A Busy December!

On two Saturdays in December shoppers in Edinburgh were entertained by 40 men in Santa hats and Chorus jumpers singing carols in the streets and shops of the city centre (including Jenners and Valvona & Crolla) to raise the spirits, and at the same time raising more than £1000 for Prostate Scotland.

We also performed in the iconic Canongate Kirk, in support of the Crisis Charity and its message of ‘Hope’. We sang ‘Silent Night’ followed by ‘Oh Holy Night’ and brought to many of the congregation their first sense of Christmas. While ‘Silent Night’ hushed everyone it was ‘Oh Holy Night’ that swelled the emotions and brought complimentary comments from members of the congregation, including the Edinburgh Director of Crisis Skylight Edinburgh, Grant Campbell, whose Father sang with the Rolling Hills Chorus over ten years ago!

And what could be a better way to end the year than with our annual concert with the children of Clermiston Primary School, and our special guests INCOGNITO. The Chorus was still in fine voice, the children were delightful, the ladies of INCOGNITO added their own special charm and wonderful harmonies, and we raised £460 for St Columba’s Hospice and Prostate Scotland.

Hark! Unheralded Singers!

On 30 November a group of Chorus members celebrated St Andrews Day by taking part in Fair Saturday at Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Gardens.  We started with an unannounced performance in the John Hope Gateway which quickly drew an enthusiastic and appreciative audience.  Then two performances in the Gardener’s Cottage where it was standing room only.  The selection of songs from our Scottish repertoire was well-received, with a particularly warm reception for our Scottish anthem, My Homeland.    Ben Macpherson, MSP for Edinburgh North and Leith, was so impressed that he donned a Chorus gilet to be photographed with the Chorus!

Hark! An Unheralded Performance!

Ben Macpherson gets a special preview

New BABS Members

We have welcomed 20 new members into the Chorus this year, and in a busy rehearsal on 29 October we made time to present British Association of Barbershop Singers membership certificates to 13 of them.  Fittingly, the certificates were presented by Bill Harvey, who is both a founder member of the Chorus, and a past chairman of BABS.

Happy Diwali !

Saturday 26 October saw the Chorus in the Ross Bandstand, Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, celebrating Diwali – the Festival of Light – with our friends from the Indian community. We performed a selection of Scottish songs, enthusiastically joined in the singing of Jai Ho, and finished by leading the large crowd who had braved the cold in a rendition of Auld Lang Syne.

Not content with that, most of the Chorus took the No 41 bus to Blackhall to entertain the members of the Blackhall Bowling Club after they had finished an evening of wine tasting, some of which they very kindly shared with us.

Comments from the audience included

“Loved listening to each of the songs”
“Powerful performances”
“Emotional at times”
“Great addition to the evening’s entertainment”
“I don’t think that there’s another Male voice Chorus quite like them”

A Special AGM

Our Chorus AGM, on Tuesday 1 October, saw the inaugural presentation of the Nick Hayes Trophy for outstanding contribution to the work of the Chorus. This award was established in memory of our much-loved former Director, Nick Hayes, who died in 2018 and the winner was chosen by a ballot of the members. We were very fortunate that Anne Hayes, Nick’s widow, was able to make the presentation.

The deserved winner of the award was David McKerrow, in recognition of his tireless work as Performance Secretary, taking care of every detail from planning performances, booking venues, arranging transport and accommodation – not forgetting providing pies!

Scotland+Norway in Harmony

On Friday 27 September we enjoyed a great evening with our friends from Norway, the Vang Sangforening Choir.  In a concert at Augustine United Church, the Chorus sang a collection of Scottish songs, and the Choir treated the audience to a variety of song styles from across Scandinavia.  We played to a full house and raised £458.23 for our partner charity Prostate Scotland.

Both groups then retired to the Canon’s Gait Bar for the afterglow where we treated each other to enthusiastic renditions of some of our favourite songs.  We also learned a Norwegian song “Og så svinger vi på seidelen igjen – Hei Skål”.  You never know, perhaps there may be an opportunity to meet up with Vang Choir in the future and perfect that song, so instead of goodbye it’s “på gjensyn” (see you again)

Macappella 2019

Desperate to sing after a 3 week break following our sell-out Fringe Shows, 25 Chorus members journeyed to Perth to join 50 other barbershop singers from across Scotland for Macappella 2019. This was the second year of Macappella and we are grateful to BABS for their financial and musical support. We enjoyed a great day, singing a beautiful Steve Armstrong arrangement of ‘She’s like the Swallow’ and we were expertly coached by Tim Briggs and Andy Allen from Hallmark of Harmony. Here’s to Macappella 2020!

“Just a wee Deoch an’ Doris…”

We had a wonderful response from the audiences at our first two Fringe shows last weekend – a few tears for “Eriskay Love Lilt” and rousing cheers for our signature song “My Homeland”.  Final two shows this weekend – 7:30 on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th August.   Hope to see you there!   For details and tickets click here.

Make Music Day 2019

A busy day for a small group from the Chorus on Make Music Day, and a chance to preview some of the songs from our Fringe Show in August. After kicking off proceedings in the Music Library, we had the pleasure of entertaining an appreciative audience at the Story Telling Centre. In between, while warming up in the garden, we entertained staff in the nearby Scottish Book Trust.

Follow the links above for short videos of our performances.

Can’t Beat a Retreat !

“High up where the air is rare, wild horses ride.  It’s beautiful, let’s go over the Wild Mountainside.”

40 members of the Chorus enjoyed a weekend retreat in the sunshine on 11/12 May at Lundin Links in Fife, preparing for our Fringe Shows in August.  On Saturday, we enjoyed inspiring coaching from our Musical Director Rosalind Johnson, and Performance Coach Norma Ferrier.  We then had the chance to try out some of our Fringe songs for a local audience, before a meal at the Old Manor Hotel and some fine harmonising in the Afterglow.  As is to be expected, the pace on Sunday was a little gentler, but we all left invigorated and full of enthusiasm.  Can’t wait for August!