Members

This page contains all the information you need to know as a member of the choir, including when we have our rehearsals and what to wear at our concerts.

 
Rehearsals and term dates

Our rehearsals take place on Tuesdays from 7.30pm-9.30pm at Highbury Baptist Church

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Our term dates for 2021/22 are as follows:

 

Autumn:
14th Sep - 30th Nov;
Half term - 26th October;
Concert - 28th Nov

 

Spring:
11th Jan - 5 April;    
Half term - 15th Feb;    
Concert - 26th March

 

Summer:  
26th Apr - 5th July;  
Half term - 31st May;   
Concert - 10th July

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You can subscribe to our calendar by following the instructions for iPhone, Mac, or Outlook.com using this URL (make sure to subscribe and not simply "add" or "import" the events, otherwise you won't get any future updates). If you use Google Calendar, just click on the + button in the bottom right corner of the calendar on this page.

 
Subscriptions

Membership fees are £170 per annum. There is a concessionary rate of £120 available to members under the age of 25 and to those in receipt of state benefits, not including the State Pension. Members who do not fall into these categories but who nevertheless would otherwise be unable to participate please contact the Membership Secretary. Where possible such cases will be looked at sympathetically.

 
Ticket sales

We keep our annual choir membership fees relatively low compared to other local London choirs. However, to cover the high cost of putting on our three main annual concerts, we do require every member to buy two tickets for each performance. This helps us cover the expense of the orchestra, soloists, publicity, equipment and the concert venue. Tickets are usually £20.

 
Musical scores

Vocal scores are provided to members free of charge, whenever possible. If you wish to buy your own copy, the librarians can often provide music at a discount. You may, however, be asked to provide your own copy of Carols for Choirs Book 1 for Christmas concerts (approximate cost £10-£12).

 
Concert dress

Formal dress is required for all concerts: Men – white shirt, black bow tie, black jacket and trousers or evening dress, black shoes; Ladies – black long-sleeved top, long black skirt or long black trousers, black shoes.

 
Learning the Music

There is now quite a wide range of websites and other resources which can help to learn the notes of the works we are rehearsing.  All choir members are encouraged to spend some ‘homework’ time so that we can gain maximum benefit at rehearsals without spending long periods ‘note-bashing’.

CHORALIA

  • Read the instructions on their title page! You can download and use their ‘Virtual Singer’ program, OR use your normal MP3 player, either playing direct from the web page or downloading. The Virtual Singer files are different from MP3, so there are different ‘catalogue pages’.

  • There are separate tracks for each voice part, and three versions of each track – one with Organ and metronome, one with all voices (your voice emphasised), one with just the voices. Superb for progressive learning. Only downside – rather ‘synthesized’ tone and no words.

  • Really easy to use (once you have read the instructions!)

Find out more

CYBERBASS

  • Long-established, solid note-bashing site. Not beautiful!

  • Inbuilt player on the page (you may need to click to download it the first time) which allows you to control the speed (tempo) of the playback and the sound balance (midi files)

  • Separate tracks for each voice part – your voice emphasised against background of all voices, or an equally balanced ‘Tutti’ track

  • You can also buy the tracks on a CD

  • May give problems on Internet Explorer, especially IE7. Works fine on IE9

  • Easy to use

Find out more

LEARN CHORAL MUSIC

  • Relatively basic but practical (midi files again)

  • Separate tracks for each voice part, plus ‘UNemphasised’ files which are all the parts played together – ie same as above

  • Has a useful page on downloading and using various midi players – http://www.learnchoralmusic.co.uk/PlayMidi.html

  • The individual voice parts may not work well on Windows Media Player

Find out more