Choral Day with Jeremy Backhouse
23rd September 2017, St Anne's Church, Ings, near Staveley
We had a tremendous day with Jeremy Backhouse at St Anne's Church, Ings, when he took us through "The Christ Child" by Will Todd, arrangements by Jonathan Rathbone of Howard Blake's "Walking in the air" and Greg Lake's "I believe in Father Christmas", and - the highlight of the day! - "The Making of the Drum" by Bob Chilcott. This is a very entertaining piece with African rhythms and lots of things going on at once, with lots of stuff about calabash trees and gong-gongs, and lots of "Lull-la-la" for the sopranos (about six pages of it!), with various members playing sand blocks, rain sticks, claves, and a lovely native drum. Our terrific accompanist was David Battersby.
We finished the day with a performance of all the pieces.
Afterwards Jeremy tweeted: "Great day with @CFestivalChorus and others today at our workshop. Thanks for all your fabulous hospitality and genuine friendship!"
Below are some photographs taken on the day.
We finished the day with a performance of all the pieces.
Afterwards Jeremy tweeted: "Great day with @CFestivalChorus and others today at our workshop. Thanks for all your fabulous hospitality and genuine friendship!"
Below are some photographs taken on the day.