newsletter > Autumn 2001 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Well, three months have passed so quickly and here we are with the second ‘Kentwood Newsletter’. Like me I expect you all have enjoyed your summer holiday by now and not very much looking forward to these autumnal mornings. My husband and I have just returned from Crete and I haven’t warmed up yet!! We have a mix of articles for you this time bringing you up-to-date with the Choir’s activities since the last newsletter. The Choir concert list has been updated and we hope to see many of you at our future concerts. Just to remind you that I am Yvonne Walker and my address is 23 Bourton Avenue, Stratton St Margaret, Swindon SN3 4LY (Telephone number 01793 823849) if you wish to contact me. Yvonne Walker <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> THE PRINCIPAL’S LETTER Autumn is upon us and it just isn’t possible that our November Show "Hey, Mrs Producer" is well on the way. Pollyanne is already putting the boys and girls through their paces. What a wonderful year, musically, it has been so far! Singing at John and Cleo's theatre ‘The Stables’ was absolutely wonderful. The small audience really enjoyed the performance. The Hilton concert raised in the region of £2,400 in one evening – what an achievement. I am busy working on the Christmas Cracker – and our guests this year are the Rainbow Steel Band from Bath. Certainly a change! Thank you all for your continued support and love. See you at "Hey, Mrs Producer" and "The Christmas Cracker". Love Sheila <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> A VISIT TO WAVENDON BY SHEILA AND CHRIS Sheila and I were recently invited to a reception at the Stables Theatre at which Jinny Mancini, the widow of the great American musician and composer Henry Mancini, opened an area of the theatre called the Mancini Forum. The Dankworth and Mancini families have been close friends for many years and the Mancini Trust has given considerable financial support to the New Stables Theatre project and the Forum was named in Henry’s memory. To complete the family connection, the evening’s concert was given by daughter Monica Mancini, a superb all-round singer with a wonderful voice who was making her debut in this country. During the reception, Monica told us a true and amusing story concerning her father. As you are no doubt aware, Henry Mancini is best known for his Hollywood film scores and themes, including The Pink Panther theme and, of course Moon River from Breakfast At Tiffany’s. Another equally beautiful but possibly less well-known theme was that written for Days of Wine and Roses. As is the way with films, they find their way onto television screens a year or so after their release in the cinema. Apparently, one of Henry’s friends missed seeing Days of Wine and Roses at the cinema but after seeing it on TV, phoned Henry the following day to congratulate him on the score. At the end of the conversation, the friend mentioned that he unfortunately had to miss the end of the film due to a dinner engagement and asked Henry how it finished. Without hesitation, Henry replied, "With the French Horns playing top C"! Chris Harrod <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> KENTWOOD CHOIR PRESENTATION AT ELIZABETH LODGE, TROWBRIDGE On 1 July the Kentwood Choir drove to Elizabeth Lodge in Trowbridge to sing for the residents. It was an hour of show stopping, foot tapping entertainment with vocal and harmony provided by a small section of the 60 strong Choir. The week before they had been singing at the Duke of Edinburgh’s 80th birthday celebration! Beautiful harmonies and vibrant lyrics gave residents an all round selection of music, during which Terri sang a moving ballad and also the Choir showed their acting prowess. It was a varied programme which the residents really enjoyed. After the polished performance a cheque for £250 was presented by Sheila Harrod, whose charismatic style on the keyboard inspired the Choir to great heights. The money will be used to purchase sensory equipment for our newly formed sensory room ready for the autumn weather! Hearty refreshments ended a lovely afternoon. Our grateful thanks go to the Choir for their valued support to the Shaftesbury Society. Liz Bateman Senior Support Worker <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> DAME CLEO LAINE’S MASTERCLASS On Sunday 15 July, Sheila took an afternoon off from choir practice, and with a few members of the choir drove to Wavendon to watch a master class on Jazz being given by Dame Cleo Laine. I drove, taking with me Sheila, Yvonne and Mary Sherratt (a patron) and it was arranged that we would stop at a pub on the way for lunch. Sheila said to look out for the Four Pillars Hotel and the pub would be on the left a little way down the road. We duly passed the Four Pillars Hotel and about 6 miles later eventually came to the ‘The Lone Tree’. This was a really small pub and you felt as though you were sitting in someone’s lounge and the