Carol Singing At Tescos, Evesham, December 2016 This year, our Christmas Sing Out programme was affected by both illness and adverse weather conditions. Risking life and limb on ice rink pavements, we sang for Evesham WI and Badsey WI but unfortunately our planned carol singing outside Tescos was cancelled beacause of heavy snowfall. We also sang at the Badsey Christmas Celebration for the third year. This is always a lively, festive event and this year was no exception. After performing on top of a trailer outside the pub in an icy wind, our reward of a glass of mulled wine was very welcome! Sheila Badham was a much loved member of Vale Connection who died on 23rd October 2017 following a car accident. She had belonged to the Chorus for many years and, as well as being a very capable member of the Bass section, she had served as Chair and contributed in many other ways. Her favourite song was 'Over The Rainbow' and we were honoured to be asked by her husband, Jack, to perform it at her funeral. She will be greatly missed. We were invited to sing at this popular event. One of our members, Diane, lives in Church Lench and she provided the Chorus with hospitality before the concert, including a delicious supper, which was much appreciated by everyone. The concert itself was most enjoyable and we hope to be invited back next year! We took part in the annual Evesham Festival Of Music, performing at Evesham Town Hall. It was a lovely event and, as well as enjoying a good sing, it was a chance to catch up with some old friends. This sounds very 'Game Of Thrones' but was, in fact, a renewal of wedding vows held in Pershore Abbey. The bride's favourite colour is red and she, herself, wore a beautiful red wedding dress, as did her bridesmaids. We were honoured to sing at this joyous occasion and were able to keep to the red theme, having just been issued with new red, chiffon tops, by our wardrobe mistress, Cath, who had combined her recent holiday to Thailand with a spot of costume buying! We supported the 'Wear A Hat To Work' event by wearing a varied selection of hats to rehearsal. The aim was to raise awareness of the work of the charity 'Brain Tumour Research', and to raise funds, with over £120 being collected on the night. The cause is close to our hearts as one of our members, Kate Hickman, is currently undergoing treatment for a brain tumour and the husband of another member sadly died from the same disease. It was a very enjoyable evening and we even got a mention in the Evesham Journal! Our Chair Rachel's husband, Dr Terry Gasper, was a well respected and popular GP in the Stratford area. He sadly died of a brain tumour shortly after he retired. Rachel, with help from family and friends, organised this concert in his memory and to raise funds for the new oncology and eye centre at Stratford Hospital. The evening raised a magnificent £5075.69 with at least £300 in gift aid. On the bill was Vale Connection, Terry's niece, Rachael Lloyd, a professional opera singer, Terry's nephew, Luke Gasper, Terry's old stand up partner with his new partner, Roger and Dave, Shades On Black, a 10 piece band, and John Hayden, a pianist. The evening was a huge success, enjoyed by audience and performers alike, and a fitting tribute to Terry, Here we are performing 'A Fistful Of Cowboys' complete with props, well a pink cowboy hat! Rachael Lloyd and Luke Gasper giving an emotional performance. All the evening's performers sang the finale of 'Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer' This was our big gala concert for the year. We performed a varied programme, which featured the whole Chorus, two sextets accompanied by piano, three a cappella quartets and the Ariosa Wind Ensemble. It was a fantastic evening with all participants performing at their best. The Ariosa Wind Ensemble A spokesman for the Oxford Neuro-Oncology group gave a very informative talk about the research currently being undertaken by the group and their plans and hopes for the future. It is a cause close to the hearts of the Chorus as one of our members, Kate Hickman, has recently been diagnosed with a brain tumour and is currently receiving treatment, and another member has recently lost her husband to the same disease. The evening raised £1305.95 for this cause.
We had a fantastic time singing some of our favourite songs to a wonderful audience at Bretfest 2016.
We were privileged to sing alongside our Patron, Marcel Zidane who played songs on his piano that would give your goose-bumps, goose-bumps! What a performance!
Watch the video above, which is Vale Connection singing one of our newest songs called 'African Mashup'.
The song begins with us singing 'Hepepe' which means congratulations; and 'Gomampe' is a person's name. We then move onto a beautiful solo sung by Jane Charles: 'senzeni na?' The rest of the chorus shortly join in. 'Senzeni na?' translates to 'what have we done?' and was sung for several hours by black civil rights activists during a protest march. This part of the song is extremely moving to sing. The last part of the song, is a celebration, 'siya hamba'ekuka nyeni kewekhos', which means 'we are marching in the light of God' and is often sung to those words. We adore this song, and especially enjoy the rhythmic dancing! We hope you do too!
Asparafest is a not-for-profit event organised by Gras Roots with support from The Fleece Inn & Wychavon Council & Worcester Ambassadors.
Vale Connection were invited to sing along with the many other class acts performing in 2016 such as Dodgy, Blackbeard's Tea Party, London Veg Orchestra, Barney Newman and many many more. As we ventured onto the stage, the weather was looking grey and murky... but by the time we hit our second song of a 50 minute set, the sun was shining on us all! We sang a one of our largest ever set-lists on this roaster of a day, including:
Two of our quartets also had their debut with one singing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy who was a hit for The Andrew Sisters and a classic A Capella song and the other opting for a more modern song, a version of Sweet Dreams originally sang by the Eurythmics. We were also privileged to be asked at the very last minute, by Worcestershire County Council, to sing for their campaign to make Edward Elgar's 'Land of Hope and Glory' their new county anthem; something we were very proud and excited to do! Watch our video below! Vale Connection have also been invited back to Asparafest 2017... Get your tickets now!! |
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