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.
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."
The choir visited Braintree's twin town Pierrefitte, in the northern suburbs of Paris, over the May Day bank holiday where they put on a joint concert with the Jeune Choeur du conservatoire de Saint Dennis and vocal group Camille.
The choir featured most of the songs they were to include in the Broadway Comes to Braintree concert the following weekend, including Ken Lee's solo If I Loved You.
Camille performed their own composition Ta Douleur while the Jeune Choeur of Pierrefitte students gave a superb set of unaccompanied gospel and blues songs under the direction of David Lauer, who had visited Braintree the previous year with the Pierrefitte Choir for the 40th anniversay of the twinning arrangement.
The two choirs joined forces for Let There Be Peace On Earth and after calls for an encore, improvised a joint rendition of When the Saints Go Marching In, an old Braintree favourite which the French students were seeing for the the first time!
The visit was organised with the help of Ken and Diane Measom of the Town Twinning Association who joined the choir in Pierrefitte and with their local counterparts laid on receptions on both the Saturday and Sunday.
The choir and wives/partners had a coach trip round Paris on the Sunday with a leisurely lunch break in Montmartre and on the Monday enjoyed the vivid May sunshine in a stop at Le Touquet, on the English Channel
Sixteen
members of the choir, plus conductor and accompanist made a weekend
trip to France over the May Day Bank Holiday 2006. Some stayed at the
Hotel Auberge d'Aramont in Verberie, others stayed with host families.
The
choir gave concerts in both Verberie, a village near Compiègne,
twinned with Rayne, and Choisy-au-Bac, Sible Hedingham's twin village.
They were joined in Verberie by the local school orchestra.
The
programme included most of the songs the choir featured in their
annual Spring concert two weeks later with the exception of 'By
Cape Trafalgar' which it was felt would do little to enhance the
Entente Cordiale.
John
Walker not only introduced the choir and the songs in French but
organised the whole visit with aplomb.
In
addition to the concerts, the choir visited the Imperial Palace at Compiègne,
Amiens Cathedral and a Calais wine store, but for many the highlight was
the singsong round the piano at the hotel on the Sunday night when pianist
Hilary Morgan's talents were seen in a new light.
Leaving the
church at Choisy-au-Bac after the service