speciality beer was called ‘Piddle in the Sun’ which, of course, Sheila wanted to order. After a leisurely lunch we continued on our way arriving at Wavendon in plenty of time where we met up with Jane and Jan (from the Choir). The workshop was held in the garden in front of a small stone stage. There were 10 ‘volunteers’ who had been selected from 25 applicants and each performed ‘Autumn Leaves’ and a song of their own choice. Each took their turn in performing and Dame Cleo would help with guidance and instruction on how each could improve their performance. This was extremely interesting to see how a performance of a song, especially ‘Autumn Leaves’, could change so vastly in 15-20 minutes. Each person had to introduce him or herself and explain why they were there. It was really fascinating to listen to this, each had their own reason for wanting to sing and wanting to improve, and everyone’s reason was completely different from the next. They ranged from a professional actor who wanted to know how far his singing could take him, a young girl who was studying to be an opera singer and wanted to know if she could still sing modern music, to an older lady who was a square dance caller who wanted to improve her voice as singing was part of her job. For me though, there were two performances that I don’t think I will forget for a very long time. The first was a lady who was obviously very nervous and sang with a small but tuneful voice. The performance itself was nothing out of the ordinary until at the end we found out that she had been deaf for 17 years and had only started hearing again in the last two years. In all the time that she was deaf she had remembered the tunes in her head. The second memorable performance was the last one of the day. It was a lady, who was the only one to bring her own accompanist, a guitarist, and she sang a rendition of ‘Night and Day’. It was sung in the lowest voice I have ever heard from a female vocalist. It was incredible, especially after some tutoring from Dame Cleo to soften the voice. The effect was amazing and I don’t think anyone listening could really believe what they were hearing. After the workshop we had to wait around as Sheila wanted to speak to John Dankworth. Unfortunately so did a lot of others. Eventually Sheila and John started chatting and the four of us found ourselves invited back to the house for tea. What a way to end the day, sat in the Conservatory with Dame Cleo and some friends, whilst being served tea and cake which had been prepared by John and Sheila!! We eventually started on our way home and I did think it would be quite straight forward without any stops. I was wrong, I had not accounted for Sheila asking for a small detour through Bicester so that she could buy some chips! Nicola Parsons <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> BARBECUE AT SANDRINGHAM I thought this would catch your eye! What a shame some of you missed this year’s barbecue hosted by Jane and Barry Shrimpton at their lovely house in "Sandringham Road". Those of us who could make it had a really smashing time. There was plenty to eat for all – almost an "eat as much as you can" challenge for some people – and free flowing drinks well into the evening. The two bouncy castles were very popular with both adults and children alike, and thankfully no-one ended up in the fishpond this year (well done Ollie!). It did rain a bit at first, but that just made things nice and cosy under the gazebo’s and certainly didn’t dampen anybody’s spirits. In fact, a great time was had by all. So a very big THANK YOU to Jane and Barry for yet another successful barbecue. Ann Stone <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> MACMILLAN CANCER RELIEF CONCERT Sunday 5 August as many of you will know, was the date for this year’s major fund raising Kentwood Choir Concert at The Hilton Hotel. This is the seventh year that Sheila and the Choir have staged a concert for MCR. During these years a huge sum of money has been raised – a staggering £15,000.00! The concert this year raised £2,373.75. Together with the Choir and the support we get from The Hilton, sponsors and donors means that all the money raised goes towards the various service MCR has to offer. Locally, apart from the nurses we now have funded two doctor facilitators who provide information about MCR to others in their profession. We now have Macmillan doctors as well as nurses. Thanks to the generosity of the public there are now 2,000 Macmillan Nurses nationally. They include community care and hospital support nurses and others who specialise in particular cancers, treatments or other cancer specialisms. MCR funds health and social professionals, patient grants and support services, and also a number of building projects. Sadly four in ten people will be diagnosed with cancer. Driven by their needs MCR is working towards the day when everyone in the UK has equal and ready access to the best information, treatment and care for cancer. Macmillan works in