As the days lengthen, so the time to our next concert shortens and the excitement builds!

Please make sure your friends don’t miss out – book your tickets now!

Please also make sure your friends have a concert to remember (for the right reasons!). There are three remaining rehearsals : 11th, 18th and 25th May. Please try to attend and please use our links for home rehearsal. Please note, we do not have a rehearsal on 4th May. Please note: the rehearsal on the 18th is men only from 7-7.45 pm and both men and ladies from 7.45 pm.

Before the concert on 30th May please come dressed and ready to sing at 6.15 pm prompt, at the concert venue (St Brides Church, Fallside Road, Bothwell G71 8BA), for a rehearsal and photograph.

Note words for the WW1 medley songs and a revised programme will be available to download from the current links page shortly.

We are looking foward to seeing how the new ladies’ gowns look ‘en masse’ on the 30th May. Lady members who wish to take part at this concert will need one of the new gowns. We are very grateful to our seamstress for all her trouble and time to meet choir members for measurements. We regret that no additional gowns can now be made before this concert. All opportunities for measurements for gowns have been enhausted and the gowns are being delivered on the 18th May!

We enjoyed an excellent response to our coffee morning in April. Many thanks go to the members of Bothwell Evangelical Church for allowing us to use their building and for their support to prepare for the event and clear up afterwards. Thanks also to all the choir members who supplied such a glorious feast of baking as well as other stalls and to the members and friends who enjoyed eating it! An excellent final total of £405 was raised.

After our week off and the Easter break, some of us may be counting sleeps to the next holiday , but can you believe it is only ‘4 sings’ until the next concert!

Treat the panic by checking out as many of the ‘current links‘ as possible before our next rehearsal on Sunday 27th April.

Please remember that on the 27th, from 7-7.45 it is LADIES ONLY, with ALL MEMBERS thereafter.

LADIES – please also note that we have arranged a FINAL (very final!) visit of the seamstress on Sunday 27th April. No measurements or adjustments can be taken after then. It would a great pity for anyone to miss out on the performance through not having a gown. Please send word through the ‘contact us‘ section by Saturday 26th if things are not already in order for your gown to be ready for the May concert and you cannot attend on Sunday 27th.

We are looking forward to a busy month preparing for our fantastic Spring Concert. Tickets (£7) will be available from 6th April.

Listen at home links can be found for home rehearsal here.

News of our schedule can be found on the calendar page.

Please remember the following key dates for April:

April 6th – ALL LADIES please note that this is the planned visit of the seamstress before the May concert.

April 6th – ALL MEMBERS .  Also please check with your fan club in order to place your ticket order for the Spring Concert in good time to secure the tickets you need. Tickets (£7) will be available from the 6th.

April 13th – ALL LADIES: as several ladies could not have final measurements made on the 13th, the seamstress has agreed to make an additional and FINAL visit, before the May concert, on the 13th. Ladies, please note that this will be the LAST opportunity to have the final measurements necessary to allow completion of your gowns. If you have not had additional measurements taken while wearing a part-made gown, then a gown will NOT be made in time for you to take part in the Spring Concert. It is VITAL that you attend on the 13th for this or advise us before 5 pm on 10th April is you will not be there (in which case we will also need you to supply measurements in order for your gown to be completed). Please contact us if you will not be there and have not had the additional fitting.

April 13th – ALL MEMBERS: Please consider what you can do to support the Choir Coffee Morning (see below). We need help with baking and stalls. Please advise us on the 13th – there will be a sheet for this. Remember also to buy your Spring Concert tickets.

April 20th – there WILL NOT be a rehearsal.

April 26th – We are having a coffee morning for the Choir in Bothwell Evangelical Church from 10.00 – 12.00. Baking and other stall items are needed.

April 27th – First 45 minutes LADIES ONLY. Then ALL MEMBERS from 7.45 PM

March dates to note:

• The 2nd March rehearsal is for LADIES only and the 9th March rehearsal is for MEN only.
• The Craigholme School Music Competition Finals will be on Wed 12th March at 7.00 pm
• The choir (and friends) are very welcome to participate in the Stainer Crucifixion on the 29th March in Bothwell Parish Church -rehearsal from 2, performance at 5pm.

In response to requests from members, some new pages have been created on the website. If you look in the members’ information pages of the website you will now find the following:

• a ‘calendar‘ page
• a page listing our ‘section stewards‘
• a ‘home rehearsal‘ page

This last page links to 2 more pages:

• ‘current links‘ which will contain the links (and draft programmes) relevant to music for any concerts for which we are preparing . We hope to create our own Mp3 files for pieces we cannot source online and these will be hosted on this page too.
• ‘previous links‘ which will be an archive of the links we have used before, but are not using now.

