I was invited along to a rehearsal last September. As I was looking to start a challenging new venture at the time I decided to give it a try.
I joined the tenor section and started getting to grips with the repertoire. This was at the time when the choir started learning new pieces for the Christmas concert. I was relieved to find that this meant that I wasn’t alone when it came to learning unfamiliar pieces as there was material that was new to everybody. The more experienced members of the choir seemed to be able to pick things up much quicker than me, however it was worth persevering. They were also performing pieces that they had sung previously and knew well which were completely new to me so I felt a bit like a fish out of water at times. However with a bit of practice things started to fall into place and in time I began to feel much more confident. Newer people have now also joined the choir since I started so I don’t feel like the new boy anymore!
The Christmas concert entitled ‘Step into Christmas’ was in front of a full audience at Christ Church Woodley, the same venue we use for our Wednesday rehearsals. The concert programme started with a mix of songs from the A440 repertoire and then we moved into some more traditional Christmas material including carols and a rousing rendition of The Twelve Days Of Christmas – with audience participation! We were also joined by Wings, a local Ukrainian ladies’ choir, who treated us to some songs in their own language. We enjoyed the challenge of singing with them in Ukrainian – or at least trying to! The evening was a great success and was enjoyed by all. Profits from the concert appropriately went to Ukrainian charities.
The Wednesday rehearsals are always very enjoyable. I find it really useful that they are recorded and put online so that we are able to listen back and practice at home during the week. We sing a wide range of material in various languages (including Italian, Spanish and Latin to name just a few) which can be quite challenging but Charlie our Musical Director always gives advice on pronunciation and expert guidance on how to sing our individual parts.
If you enjoy singing and are looking for an opportunity to try something new why not come along on a Wednesday evening and give Reading A440 a try?