newsletter > Summer 2005 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> LETTER FROM THE PRINCIPAL My Dear Friends What can I say about our May Show “Putting on the Style?” It exceeded even my own expectations! This was due to the hard work of everyone and the mental attitude of everyone ‘wanting the show to be good’ in just 4 months! I really think that May is a good time to have the show rather than two big shows close together in the winter season. At the moment I am working hard on the Junior Show “Those Kentwood Kids”. This is at the Arts Centre on Saturday 17th September. This should be a very entertaining evening. The Christmas Cracker at the Wyvern again this year will feature the Aldbourne Band. Book early or you may be disappointed. I am told that tickets are nearly sold out for The Hilton in August. Such a good organiser! It is always lovely that Paul Maguire can accompany the choir at this concert thus giving Geoff chance to take a holiday and a well deserved rest. We are singing at Guildford Cathedral on August Bank Holiday as guests of the Association of British Choral Directors. An honour indeed! I have just returned from the Elton John concert at the County Ground. I felt really proud of Swindon for putting on such a great event. 16,000 people watching live music. Well done! A great evening was had by all. Here’s to future evenings at the County Ground. Perhaps the Kentwood Show Choir will be the support act next time!! May I welcome my new PR and marketing officer, Kerry Richings, back to England. A great friend of mine, she moved to Ireland a few years ago to find that she missed her family and Kentwood so much that she has returned with her family and is now living in Wroughton. It will be wonderful for me to have her great help. Chris and myself had a wonderful weekend in London seeing “Women in White” and “Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang”. We stayed overnight at the Hilton Mews Hotel. Thank you Kentwood for a wonderful November Show present. Well, enjoy the warm weather and take good care of yourselves. Love Sheila <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> GREETINGS FROM LOUISE LLOYD Hello Everyone! I hope you are all well. Firstly I'd just like to say thank you to those of you that came and supported me in my concert in January. It meant a lot to me to see so many familiar faces and it's lovely that you're all so keen to see my progress after all my time in Kentwood. Well I thought I'd write and tell you what I get up to during my time in Birmingham and tell you what being at music college involves. For those of you that might not know I am at a college for just music students from Classical pianists to Jazz saxophonists so there's a wide variety of musicians! There are only 8 classical singers in my year and about 60 classical singers in total in all the years combined - most of which are sopranos-nothing strange there! My typical week consists of musicianship, music history, music analysis, performance practice, an hour a week with Christine (my singing teacher), an hour of vocal coaching, early music vocal class, song class twice a week (different people from my year sing each week and are only given a week to learn the song!), French, German, Italian, Russian (optional), contemporary class, dance, drama, chorus, folk music, gospel Choir (optional), African drumming (optional), physiotherapy, Alexander technique, Kodaly and more I can't think of! and of course there's always an opera to rehearse for each term which totals in 3 productions a year so the performance experience is excellent and very good fun! I am currently preparing to audition for Purcell's 'The Fairy Queen' so will let you all know how I get on! Since being here I've been involved in productions of Bizet's 'Carmen', a world premier of an opera called 'Dee' by a composer called Robin Grant written especially for the Conservatoire, Stephen Sondeim's 'Merrily we roll along' in which I played the role of Beth, 'Der Frieschutz' by Weber (Conservatoire opera scenes) in which I played the role of Agathe. So far I've been very lucky but will have to keep up the hard work! As you can imagine being at music college is very competitive as unfortunately there is never enough work to go round all those that want to pursue professional singing career's or in my case opera so it can get very intense at times, especially when competing against your course buddies which can be difficult. My course is also 40% academic so there are always plenty of essays to be getting on with and coursework which involves composition, arrangement and improvisation - I hear Sheila say 'She was always so good at her theory' maybe not!!!!! Yes I do struggle with that aspect of the course but I have to do it to pass my degree! Aside from studying there's always a little bit of time to spend in the pub! Birmingham is a fantastic city and the night life is very lively and on a Thursday night the jazz musicians from college play live jazz in our student pub 'The Stage', very apt! So that’s always good fun from what I can usually remember! I thought some of you may be interested in some of my future plans. On July 25th I'm going to be playing the role of 'Dido' in a production of Purcell's 'Dido and Aeneas' for one night only at the Longborough Opera House. I'm also going to be taking part in a production of Puccini's 'La Boheme' with Longborough Opera Festival this June and July and Benjamin Britten's 'Beggars Opera' with opera project in London this coming August. As some of you may already know I'm really honoured to be guesting for the Thamesdown Ladies' 30th Anniversary Concert at the Wyvern on 25th June and I'm also hoping to do a recital at some point over the summer in Swindon so I shall keep you all posted. Well I hear the May show is going to be fantastic - as always and I'm hoping to come and see it. I look forward to seeing you all very soon. Lots of love. Louise Lloyd PS FROM MUM, SHARON Lots of