Latest News

January 2012

His Name is Time – a new choir commission
A View from the Choir – Gillian Perkins (soprano)
Big Sing 2012

For these and other stories read the NCS Newsletter (a PDF of 211KB)

The season started off with the usual choir day, this year taken by Peter Foggitt. Our first concert at Jesus College on 12 November attracted a large audience. We presented a Bach motet Singet dem Herrn, a short piece by Holst and a full performance of Parry's late motets Songs of Farewell. These were combined with a new NCS commission His Name is Time by Rory Boyle, conducted by Chris Brown, with Tom Wraith, cello. We are grateful to the many people who contributed funds for this exciting new composition. (For an interview with Rory Boyle, see the above newsletter.) In addition, Tom Wraith, accompanied by Freddie Brown, piano, played Kenneth Leighton's moving Elegy.

Our two Christmas carol concerts, at Fenstanton church and Little St Mary's church in Cambridge respectively, were joyful festive occasions at which we sang a wide selection of carols old and new, accompanied by Paul Bryan on the organ; some of his own lively arrangements of carols were featured. We also sang a new piece Dormi, Jesu by Richard Prince, one of our members. Of course, there were some traditional carols for all to sing. The people of Fenstanton turned out in great numbers to hear us, and invited us to come again. At Little St Mary's too there was plenty of enthusiastic support in a city centre venue where we haven't appeared for some time.

The Big Sing – Target achieved!

Thanks to you, we raised the sum of £6,000 on the day, which is more than enough to fund the new playground at the Milton children’s hospice. We can now provide some musical toys to go there – some crash cymbals, giant chimes and tubano drums. Imagine how much enjoyment the children will have with these musical toys. About 350 singers and 150 audience members all contributed to this magnificent effort. A huge Thank You to all for your generous donations.

The Big Sing was held on Saturday 14 January 2012 in Great St Mary's Church, Cambridge in aid of East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH). We sang music to welcome in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Year, with Corona Brass, Paul Bryan (organ), four conductors, ourselves, children from Milton Primary School, and of course Yourselves, all contributing to this magnificent musical extravaganza.

News of our Musical Director

Chris Brown has reminded us that he will soon reach his 70th birthday. To mark the landmark he is proposing to compose, over the next 24 months, a set of 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano (following in the footsteps of his hero JS Bach). He is looking for support for this project, and for full details of what he has in mind and how to get involved click here.

On a sadder note, Chris has told us that he feels that June 2013 would be a good time for him to relinquish his post as MD for New Cambridge Singers. Obviously this came as a shock to us, and he will be difficult to replace, but we look forward to working with Chris for his remaining time with us.

Future Concerts:

Further information on our future plans is in the Newsletter (see above), or click on concerts. Alternatively, read the NCS Calendar (a PDF of 1,332KB). This handsome document is also available as a folding card for your mantlepiece, etc.

Are you interested in sponsoring or promoting any of our Concerts?

In the past we have been very fortunate to enjoy financial support from a number of sources. Performing Handel’s Messiah this year in two venues was another major undertaking. Even if there had been a full house for each of the two performances we would have been left with a net loss, such is the cost of professional soloists and orchestral players. So we looked for a small syndicate of sponsors, each willing to donate or underwrite a sum in the region of £250-£350 (in exchange for priority booking and a pre-concert reception for themselves and their guests).

If you are interested in helping with future concerts on a more regular basis, our Chairman, Frank Hopkirk, would be pleased to hear from you on chairman@newcambridgesingers.org.uk

New Music Fund – New Cambridge Songs

We welcome contributions from anyone interested in promoting new music and have a New Music Fund for this purpose. Donations can be for use over a wide front or for specific works. Please contact the secretary, treasurer, musical director (see contact us) or any choir member you may know personally if you would like to donate to this fund.

Even better, you could join our new shareholder scheme, New Cambridge Songs, which enables you to sponsor a particular piece if song 'shares' are still available, or you could let us decide on the piece for you. Read about the scheme here (in PDF format).

Like to Sing?

We are always looking for experienced singers, particularly those with good sight reading ability, so if you would like to join us, or know others who might be encouraged, please do get in touch with our musical director, Chris Brown, or our membership secretary, Philippa Harris (see contact us).

Email list

Would you like to receive the newsletter by email? If so please email supporters@newcambridgesingers.org.uk to be put on to our electronic mailing list. This list will be used purely for keeping you informed of NCS concerts and developments. We intend to add a guest book to the website shortly.