What a night!
It was an utter delight to be back performing again, together with 3 other York choirs, at the York Community Choir Festival at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre last night.
Our programme choice was commended by those we spoke to afterwards and the choir pulled out all the stops and sang beautifully.
Fortunately our first choice, Baloo Baleerie (a Shetlandic lullaby) didn't put the audience to sleep, despite the gentle, lilting voices, cooing and shushing in their most dulcet of tones. A truly exquisite rendition.
Before performing our second choice: Nella Fantasia, I had the opportunity to share with the audience just how poignant and important the words were at this sad and tragic time in our world. Nella Fantasia is an Italian choral piece inspired by the music from "The Mission", a 1986 film about the struggles between the native Jesuit converts in the Amazon and the Portuguese slave hunters. The song is based on the theme "Gabriel's Oboe" from the film. It is a This is the English translation which I shared before we sang last night:
In my fantasy I see a just world, Where everyone lives in peace and honesty. I dream of souls that are always free
Like the clouds that float Full of humanity in the depths of the soul.
In my fantasy I see a bright world Where each night there is less darkness. I dream of spirits that are always free, Like the clouds that float
In my fantasy exists a warm wind, That blows into the city, like a friend. I dream of souls that are always free,
Like the clouds that float Full of humanity in the depths of the soul.
Our third song, Bridge over Troubled Water, was one of the songs that we learnt remotely during lockdown. It was chosen because the words are about Hope, Encouragement and Support. The arrangement we chose was challenging but worth it, as the harmonies were quite sumptuous!
Staying with our "Songs of HOPE" theme, we added When You Believe to our repertoire for last night's performance. Another song from a film: "The Prince of Egypt", this song is sung after the Israelites have escaped the tyranny of the Egyptian Pharaohs and extol their praises to the God who made their miraculous emancipation possible. Again, quite pertinent to current events... I shared the translation of the Hebrew words (from Exodus chapter 15) with the audience before we performed:
I will sing unto the Lord
For He has triumphed gloriously.
Who is like you, Oh Lord, in the heavens?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness?
In your love, you lead the people you redeemed.
I shall sing!
Our final song was Why We Sing... A song of upliftment and joy, celebrating the power of song. "We stand as one in harmony"! Our new choir member, Sarah, sang a few solo lines and performed with aplomb!
As we were the last choir to take the stage last night, it was up to us to lead the audience in a rousing rendition of "I'd like to teach the world to sing".
We left the theatre feeling elated and proud and extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to sing together again. We very much look forward to our next performance together!
(On Monday night, during our last rehearsal we recorded our songs. Here they are for you to enjoy.)
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