It is hoped that these pages will make it easier for members to find the links and programme information they need. Each of these pages will be updated as new information is available. As such pages are ‘fixed pages’ rather than the ‘posts’ of our ‘update pages’ they cannot be linked to our social media feeds (Facebook and Twitter) and so members are asked to check the new pages for information periodically, as the information will not come through in other ways to you.

However, the ‘members’ updates’ will still be issued and key items that have been added to the new pages will be highlighted through these updates (which will reach Facebook and Twitter at their first posting). Please note, that as before the monthly updates may be further modified as we go through each month in response to new information.

After a lovely get together despite the rain earlier in the month, the glimpses of sunshine and the enthusiasm of the birds are surely spurring us on to prepare for our summer concert.

We are rehearsing each week in February. You can download here the Spring Concert 2014 Draft Programme.

If you can, please take a look at home at the link below for the Mermaid. We are struggling to find web-versions of some of the other pieces just now. If you can find the right versions on youtube or other mp3 links, please email through our contacts page (special mention in the updates page if you do!). If we can’t find any, we may look at recording some at our rehearsals.

If you haven’t already noticed the new addition to the website, please do take a look at the calendar where our dates can be seen at a glance or for each month.

Ladies, please remember to check out the skirts being sold by New Look, or this one from Wallis, or from Simply Be or Marisota. (The last two links also stock plus sizes.)

The 10 minute break time during choir evenings always goes so quickly.  Several new faces have joined us over 2013-14 and the social evening on Saturday 1 February will be a good chance for everyone to meet properly and for us to relax ahead of another busy season.

Where is it at? – St. Bride’s Pastoral Centre, Fallside Rd, Bothwell. 7.30pm

What is happening? – We are having a  ‘Fish Supper & Quiz Night’ and are looking forward to welcoming friends and family for a relaxed get together.

Menu choice: We need to pre-book this. If you have not already done so, please indicate the number of either Fish Suppers, Sausage Suppers or Cheese and Tomato Pizzas (fresh, not deep fried) that you and your guests will require, through the contact section of the website.  (Please type in what you need to the free-text section of the form). Food needs to be ordered the day ahead so it is essential we have everybody’s order by 30th January.

Tea and coffee will be provided. However, there is also a bar within the Pastoral Centre where alcoholic and soft drinks can be purchased.

There will also be a raffle. Many thanks to those of you have already agreed to donate prizes. If anyone else would like to donate please bring it on the evening. If you are not coming to the evening but are still able to donate to the raffle, please give your donation to Hazel after the concert on the 24th.

How much will it be? – The cost is only £7.00 per head for all food, tea and coffee, which will be collected as you arrive on the evening.

Friday 24 January – Concert with St. Andrew’s School, Buenos Aires

• Food donations: would those members who have kindly offered to supply food for the visitors please bring it to the Church Centre at 4.30pm on Friday 24th. Please note we will not be able to take donations before then, but need them ahead of the children arriving at 5.00. Thanks very much for your help with this.
• Arrival time: Members should arrive for the concert no earlier than 6.40pm and go direct to the Church.
• Changing: Members should arrive at the venue dressed for performance as there will be no changing facilities. Coats etc. will be kept on our seats in the Church. As space is very limited within the Church pews it is advised you do not bring an excess of bags, etc.
• Dress code for Friday is DJs and black bow ties for men and purple gowns for ladies. Those ladies who do not have purple gowns should wear all black with long sleeves and long skirts or trousers. Please also note the general guidance on dress code and concert etiquette.
• Parking: please note that as the Church Centre is always very busy on a Friday evening, there will be no parking facilities within the car park. Members are asked to park in the streets in the surrounding area (e.g. Station Road) and to car share where possible.
• Costs for audience: entry at the door is £5.00 and £3.00 for under 14. We are hoping that there will be good support for this concert so as to give a warm welcome to our guests.
• Music: Non Nobis Domine, Put Peace In to Each Other’s’ Hands, Scots Wha Hae. Please have these in your choir folders in this order. Please also see the home rehearsal links from the earlier update
• Running order: we will take up our seating places at 6.40 in our rows in the left hand church pews closest to the pulpit ( back row in the seats nearest the chancel, then row by row with the front row seated furthest away). Just before the concert begins, we will move to our standing positions from the left side of each row (i.e. not the side next to the podium) and then sing the first two pieces, before returning in rows to our seats (front row first -soprano side leading). The final piece will be sung at the end of the concert.
• Sunday following concert: there will be no rehearsal on Sunday 26th January. Please see the other update for additional diary dates.