you often ask me how Louise is doing and if she’s involved in any concerts so I thought I would inform you of a few dates in case you’re interested. Monday 25th July 6.30pm at Longborough Opera House (Nr Stow on the Wold) - Dido & Aeneas (Louise is Dido!). This performance has a 60 minute picnic interval in the most beautiful surroundings so well worth a visit not to mention the singing!! Tickets are £15.00 and £12.50 and Louise can get them half price as she is in it, so contact Sharon on 01793 706484 if you are interested. Saturday 20th August at Lacock Abbey - La Boheme. Tickets on 01249 730141 (I think this is a picnic opera too!) <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ‘A LOVELY WAY TO SPEND A SUNDAY MORNING’ Many of you will have heard of, or even taken part in, the Playtex Moonwalk and the Walk for Life in aid of cancer charities. However, you may not be aware of the ‘Walk to D’feet MND’ campaign that is part of Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Awareness week in June. Sharon Lloyd’s dad, Ron, suffered from this remorseless disease and with him very much in mind Sharon, her mum and sisters, family and friends, met at Coate on a lovely June Sunday morning to ‘Walk to D’feet MND’. After a quick ‘photo call’ the party of twenty-four, with ages ranging from three to over sixty and including two spaniels and one Labrador, set off in a southerly direction around Coate Water and then branched off towards Chiseldon. From the other side of the M4 we were able to enjoy beautiful views of the Downs and continued walking until we came to the edge of Chiseldon. After a brief stop to have a drink and take in the surroundings and watch the kestrels and buzzards above, the group headed off along a tree covered track towards the picturesque village of Hodson. As we passed through the village with its thatched cottages and typical English country gardens many of us remarked that rather than being on the edge of a large urban area we could have been in the heart of Devon. I almost thought I was on holiday at one point! Soon after leaving Hodson we were back within the boundary of Coate Water and had returned to our starting point around two and a half hours after setting off on our six mile ‘stroll’. The event was completed by a refreshing and well-earned drink in the nearby Sun Inn. If you wish to find out more about MND or make a donation during MND Awareness week, please go to http://www.mndassociation.org/full-site/home.shtml Susie Whittington Many congratulations to Susie for achieving a First Class Honours degree in Modern History. She did this at the same time as looking after a husband and three boys plus a couple of dogs as well as singing in the choir. How did she do it! Perhaps I can get her to let us know in the next newsletter. Yvonne <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ROS HOLLANDS’ REVIEW FROM THE EVENING ADVERTISER “Every note is true from a versatile choir in top show Sheila Harrod’s scintillating show choir certainly put on the style at the Wyvern Theatre in Swindon. As always, I’m not quite sure (and please don’t take offence) if Joe Public is aware of the difficulty in the music that this choir manages time and again to perform to perfection. Pop, jazz opera, swing, gospel and many more styles demonstrated versatility and out and out talent from every member of the choir. Sheila told me once that you can’t have a choir of all excellent singers. I’ve got a feeling she might have been being kind to me at the time. Well it was 30 odd years ago and I have just started to sing; or was trying to anyway. Nowadays every single member of this choir from babies to adults is drilled to a professional standard. The juniors performed their version of the Daniel Jazz brilliantly. Every word and every note true. I just loved Sharon Lloyd’s solo ‘You Go To My Head’. She made it look easy. There were so many exceptional solos, duets and groups, along with uplifting choir numbers. Far too many to mention. The band under the direction of Geoff Walters once again added so much to the performance. The fabulous finale came too soon. Job done then”. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> WELCOME BACK THE RICHINGS Dear Patrons and Members of the Choir On 28th April Dale, Sophie and I returned to Swindon having spent three and a half years in Co Waterford, Ireland. Some of the choir will know where we were as on two occasions they travelled over to spend a weekend with us and host families. As always Kentwood gave of themselves to perform various concerts in aid of local charities and we all had a fabulous time. Whilst we had a most wonderful three and a half years in Ireland, the time was now right to return home to Swindon to be back among old friends and, of course, family. It would seem that we arrived back just in time to see the launch of ‘SWINDON AND PROUD OF IT’ and believe me we are all proud of Swindon. You see, in travelling and living away from home you get the opportunity to explore new places, meet new people and as with us enjoyed our own doorstep, sand and sea – but at the end of the day it is still never really home. The things we missed were the simple things such as our sons and friends just popping in for a coffee and reading the Evening Advertiser. Settling back has been easy because we are simply ‘home’. Sophie is thrilled to be back singing with the choir and thoroughly enjoying training with the adults. She is looking forward to September when she will take up her place at Judith Hockaday College of Dance. I am delighted to have taken on the role of PR for Kentwood and we are all very much looking forward to attending Kentwood concerts and hopefully meeting up with you all! Until next time, take care. Much love, Kerry, Dale and Sophie Richings <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Editor:    Mrs Yvonne Walker. 23 Bourton Avenue, Stratton St Margare, Swindon SN3 4LY. Telephone: (01793)823849 e-mail: walker365@ntlworld.com