Hungary - Here We Come
From 3rd to 7th October 2009, 18 members of the Choir, plus 15 friends and family, went to Hungary to sing in three venues, and to see some of the sights in and around.
Undoubtedly the highlight was the International Choir Festival in Dorog. We sang in a purpose built concert hall, with wonderful accoustics and a first class piano, joining with choirs from Hungary, Slovakia and Italy. We were last on and as we sat and listened to the other six choirs, we knew that we had to be at our best. That we seem to have done, judging by the reception we got at the end, and the favourable comments from members of other choirs.
Our varied programme went down very well. We opened with the lively Rhythm of Life which was followed by Autumn Leaves. Within a few bars of us starting, the audience burst into applause - something our MD of 20 years said she had never heard before - as soon as they realised we were singing the words in Hungarian. At the end, we had more rapturous applause which certainly made the hairs on the neck stand up. That the audience understood our Hungarian is a tribute to the coaching received from Imi Kinchesh. Once we had completed our songs there were the final announcements, one of which was that we had to do an encore, and Thank You for the Music had the audience on its feet clapping and singing along. It was a truly memorable experience for us all.
Choir at the 18th International Choir Concert in Dorog |
Choirs enjoying a meal after the performances |
Chairman Nick Minton makes a presentation |
The dinner afterwards with the other six choirs was another enjoyable occasion, and once the drink started flowing, choirs and individuals were on their feet giving imprompu performances. It was also a chance for us to talk with some of the other musicians and to present pennants to each of our fellow choirs.
Earlier in the day we had sung at a Mass in the church of Pilicsaba where again we had an ovation at the end, followed by a very friendly reception laid on by the church members.
Our final singing engagement was at the Cathedral in Esztergom which was certainly different, with some interesting accoustics. We counted how long the sound echoed around and found that it was about seven seconds - probably for the first time, we heard exactly what the last note of each piece sounded like!
Apart from singing, the other two things to feature heavily in the programme were eating and drinking. Excellent meals were laid on for us at lunchtimes and evenings, and all with drinks included - in fact for two of the evening meals, we had what was described as "unlimited ingestion of wine", and to show our appreciation to our hosts, we did our best to obey the instruction.
Choir member Imi Kinchesh joins the gypsy musicians |
Impromptu performance of A Ket Szemet (Autumn Leaves) |
Evidence of drink and some more lusty singing |
We spent one late afternoon at a horsemanship demonstration, which was very interesting. Some of us had the chance to participate in the use of a whip - the challenge was to knock a can off the fence using a long whip. Happily, both our contestants were successful and collected a bottle of wine as their prize. After the demonstration, we had dinner, along with a large party of German visitors. With a Hungarian Gypsy trio to entertain us, it wasn't long before the singing started, with Imi joining the trio to sing some of the traditional Hungarian songs. The evening finished with a firelight horsemanship demonstration and a rather tasteful brandy. It wasn't until we got on the coach that our guide informed us that the brandy was for the Germans! That made it taste even better.
On our last full day, we made some sightseeing visits before finishing up at a wine cellar for dinner and wine tasting. Once again, there were a group of musicians to entertain us and unsurprisingly we found ourselves singing along with them, as well as one or two individual numbers.
We had time on our last day for a trip on the Danube and a visit to St Stephen's Basilica in Budapest before setting off for the airport.
All in all, this was a very enjoyable trip, excellent value for money, with some memorable social occasions.
The choir outside the Cathedral at Esztergom |
Oundle Festival of Music and Drama March 2009
Braintree Male Voice Choir scored a double success at a prestigious music festival on Saturday 28th March.
They captured first prize in the 'Songs from musicals' section at the 100th Oundle Festival of Music and Drama in Northamptonshire.
Adjudicator Sheila Kent gave them a distinction in this category with 88 per cent. She also gave them 86 per cent, just one short of a distinction, in the 'Part songs for men's voices' category in which they were the only competitors.
Ms Kent praised their 'secure coordination of voices' in Rhythm of Life and their 'good tone and attention to diction' in their selection from Oliver.
She described their rendtion of Hafan Gobiath as 'a very pleasing part work with a secure blend of voices'.
The choir's musical director Elisabeth Miller said: "This was an excellent performance, especially as we only had 20 members of the choir available instead of the full complement of 35.
"I was particularly pleased by the enthusiastic remarks of the adjudicator who really seemed to enjoy the perfomance.
"The result is especially pleasing as we have not entered competitions for 17 years, apart from our appearance at the Sudbury Festival of Music, Speech and Dance three weeks earlier.
"The choir were given a distinction there too, although again they were the only entry in their field."
Elisabeth Miller MD and the choir
