Ten years of Singing in the Round
Ten years ago, a small group gathered in a very inauspicious prefab in Trowbridge College, to start a day class in singing. Ten years on some of the original Trowbridge Friday members still attend. From those early days, we have grown into four community choirs, totalling over 160 singers!
To celebrate our anniversary, we organised the following:
Commissioned a song from Ali Burns. The song “Whatever life brings” was performed at our 10th anniversary concert.
Took part in a musical evening with the Trowbridge Polish community.
Hosted a Celebration Sing at Holy Trinity Church, Trowbridge, when community choirs in the area joined us in singing our socks off and performing to each other.
Our 10th anniversary concert
The concert at Trowbridge Civic Hall on June 14th, 2007, was a huge success. Our thanks go to the organisers, the technical team at the hall, and to everyone who contributed to the day.
We have some photos and videos from the day:
- Rick's photos
- Giles' photos
- Video clips: Silver is the daylight and Hallelujah
Celebration Sing
November 3rd 2007
Something very special happened to celebrate 10 years of Singing in the Round on Saturday 3 November 2007 when seven neighbouring community choirs joined us at Holy Trinity Church, Trowbridge for their “Celebration Sing”. Amassing a large crowd of enthusiastic singers under one roof for a whole day proved to be an exciting and thrilling event - the ultimate songfest. However the icing on the celebratory cake was that our guests, La Coral Sant Miguel de Campanet, visiting us on a three day exchange from Mallorca, were here to take part in our celebration.
The brilliant late-autumn morning augured well for the success of the day that laid before us. Upon arrival the bright sun’s rays beaming through the windows on to the autumnal leaves and berries that bedecked the interior of the church were a welcoming sight for the 250 participants.
After refreshments and a chance for everyone to become acquainted the proceedings commenced in earnest with each choir director leading a mini-workshop. A variety of songs were eagerly learnt and sung with considerable zest thanks to the expertise of the teachers and the enthusiasm of their students. The rafters were raised with joyful renditions and the camaraderie became practically tangible.
The culmination of the event was the Performance when each choir performed two songs. A diverse selection to suit all tastes, many originating from various countries around the world, all impressing the audience made up of their fellow-songsters. La Coral Sant Miguel de Campanet, singing in their mother-tongue lent an air of authenticity to their programme which included the Mallorcan folk song “A la ciutat de Napols“.
Finally Candy Verney of Singing in the Round literally wound up the day (and the singers) by encouraging us to pass a ball of ribbon around whilst singing, in English and Spanish, “We are the Thread” until the entire group were embraced within it, illustrating effectively how the joy of singing binds us all together. Margaret (Trowbridge) “Everyone was so friendly” “One of my best days ever” “What a Triumph!”