WAIHEKE CHORAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER JUNE/JULY 2009

Hi Everyone,

                     The Choral Society has had a very busy month. May was NZ music month and the choir kicked the month off with a short recital at the library. It rained heavily and it was seriously cold, but the library was lovely and warm with a small but appreciative audience. Many members managed to attend in spite of it being a Saturday morning. Surprise of the day was singing Beautiful Waiheke without any prior rehearsal, but our sight reading skills came in very handy and some of the audience managed to join in. Still on Music Month, Marion and Kara performed at Whittakers, with Piano for Eight Hands. They were joined by Rosemary and Linda and they also played a rousing selection of music. Whittakers was full to overflowing, indeed they borrowed a lot of chairs from Artworks between the matinee and evening performance of Peter Pan and there was a flurry of activity to get the chairs back in time. Kara was great. She performed in the matinee of P.P then performed at Whittakers, then back for the evening performance. Age really has no barriers and can be defied. It was so successful that the concert was repeated two weeks later when Kara did the same performance:Mmtinee, concert, evening show.

PETER PAN was a great success and we had mostly full houses. All that hard work paid off and resulted in a very good show that ran for three weekends. The children really enjoyed it and it was really wonderful to see the wide variety of fairies and pirates coming to see the show. The girls were lovely but the boys were really into the dressing up bit. Workshops had been held over the past weeks for the cast in music, drama, make-up etc. and it all helped with their performances. Thank you for the commitment of all the cast and crew, and the dedication of the drivers of the show. Parent help was invaluable, providing food and drink for the children and also activities (quiet ones). It was a long haul but worth all the efforts. The set was “raffled” after the show, names in a jar and a piece of the set chosen. It was great fun, but I think a few parents would be scratching their heads over some of the larger pieces. Certificates were given to the younger members. They were beautifully designed and could be used in their C.V.s later. Plenty of help turned up Sunday morning and the theatre was quickly cleaned up and returned to the condition we found it in, we also finished up all the food that was left.

So now we all come back down to earth, away from fantasy land and get down to the serious business. Richard kept the choir going as well as doing P.P, and the concert “Six Degrees of Separation” is going well. Whittakers is lovely and warm on these cold dark nights and choir night is a pleasure. So rug up warm and enjoy yourselves. The programme is coming along really well and we are getting to grips with the music, including a whimsical rendition of the Teddy Bears Picnic. It will be performed at St Peters Church on Sunday July 19^th at 5.00pm. Sing Waiheke also have a concert on June 27^th at MORRA hall. Rehearsals start for The Messiah on Tuesday 21^st July. Having disposed of the rest of the year quite neatly that is all the news for the month.

                                                                                                        Jeanne Mellamphy.