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13th April
2015
Former chorister returns for concert with her brilliant
new choir! Sat 23rd May 2015 |
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Article... |
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31st October
2014
An English Autumn Concert : 21st November 2014 |
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Article... |
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5th May
2014
David Arcus begins as Interim Director of Music! |
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Article... |
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17th February
2014
Mozart with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra |
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Article... |
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A New Year’s Tour in
Vienna
25th January
2014
Two of our
younger girl choristers wrote the following report on our most
recent tour:
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On 27
December 2013, the choirs of Girls and Men, accompanied
by their parental chaperones, began their journey to
Vienna. The coach journey consisted of random outbursts
of singing, watching films, sleeping and laughter. For
some of us it was the first time crossing the channel by
Euro Tunnel. This was a long 21 hour journey which was
split up with a night stay in Aachen in Germany. After
our over night stay, we drove to Aachen Cathedral. |
Aachen
Cathedral is a medieval cathedral which is beautifully
detailed inside, we got the chance to see the nativity
set, we stood in the nave and gave our first performance
of the tour in the splendid acoustic.
Our long journey continued straight to Vienna…
We arrived in Vienna around 9:00pm the next day; it was
all very exciting. The hostel we arrived in that night
was our accommodation for five nights.
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The morning
after we arrived in Vienna we headed for Salzburg. In
Salzburg we went ice skating and to see the birth house
of Mozart. Ice skating was very fun! Difficult for some,
however it was enjoyed by all. Also on this day we
celebrated one of the girls’ sixteenth birthday. We sang
happy birthday to her numerous amount of times. We then
headed back for a night at the hostel. This night was
spent “chilling”. |
After a good night’s rest, the next day we went to St
Stephens Cathedral, we sang in a service and also did a
concert. Some of the pieces we sang were The Holly
and the Ivy (which Sir Richard Rodney Bennett wrote
for us in 2010), David Bednall’s Noe Noe,
Never a brighter star by one of our favourite
composers, Dan Forrest, Adrian Self’s setting of
Jesus Christ the apple tree, Howell’s Three
Carol-Anthems, and Philip Wilby’s The Word Made
Flesh. After this we then headed for Prater
amusement park. For many of us it was one of the best
days, we went on rides that were at speeds of 120mph,
rides that flipped upside down at staggering heights and
drove the bumper cars! Some of us then brought crepes,
they had many fillings such as cheese and Nutella – they
were delicious! Once we had finished our energetic day
at the amusement park we headed back to the hostel. We
then got ready and went out for dinner at a Chinese
restaurant. We all enjoyed going out for this evening
meal. We then headed back to the hostel.
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The next day
was New Years’ Eve. We spent the day at Schonbrunn
Palace; we had an audio guided tour of the Palace. It
was interesting to learn little things about the Palace.
After we had finished at the Palace we went to The
House Of Music museum. Inside the museum there were
many fun activities such as composing your own piece by
rolling dice and conducting your own orchestra (rather
like using a Wii, but with a video of the Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra at your disposal!). Once we had
finished at the museum we went back to the hostel for a
night of fun entertainment that would bring us into the
New Year. Dinner for that night was pizza; we had so
many toppings like pepperoni, cheese, and chicken,
vegetables. This was one of the meals everyone enjoyed.
We then spent some time just talking with each other and
not to forget, Miss Punnett’s and two of the youngest
choristers’ great dinosaur impressions!
After this we then began the New Year Eve Talent show.
Some of the older girls did an acting scene of them
going on holiday and hid a girl in a suitcase! The very
youngest girls then performed a song and dance. After
this, a mixed group did an acapella performance. The
final act was one of the choral scholars dressed up as a
girl and telling us all a Pushkin fairy story! It was
very funny! The winners of the talent show were the
youngest girls who had practised very hard. The
entertainment of the night then continued as a large
group game of Trivial Pursuit. After a fun game, it was
almost midnight so we went and stood up on the hill
outside the hostel were we could see all the fireworks
from the city. They went on for hours and from every
direction! The countdown began and we then entered the
New Year, 2014. It was a late night for everybody not
long after entering the New Year most went to bed.
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On New Years’ Day we had a lie in and woke up a
little later than we had on all the other days.
On this day we headed into the central city of
Vienna to do some flash-mob carolling: we sang
outside the Papyrus museum and outside
Karlskirche. It was lovely to go into central
Vienna and see all the different sights. Once we
had finished some jolly carolling we headed off
in our groups to do some shopping. Many of us
brought souvenirs for ourselves and our
families. We then headed back to the hostel
before going out for another dinner at a
restaurant. After a tasty meal we went back to
our hostel for the final night.
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The
next morning we woke up and finished packing our
belongings before getting on the coach and
making our long journey back home. This was
broken up again by an overnight stay in
Nuremberg. Before going to Nuremberg we visited
Melk Abbey: Melk Abbey is a very large but
beautifully detailed abbey, and we were given a
guided tour. In Melk Abbey we sang another
concert, it sounded wonderful and because the
place was so large that the echo sounded great.
Once we arrived in Nuremberg we went for dinner
at a sausage house, this was enjoyed by many of
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the
meat lovers… not so much by the vegetarians!
Luckily they were provided a lovely vegetable
pasta. We then went back to our overnight
accommodation for an early night’s rest so we
would be prepared for the long journey back to
Northampton.
The final day, we left Nuremberg early in the
morning, many of us on the way home wore our
onesies on the coach. This was an 11 hour
journey home. When we arrived at the Euro Tunnel
at 19:30 there were some delays due to stormy
weather so we could not get on the train until
22:50. Once off again, we headed for
Northampton. For many of us were sleeping as it
started to get late, but the mood lightened up
as we started singing ‘’the tour chant’’ which
was ‘’5 gold rings, 4 calling birds, 3 French
hens, 2 turtle doves and a partridge in a pear
tree… Ahhhhhhhh!’’
Once we arrived home in Northampton at 01:30am
on the 4th of January 2014, we said our goodbyes
to each other and headed home for a well
deserved rest. For all of us the tour was a
great and unforgettable experience which we will
remember forever. We were all fortunate to get
the opportunity to do this. All of us choristers
are grateful for everything we did and for
everyone who made it possible for us. We all had
a great time which was filled with fun and
laughter. |
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