CHIRRUP - Spring 2024
SPRING 2024
What Goes On Tour…
This time, your quarterly ‘Chirrup’ newsletter is penned by Sue from the Alto section. Sue talks about our overseas choral expeditions, past and present and gives a taste of the fun and frolics the choir enjoy when away from home. We hope you enjoy!
By Sue Peet - April 2024
The ‘Spring Blessings’ concert is behind us
And it went so well. An innovative and engaging programme from Charlie, some movingly beautiful choral music sung with feeling and commitment by the choir, two exceptionally talented young violinists, a stratospheric Haydn soprano solo perfectly executed by Felicity, and Andrew’s familiar musical magic despite a somewhat challenging keyboard. All topped off with a substantial, appreciative audience; St Di’s was buzzing with life, chatter and music.
And now the choir’s sights are set on our forthcoming Budapest tour
In the days running up to the 26th May, a total of 52 travellers (including singers, supporters, conductor and accompanist) will dig out their passports, arrange for someone to feed the cat, check the cooker is off and load their bags onto a fleet of planes, trains, buses and automobiles. Destination Hungary. With luck, a favouring wind and a smooth passage through the vagaries of various international transport networks, the entire contingent of singers and camp followers will eventually gather at the group hotel, sink into a comfy chair and sample their first glass of Pálinka.
Organisation for the trip is a huge undertaking
Once we knew that enough of the choir were on board with the idea of a 2024 tour (which, in truth, was never really in doubt!) one of the early tasks fell to Tim and Howard who selflessly undertook a marathon 36-hour initial reconnoitre in August 2023. Their flying visit was structured around a substantial check-list:
find a hotel with the flexibility to accommodate the requirements of a large choir on the move: good grub, bar and a dedicated rehearsal space
identify concert venues with wow factor and a fantastic organ
sample restaurants with the capacity and good humour to withstand the invasion of a hungry battalion of singers
chat with churches who might be persuaded to lend us their keyboards or, better still, their choir schools for rehearsals
find new Hungarian friends with the energy and enthusiasm required to promote our concerts to local audiences
suss out bus companies, tour guides, pedalo hire (integral slide required), narrow-gauge steam train opportunities, practise pools for our synchronised swimming team…
Then there was the stressful moment of the Mass Flight Booking
Picture the scene. Seven choir members, poised in trepidation over their keyboards with trembling fingers at exactly 10am one Saturday morning in early September 2023. The reason? This was the moment the WizzAir flights from Luton to Budapest were released. If anyone has ever tried to do a mass flight booking, you will understand our pain! Before we started clicking away on our laptop keyboards, the airline was blissfully unaware that their flights between Luton and Budapest in late May and early June 2024 were going to be in such demand. But the minute we started tapping in the details of our first half a dozen or so tour travellers, the deviously-clever airline computers recognised what was going on and bumped up the prices. It’s a game you’re never going to win completely, but with co-ordination led by Cap’n Howard which would have rivalled the D-Day landings, forty-two return flights were booked in a matter of minutes. Phew!
So why, if it’s such a gargantuan effort, do we choose to go on tour?
It goes without saying that a choir is the sum of its people. The connections between those of us who sing in Harborough Singers, coupled with the loyal support we receive from those who follow us, form a huge part of why we are so bonded as a group of singers. From our shared love of cake-making (and eating), to the support we offer one another through tricky passages of singing and even trickier passages of life, anyone who has sat in our ranks will have experienced that warm feeling of being part of something unique and special. And the times we spend together when we’re not singing are just as important as the moments when we line up in best bib and tucker to give our lungs an airing in the vast caverns of great cathedrals or the more intimate, quirky spaces of rural churches, hotel discos, salt mines and mediaeval kitchens. Going on tour offers the opportunity to combine both: singing fabulous repertoire in amazing places coupled with the wonderful luxury of sharing time and experiences with one another.
There have been some unforgettable moments
Touring has been a part of the choir’s raison d'être for as long as it has been in existence. A good number of our singers go back a long way with the choir, with memories that stretch back equally far. Many recall the glorious feeling of singing in the Cathedrals of Armagh, Brecon, Palma, Lucca and St Paul’s, carrying on an unbroken tradition of singing the services that connect the modern-day church with its earliest congregations. Those who toured in Krakow, close to the birthplace of John Paul II, will remember the night that the death of the Polish Pope was announced during our post-concert dinner, after which the sale of alcohol immediately ceased and the waiters served the rest of our meal in tears for the loss of their famous son. Similarly, who amongst those who travelled to Northern Ireland could forget arriving late into Armagh, being presented with a glass of wine and taken on a midnight tour of the cathedral, where Andrew gave an impromptu rendition of the Frog’s Chorus on the organ? Equally memorable was the time the choir, having travelled to a remote church during their Polish tour, found themselves at the heart of a packed audience comprising all generations, where small children sat on the knees of their grandparents and all listened with an unforgettable stillness, intensity and warmth.
Also in the collective memory of the choir are fond recollections of capsizing canoes, falls from trekking ponies and the less than salubrious dormitory accommodation awaiting the singers in Prague, where the snoring of one of the basses resulted in decisive action being taken to remove the offender into the corridor. Then there was the night-time boat trip, complete with one loyal choir supporter who had mistakenly set out in her slippers. More recently: singing outdoors in the beautiful surroundings of the Tettuccio Spa in Tuscany while melting under a lathering of sun cream; impromptu morning swims and yoga sessions on the beach at Palma; Andrew’s descent down a pedalo slide into the sea, fully-clothed and with his boots on. Of such moments memories are made and out of these the choir legend takes its shape.
Here are our three amazing Hungarian concert venues we’ll be singing in during our May tour.
And beyond…
Unfortunately, most of our regular supporters will not be able to join us on our forthcoming singing tour. However, hot on the heels of our return will be a concert in the historic setting of Fotheringhay Church where we will have the opportunity to share much of our Budapest repertoire with you. We hope that you will be able to join us. And don’t forget to ask us about the trip! As the saying goes, what goes on tour stays on tour. Whereas this is true to a point, it is also the case that the choir brings back renewed energy and additional sparkle from each of its tours, which feed into our singing. So do come along on the 29th June and remember to look out for that little Hungarian spring in the choir’s step as we set out to share our music-making with you once more.