partnership with the NHS. All our services are free and are funded entirely through the generosity of our supporters. The support given by Sheila and the Choir provides an invaluable contribution and all the money raised benefits those in this area. Although the Concert is staged in the Summer it is wonderful to see so many of the Choir who so generously give up their free time and arrange holidays for our benefit. The Swindon Committee greatly appreciates the wonderfully warm atmosphere that gives the Concert a unique feel. The audience is always hugely appreciative and many have become familiar, friendly faces to us all. This year we were able to sell even more tickets! We have also been very grateful to have Paul Maguire accompanying the Choir again this year and entertain us with a superb solo spot. We extend our warmest and heartfelt thanks to all involved with Kentwood and thank everyone for always giving us a night to remember and enabling us to help those living with cancer. A date for your diary, next year’s Concert is Sunday 4 August. Gillian Thornton Chairman, Macmillan Cancer Relief <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOUR DREAMCOAT 13-18 AUGUST 2001 Swindon Wyvern Theatre celebrated its 30th anniversary with the musical Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and the curtain rose on the Bill Kenwright production in front of a packed house. Ted Doan, theatre general manager, said "it was a fantastic occasion and what a perfect way to celebrate our 30th anniversary with such a great show". Once again around 40 youngsters from our very own Kentwood Junior Choir took part and what a pity they were not acknowledged for their great performance in the review printed in the local newspaper. Previously the Choir had also supported Phillip Schofield in Joseph in the West End of London and previous productions at the Wyvern. ‘Joseph’, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, began as a small 15 minute theatre piece written for an end-of-term school concert and grew into a juggernaut with more than a million people seeing the show each year. Over the years around 25,000 children have been involved and some have reappeared as part of the company a few years later. Yvonne Walker <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> A poem the children wrote and sang to Sheila (to the tune ’I Closed my Eyes’) when they presented her with a ‘Day at the Inglewood Health Hydro’ at the end of their successful run in ‘Joseph’ at the Wyvern Theatre in August. I closed my eyes Drew back the curtain And knew for certain That you’re the best So take this gift A little token Of appreciation For all you do A facial here A pamper there Lay down and rest For you that’s rare We just want to say a thank you We all say thanks For your Dedication The love you show us And all you’ve done. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 30 YEAR’s CELEBRATION AT THE WYVERN - 7 SEPTEMBER 2001 A friend of mine called me the day before, so it was a very last minute decision to see this concert, and I didn’t really know what to expect. However, I was very pleasantly surprised. It was wonderful to see all the talent that there is in Swindon, from the ladies choirs to the dancing groups and everything in between. I particularly enjoyed the Irish dancing and seeing those tiny little girls in their colourful costumes doing those complicated (to me, anyway) steps, to that lovely Irish music. I loved the Gang Show's comic routine, Sheila's children are always a joy to see, and of course the Kentwood Choir brought the show to a wonderful close as they led the finale. The whole show was a wonderful way to celebrate the last 30 years of the Wyvern Theatre's existence, and I wish them at least another 30. Rebecca Steeves Work Colleague of Yvonne <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> WAVENDON CONCERT IN THE STABLES THEATRE, 9 SEPTEMBER 2001 This first show for Kentwood at "The Stables", the home of Dame Cleo Laine and John Dankworth was most certainly a success despite singing to only just over 100 and the majority of those Swindonians. The theatre was superb acoustically and the atmosphere was intimate and friendly. The Choir was outstanding, performing some of its best and most popular numbers. Kentwood was warmly received with many of our new found friends requesting more information about the Choir’s future activities and concerts. Kentwood will sing at John and Cleo’s Christmas Show in December but I have a feeling that the Choir may well grace the Stables stage in their own right in the future! Helen Dixon <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> A ‘thank you’ card received following the Wavendon Concert Thank you for such a great concert at the Stables on Sunday. What a treat and so ‘uplifting’ – sorry that the rest of Milton Keynes missed it! Look forward to hearing/seeing you all again on 17 November – yes we managed to get tickets (front row!). All good wishes Margaret and Brian Russell Wollaston, Northants