning to walk them to school, they come running to the gate shouting, and we all walk to school holding hands. They're very inquisitive, as where we are here (about 15/20 minutes outside of the city of Mysore) our skin is very much a rarity, and something that they're not used to. They ask a lot of questions, and have enjoyed pulling my hair as it's so long!

I think it's safe to say that every time we go to pick them up from school, Charlotte and I end up being like the main attraction at a circus-the kids are so unused to white people here that they all crowd around us, literally surrounding us, asking question after question, 'what is your name', 'where are you from' and 'why are you here' from the braver ones! Two groups of girls came up to us yesterday to tell us that we're beautiful, and although I suspect that has a lot to do with our rarity here, it was a lot nicer than the things kids shout to strangers in England a lot of the time! (of course, that excludes all of the lovely children in the choir!) The orphans also find our differences very entertaining, such as my long hair (all of their's is short) and they spent 15 minutes yesterday morning entertaining themselves with the fact that if they poke our bare skin, they leave white fingerprints. I don't think they're going to get bored of that one anytime soon!

All of the children have extra tuition as well as school, (pronounced 'twition' by them!), and today was dancing and singing, something which I know a few in particular definitely enjoy. Yesterday, as we walked home, one of the boys told me he'd sung a solo in a school concert that day, and I asked if he'd sing it for me, which he did. I must say, for a child with little training, he had a lovely voice! So today, I asked if I could sit through the boys' singing lesson (boys and girls are mostly separated), and I was thrilled that they let me! There were some boys with great potential voices, but their lessons are mostly focused on teaching them what I presume to be traditional Hindi songs, all learned from listening to the teacher and singing it back, and so they are taught little to no technique. They sang some solos, and stood with their arms crossed or behind their backs, and their heads slightly down, and no mouth opening! I, of course, am dying to help them out a bit, but don't want the teacher to think that I'm treading on her toes when they are her students, so I've decided to ask the woman in charge, Tracy, if she'd be willing to let me do even one session with them, teaching them posture and breathing at the very least, and hopefully a song too! Obviously I will understand if she says no, but it's  worth a try!

I'm also finding it interesting trying to communicate with the children, as the youngest speak basically no English, and many of the others only know a few basic words. The young ones can't understand that we don't understand them (Canada, the Indian dialect spoken here, is incredibly hard to learn!), and so continue to chat away, while we try to give the right reaction to what we think they are saying!

I don't want to give too much else away, that is only a very small part of the trip so far, and I would rather tell you all once I'm home! All I will say is that India is a world away from what I'm used to, what we're used to, but I am loving every minute of it, especially being with the children.

I would also like to say thank you again for my leavers service to everyone who was there, it was a really special service for me, and my favourite yet, even though I hate saying goodbye, even if it is only for now! It was lovely to see so many of you there to support me, and so many of the youngsters too-their first Evensong for many! I'm missing you all a lot, but I am also having an incredible time and learning a lot!

Charlotte H (Head Chorister 2010 - 2012)